The broad north-south avenues like Juniper and Piedmont have the showcase homes with the giant yards and consistent landscaping, things that belong on stately southern boulevards. But the narrower east-west streets have cobblestone alleys, idiosyncratic architectural embellishments, and sweet little carriage houses pushed right up on the sidewalk.
I have been obsessed with these first three houses for a long while now. This one below, right behind St. Mark UMC, is a duplex that was fairly recently fixed up. It still looks so strange – the facade has nothing to do with the rest; the windows on the side and back are all 1920s-ish.
This one I call Grey Gardens because…
About a year and a half ago or so a sign went up here saying that this was going to become luxury condos. Now there’s an unfinished foundation in the back and the real estate signage is gone. The only reasonable conclusion I can draw is that someone was murdered in that turret a long time ago, and the restless ghost wouldn’t let construction progress.
Here’s the back alley that connects other Juniper-facing houses.
These fabulous condos across the street have so many little details, like rooftop decks and awnings and lion’s faces and tiled roofs and tiered built-in planters filled with lively palm-like vegetation. I bet the residents have the grandest parties and parlors with jade pianos and only chaise lounges for seating.
The little alley beside the building.
The next two I just think are cute.
I hope I don’t get knifed by the Architecture Tourist for stepping on his turf.
Tags: 5th street, midtown
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I used to live next door to the “haunted house” (3rd house down), and that cobble stone driveway led to our parking lot. The boarded up house was a rent-by-the-week kinda place when I first moved there (around 2006). It was marketed as a bed-and-breakfast and had a website but I can’t find it anymore (probably no longer exists) Lots of odd activity, drug dealing, prostitution, loud arguments, etc. There also used to be a carriage house behind it (to the left of the cobblestone driveway). I can remember seeing some nice cars with families or young couples arriving, expecting a cozy bed-and-breakfast only to be horrified and leave within a few hours. I think it was sold around 2007 at which point the carriage house was torn down and the house itself was gutted. Many layers of siding were removed to reveal the original siding you see in the picture. After about 6 months the construction halted. The new owner ran out of money. The property has sat vacant ever since. A lot of squatters have come and gone. I complained about them quite a bit cause they would poop on the side of the house in front of my door.
Oooh, good to hear the neighborhood gossip. Above I said it faces Juniper but it actually is on Piedmont. I started passing it regularly around 2008 so it had been sitting empty just long enough for me to miss the low-class Melrose Place antics.
Machete preferred but since you have chosen a few of my favorites, you have a lifetime pardon. Plus you are a double-secret Architecture Tourist and it’s a position you can never resign. Look for your check in the mail any day now.
I love the ones behind the church too. They are cuter than they should be even for Midtown. They are packed together somehow. I’d heard that the church owned them, or wanted to own them. They needed the space, maybe for parking. I don’t know. Other didn’t want them messed with.
The brick condo with the dark brick trim, arches and finials is a great favorite of mine. I’ll go out of my way to see it. Very special I think. I’ve never seen one for sale. I’d love to see the insides.
In my antediluvian days at Ga Tech my buds lived all over Midtown. Some in amazing old apartment buildings now torn down. Most lived in very funky apartments carved out of big houses. I used to live at 942 West Peachtree until the fire.
Midtown must be the densest batch of cool residences in Atlanta.
Have you been inside that duplex behind the church? I’m DYING to know what they are like inside. The church did want its own lot there for a while…I don’t know what happened with that. But in the meantime someone invested in a nice paint job and repair for the duplex.
Hello all. Two quick things to share:
The house on the corner of 5th and Piedmont that we affectionately call the ‘Barn House’ because of it’s Dutch Colonial, barn-like roofline has been sold. True, construction of five townhouses on the site was halted a few years back. The developer went under and the bank owned the property for years. This spring, it was sold at auction. I now own the property and have been working with an architect to develop new plans. We are in the review process now with the City of Atlanta permitting. Experiencing lots of hold-ups, which is just the way things go. We are not currently pursuing the five townhouse option.
Point of correction: The house does not have a turret. It is a proper tower. Turrets rise out of the house. Towers touch the ground. Ours sits on a stone foundation. Hence tower. Frankly, I’d rather have a turret, but alas not on this house.
Second point of interest: 811 Piedmont was also recently sold at auction. Same bank owned that property. Design Is Magazine (www.DesignIsMagazine.com) is working with the new property owners to rehabilitate the grand old house into five rental units. We will be staging a show house in the property this fall. Be sure to come by and take the tour. You can follow the progress of that property on Facebook, Design Is Magazine or at http://www.DesignIsMagazine.com.
One more point of interest, that big “Barn House” with the tower (not turret) will probably be next year’s Design Is Show House.
Great info Walt, thanks so much.