One thing that has been brought to our attention recently is HOW TERRIBLE IT IS TO FEEL LIKE A PRISONER IN YOUR OWN HOME. This is why Pecanne Log has created a new feature to help you get out of your house and see new things, anything, anything at all really, even if it means driving down Memorial Drive through unincorporated DeKalb, even if it means taking the interstate, even if it means going to a place that doesn’t even have its own website.
PECANNE LOG’S SUBURBAN EXPLORER
First stop: Pine Lake! Pine Lake does have its own website. Unlike Lake Claire, Pine Lake also has its own actual lake! (It is a lot like Lake Claire in other ways, though, as you will see.)
And wetlands!
And the floats in their yearly Lakefest parade really float!
BUT FIRST: A bit about the City of Pine Lake, Georgia. It’s the smallest city in DeKalb County; did you know? At 0.2 square miles and 658 residents, it is kind of like a medium-sized neighborhood with municipal status. Pine Lake began as a resort community for people who wanted lake houses outside of the bustling city; it eventually became its own “real” city with full-time residents who turned vacation cottages into added-on and renovated abodes. The city has almost no retail, no schools, no mail delivery – all these things are found just outside in the unincorporated parts of the county.
Read this Atlanta magazine article about the Pine Lake budget scandal of 2003. It all went down here, in this peculiar city hall that used to be a church.
It’s okay that Pine Lake is almost solely residential, because the houses are SO GOOD and truly inspiring! I’m not sure what the zoning dictates, or if there are any design standards, because everyone has basically done whatever the hell they want to their houses, like painted chain link fences around the front yard or hanging batik tapestries all over the exterior of the home or other creative demonstrations of flair and personal beliefs, from the subtle to the dramatic. For example, the homes pictured below have framed art hung outside – on the chimney in one case and as a replacement for window shutters in the other (please click on the second to soak in all the sparkling detail). Someone thought of doing this! And then actually did it!
Pine Lake residents are also really into windchimes, bird feeders, and birdhouses – like, really, really into windchimes, bird feeders, and birdhouses. You could make dozens and dozens of dollars selling windchimes, bird feeders, and birdhouses door-to-door in this community.
Other popular decorative items include peace signs and Buddhist prayer flags.
Most of the homes look like grown-up tree houses and, very appropriately, little lake cabins. It’s all extraordinarily charming and pleasant and utopian and I was so close to just taking up squatting in one of the houses for sale there, except that the constantly patrolling PLPD officer probably wouldn’t have allowed that.
If you happen to be out at the Applebee’s on Memorial Drive for Wednesday karaoke night or the DeKalb County correctional facilities, take a little detour – just follow the Dominican hair braiding places and then when all the street signs on the left side of the street look like they’re from the 1970s, you’re in Pine Lake!
UPDATE: Please read this incredible tale of violence and destruction in Pine Lake, narrated by one of the natives.
Previously: Pecanne Log’s Rural Explorer
Tags: bird feeders, bird houses, dekalb county, hippies, pine lake, windchimes
Phooey, now you’ve gone and told everybody. This place gives hope to the idea of funky/charming neighborhoods everywhere.
We were house hunting a few years ago and took a drive through Pine Lake to see a place in our price range and to check out the community. We were simultaneously charmed and creeped out.
There’s a lot of creativity here in the house styles and yard decorations and it’s a lot of fun to look at them. And I was reminded of my grandparents old cabin on Lake Lanier, the way it was back when modest little cabins were the rule there rather than ostentatious mega mansions.
But the way the Pines Lake is so detached from the rest of the area was jarring for city folk like us. Also, when the sun starts to sink, some of the houses that haven’t been kept up well (a significant number) look like classic ‘cabin in the woods’ settings for horror movies. Upside: could be a great place for Halloween.
The houses are mostly old, so yeah, there’s some creaking. If you want a modern craftsman two-story, find a subdivision.
But you’re right. Halloween is freaking awesome in Pine Lake. We put on a show.