New house, 3,100 square feet on 1/10 acre, must "match" 10 other 90+ year old 900 square foot houses in historic neighborhood. Architectural design for the project was by
Ute Banse of Ute Design.
Inman Park: "Atlanta's first suburb circa 1890" "Atlanta's first intown neighborhood to gentrify ... Gentrification began in 1969..."
Inman Park was a short lived home of the gentry. In New Urbanism terms: Inman Park got "leap-frogged." Druid Hills became the place to be. I'm sure Inman Park lost much in the process.
But I'm not so unhappy about it. Druid Hills became a museum of beautiful homes, frozen in place. Inman Park became eclectic and colorful. Today it houses millionaires and poor students, families, hipsters, and hipster families.
![2011-11-27-851-Virgil-Street-infill-before-1](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sgEdGYL90I0ZaupGeDmPbokbWOk_9xjlI3XJhyHKLuAaSyWkAsW-vaZ9j1C5Zyyg_6gSMbzbHJPrCyWNX_bfptT7rDkbCeKNCSyccL4A5aG_X78o5GyzJmnsX5_Np63MHL=s0-d)
The last thing I'd expect is a vacant lot. This is not a teardown, not a burn down. It was the backyard of the house on the corner.
![P1020719-2011-11-27-851-Virgil-Street-infill-Trees-Cleared](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vE5OZzUQ9D0JowPWo6J4TnKVLTD5c_C6ZLJODSDxwCJC3X94X_4mfpg7UY-IeAxu6Sibf-RM7WUDsWeVKnrrYYiMsSwIzUPiKslkIaoj1bJ2xmUl0IbyDhusQTFOi78u27=s0-d)
This was the back yard of the blue house.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEek3tWPPQQRJ14PRWVSKlYo4zWOodyzr5cyQE-BkOpIySVnj1k_4FtxaFSifp9dl7XMAceiJ9A_j7U7UMn0LXpUcE3IK_bQlYSvhsKo8jIUPB0jj-432fK5xoiiXsK37eLjD6kYvREGa2/s400/P1030885-2012-01-12--851+Virgil-Street-infill-Inman-Park-Foundation-dig.jpg)
How do you build 3,100 square feet on a 10th of an acre? Excavate the entire lot.
![P1040469-2012-01-27--851-Virgil-Street-infill-Inman-Park-foundation-wall](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tV4rGTHzS8E-1Utibg8iFdQAGRSCGtdt-pnlUAj2vn7kgSYo6n4C0B67CtKNKEPAAucP7RbbJuWkafUqQ5cZBRAZiwwtll3drXrAL9VkNysRS6lYV062bjfYqvOsaK4oc=s0-d)
The real first thing was to create design that worked, that satisfied the Atlanta Urban Design Commission, and everyone else. There is a very long report online:
"Regarding the roof pitch, all the contributing houses on the block face have 6:12 roof pitch. The proposed house has a 10:12 roof pitch, which does not meet the compatibility rule requirement...
![P1060359-2012-04-03--851-Virgil-Street-infill-WIP-detail](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uEn0Kcv5nYEzNp4UycJTXQXurydtYFWWOAaWzMH4ir0PrFBsq_uiaAmu4ZYBRby9AFKx8SDfnvpWHUlrV6NQRNOjy1yj5lSCMPCOP89cbPMiforasuZwuEtgINmmfYoGzu=s0-d)
They got the permit.
![P1060360-2012-04-03--851-Virgil-Street-infill-WIP](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tLd7VHoe04cL0HcQzP_4QJsW0tSZW4Y_kTwe1q-TXEss8rs2fn0Ki-KnOswZk4sW93W8Sw2HdQF-xdoGHHP8wxN-jS5HCZpF-aB9Fo4ahe9XOW16Nz1M48t96nxU_KwOo=s0-d)
Does this look a new home in a high prestige neighborhood?
![P1100406-2012-07-16--851-Virgil-Street-infill-Inman-Park-complete](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uTn32nS9At9TcOpXe5dxVePUzPwsnMfY8EuoHVSnv87ywFhM_VL_vLJjZZZYi8nU9JXp4rvvTFtXYeG3N_YG8YeHvnYHwcjerId9rXaqXhNtZSenmtM_BLOeqWftYYLNfm=s0-d)
I think so.
![P1110348-2012-08-20--851-Virgil-Street-infill-Inman-Park-complete-East-side-elevation](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uAhNfPk-cIVw2Eeda7baisDS1QzABTemJxcr5L_PVNku5T4d2x9ZaYfVgHwztgAmr2d46euanKMhj2JiBKJ5b4RxitnJysTtG02G7IDqYeiSCk4ZwtYRxLJiCnD4BFnxoc=s0-d)
I admire this tiny detail, the lintels that project just a bit.
![P1100405-2012-07-16--851-Virgil-Street-infill-Inman-Park-complete](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_ul5WkYuLHmpzldhA7AtuBjF8HwhN72SIFuFHIib4Df_zkXgkf4lT_IbaEb9-2bg7BRUdcrR19-atdR1Ek1wX0zfR1si3X7ONUYm8B1SILarnL_GoQUf9upF6BJrS6Anrw=s0-d)
What about the neighbors?
![P1110345-2012-08-20--851-Virgil-Street-infill-Inman-Park-complete-in-context](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vxbhOcpfL70cP2pUZFfQrEgZnAcXDHvWqg1-o7JWhIUQiywxusCCfIZnKhhOHnRiFhZvdzF8Vz6lyTdHXyZCF4uDvZGI3kExdAgYAZv_86Y8QGyMtP8bjBtZaXvWJlDSs=s0-d)
Our new house makes 11 in a row. You can see 3 of them to the right. Perhaps the new house is a tiny bit taller.
![P1110345-2012-08-20--851-Virgil-Street-infill-Inman-Park-complete-in-context-reversed-porch](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uUg6B4Lmzd1z-CCWezCvntc-k7EwWQG6utRlf__whZ7d4pmaMylWnsZTADoynB9FJb7Ic18guula1cjCq7MggLAzg9iRB412vig8RqwAfGy0z9UVcE53dp3z1nS_enlm7X=s0-d)
I'm amused that the new porch is on the right side of the house. All 10 old porches are on the left. It's probably because of the slope.
![P1110352-2012-08-20--851-Virgil-Street-infill-Inman-Park-complete-East-in-context](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vJYBVZy_2Ib5CfWl_BGSsOBNlgkZATnMjcVSFJT3xMafK6Epqk5iQdU_LLVVXx95OnBZwpK_nSLywsgGYIon7cYRGA58TrB57zINhsktzsm7g7MTXbZfW8XhfnM0MIp2NR=s0-d)
But perhaps the right side porch is punctuation, an eye-stopper, a period at the end of the 11-house sentence. (Apologies to the house to the right. I'm not showing it at it's very best. It's getting a new retaining wall.)
Agree or disagree, I welcome your comments.