Teardown 5 of 5 is done, stucco, Voysey & gables galore by Brad Heppner

They didn't tear it all down, they kept the garage.

Like it or not - it's the most interesting of the 5 teardowns in this series. I like it. It's bold yet it's in scale with its neighbors, high style in a smallish house.

It's a custom design by Brad Heppner (Bradley E Heppner Architecture, LLC.), 2333 square feet on 0.28 acres. That's a pretty big lot for Morningside but the slope is an issue.

Here is house 1 of 5, house 2 of 5, house 3 of 5, house 4 of 5, and house 5 of 5, house 6 of 5. house 7 of 5.


Full disclosure: Brad gave Things that Inspire, High Gloss Blue and me a tour of one his houses. It was a knockout. Brad tipped me off to this one so I could watch it go up. He sent me some elevations too.


Anyway, this one is not like the others.

And with this house Brad introduced me to Voysey who must have been a design polymath.

"There is no real secret to the roof pitch (16:12). Just maximizing the interior volume while being able to keep the eave lines low. Same reason for the double gable sides...break the side mass and keep the overall height in proportion to the neighboring homes. Take a look at the work of English architect C.F.A. Voysey (if you haven't already). This will have some signs of influence from his work...on a more modest budget." - Brad



Who knows what these 3 looked like originally? The one on the right is a 2007 teardown at 3,840 square feet. It's style might be our fashion for teardowns, they aren't building like that now.

I don't know why but this street is not very original at all. There are many teardowns and many more big renovations.


Perhaps the houses were weaker than average on lots that are bigger than average. Our "before" house is 3rd from the right.


This one had had big renovations too. There were additions on the back and in the attic. It had a garage on the front. very rare around here.


"the double gable sides...break the side mass"

"I have admired the work of CFA Voysey who was a British Arts and Crafts architect and designer practicing during the late 1800's and early 1900's. The projecting gable pediment is something that he used frequently as the cap to bay windows. We have a second projected gable like this on the rear of the house that is capping a bay window. I designed the front gable to project in the same manner (even though there isn't a bay) since the house faces due-west and there would otherwise be no protection to those windows. That and it provides further dimension to the front elevation." -Brad


They even kept the garage. I thought it was a law: teardowns MUST have a 2-car garage though it's often a struggle on narrow lots.


Here it is in context.

I'm fascinated by the sides which are usually boring in teardowns.


Here is a summer view of the south elevation.


The south elevation. Looks like there might be a cricket.


The north elevation.


The front facing gables. Bravo.

Here is house 1 of 5, house 2 of 5, house 3 of 5, house 4 of 5, and house 5 of 5, house 6 of 5. house 7 of 5.

Teardown 4 of 5 is done, half-timbering with shingles designed by Frank Neely

The porte-cochère is a flying buttress!

This is a Frank Neely custom designed 6994 square footer on 0.792 acres. Full disclosure: I love the house and I particularly adore the colors. I'd like to order a size "small" please.

This one sits on the Ansley Park / Midtown / Lenox Park axis. Most of our big-time residential architects work north of here in the Brookwood - Brookhaven crescent. Druid Hills belongs in the category but they don't do teardowns in Druid Hills.

In Atlanta new houses of this size and design quality are rare south of here. There are plenty of fine homes south of here but few new ones like this, more estate house than city house.

Here is house 1 of 5, house 2 of 5, house 3 of 5, house 4 of 5, and house 5 of 5, house 6 of 5. house 7 of 5.

Who doesn't love mini-columns if they are done right?


Quiet detailing but lots of detail.


It was a mid-century rancher on a fine hill, bit of a slope on the right to deal with.


I wasn't crazy about the added on "L" but there it was.


I had a look in the permit box. You can see how it deals with the slope off to the right, how they kept the house from appearing to tumble down the hill.

The porte-cochère is a flying buttress!

You can also see that the front entrance isn't in that grand space between the gables. Quirk or not it appeals to me.

You can also see a pronounced foundation. There may be a name for this. To me it's as if they house is sitting lightly on a platform rather than growing out of the ground. Know what I mean? I think this is a Frank Neely Design trademark.


Usually, I don't enjoy houses until the very end. I liked this as soon as the gables first took shape.

I love the front porch's beefy architrave. The stubby column makes sense to me now. The brick (plinth?) pokes up from below. Is it another aspect of the well defined foundation? Is TDC reading?


I met Mr. Neely and told him that his houses seem almost Victorian to me: Ebullient unsymmetrical massing with almost flamboyant detailing.

The closer you look the more detail you see.


To my eye the colors are particularly fine. The contrasts are subtle. I asked Mr. Neely what color. He said he mixed it on the site.

I will consult Mr. Neely next time I paint our house.


I think it's a breath of fresh air.

It doesn't match or copy the great early houses in West End or Inman Park but it would feel right at home there.

I look forward to seeing it again and again, perhaps seeing the inside some day.


Here are the signs if you'd like to know who did what.


Frank Neely is on the right in a renovation of his design on Peachtree Way. Shout out to fellow blogger and architecture tourist Kyle Sturtevant on the left.

Here is house 1 of 5, house 2 of 5, house 3 of 5, house 4 of 5, and house 5 of 5, house 6 of 5. house 7 of 5.