Happy Fun Gables - A Victorian and Three Modest Contemporary Eyecatchers

I'm a kicky-color-gable-guy and there's no beating Victorians for that. But I'm very easy to please.


A yummy oldie in Inman Park.

But there are three newer houses whose show-off colors always catch my eye. All these are SOB (South of Buckhead). Can you do this in Buckhead? I hope so.

Are all three by the same designer? I think maybe yes. Anyone? Anyone?


On my route from Oakhurst to Reynoldstown.


On Hosea Williams in Edgewood. This will hide during leafy season.



On Florida in North Ormewood Park.

(Mental note: How may "state" and "city" streets does Atlanta have?)


On Rock Springs in Piedmont Heights.




I'm following this one Ponce de Leon Place in Virginia-Highland by Artist / Designer William Rossoto. I'm waiting for the colors to come home. The gables are pretty kicky already with that triple tall-in-the-middle window.

Got any favorites?

Almost Perfect Master Suite - 2007 Renovation Designed by Robert B. Tippett

The Architecture Tourist seeks spaces that make people feel good. When optimistic the Architecture Tourist believes that comfortable spaces can be duplicated and should be.

This is what they teach in design and architecture schools, right?

Well this is a good one. It's for sale on 936 North Highland. It's not like the "others." Brand new at 100+ years old. Your results may vary but in my humble opinion it's extraordinary, perhaps may favorite house of the year: unique, fun, livable, and high style with windows overlooking life. It's doesn't come cheap but they just dropped the price.


They still have the renovation plans.

I'm extremely judgmental about master suites. It drives me nuts when ample space and money produce uncomfortable spaces and unhappy proportions.

I have a long list but here are three ideas for the master:

1. You should feel cozy in the bed chamber even without furniture.
2. You should be able do your toilet and dressing without disturbing the sleeping loved one. Sometimes achieved with a 2-door bathroom as in this house.
3. You shouldn't be able to see into the bathroom from the bed. The bathroom lights should never shine on the pillows. This is eminently possible but rare.

This one is darn good. Here is Terry's tiny 90 second tour.


Bravo Robert B. Tippett.

This is more typical: a 4,000+ square foot spec house. A 4-door 600+ square foot master with bodacious trey ceiling and all marble bathroom. Quit doing this:

No.

These Six Teardowns are Done

A handful of teardowns. Two new whoppers, a big expansion, two pop-tops, three not-so-big houses, a squeezed-in modern. I can't keep up.




Full contact builders spec house.

and


I didn't get here at the beginning. Pre-Depression level details, pretty amazing I think.


The chimney was the deal.


Might not be your thing but heck-of-a-job by Mark Arnold. The chimney is the prominent detail on the porch but it's hard to see in this picture.

and


This was cute before and in a really nice creek-bottom setting.


A pop-top.


It's still cute, a not so big house. Maggie Shannon architect.


Looks like it has always been there.

and


Pretty cute before. Look at the triple window, porch, and few-step grandma access.


Nice flat lot. No climbing with grocery bags.


I wasn't quite getting it until they installed the landscape then I got a crush. A not so big house, nice work Chip Murrah architect and Blake Builders.

and in the Old 4th Ward:



It held its own at 968 square feet. It's what caught my eye. Sidewalk level access really appeals to me, need the brick wall for a sense of enclose.


Already surrounded by teardowns, traditional left and modern right.


Hello garage door. It was on the Modern Atlanta tour last year and I enjoyed the inside.



Where mill houses used to be.

and


It was the "Faux Chateau" a transformed rancher by Barry Doss, R.I.P.. It was odd and I liked it a lot. Already surrounded by teardowns.


The former backyard from pictures I saved from the old real estate ad.


It grew.

My Two Favorite Small'ish Houses are by Pak Heydt and by Adam Stillman

I noticed the feelings not the things.

All I can tell you is that I felt great in these places. I saw both on home tours, lucky me. The design effort is in the proportions, practicality, light, and flow rather than elaborate detailing, finishes, and fixtures.

I've seen at least 150 houses in the last year, probably more. I remember these two above all one in Virginia-Highland one in Inman Park. They illustrate the high value of design and the good fortune of starting from scratch. They aren't so big. They compliment their neighbors. They seem as if they've been there all along.

In these neighborhoods there are three ways to go.

If you renovate your 80-year-old house, you usually end up with the 80-year-old flow. That can be charming or not.

If you build a maxi, traditionally styled spec house, it's "if you've seen one you've seen them all." They are market-safe with shock and awe details. These can be fine houses or not.

Then there are the modernist tear-downs. They specialize in awesome spaces, infinite vistas, and light. Most become landmarks of  "difference" which can be good or not.

I present these two as the fourth way. They compliment the street and live modern. Marketing-wise I think these would sell before the sign went up. But I can't imagine why the owners would ever leave.


This is the Pak Heydt design before from 1922. It's a pop-top effectively a tear-down.


After, about 2,900 square feet. They "saved" the first floor - a good thing. I want to live in the great room.


In context.


This is the Adam Stillman design before from 1917, it was burned out.


After, about 2,300 square feet. It's great room is one of the greatest I've ever visited.


In context.

If I was a spec builder, I'd do these over and over. I'd hire the architect to tweak the design for the lot and setting.

The Hilan Theater Is In There, Did You Know?

This great Atlanta neighborhood just can't support this space - but I hope I'm wrong. Maybe you have an idea?

It had been wide open day and night so I finally walked in on February 27, asked if I could take some pictures. I love theaters and then there's the roof. This may be the only way you'll ever see inside.

Folks are renovating the storefronts between Atkins Park Restaurant and Surin of Thailand where Ben and Jerry's, Starbucks, and Key Lime Pie were. Curbed wrote about it: Empty Va-Hi Spaces May Fill Soon. But About That Theater…


"A December 4, 1937, Boxoffice magazine obituary of Atlanta showman Louis Bach says that he built the Hilan Theatre in 1933

"A few years after the theatre closed in 1969, it became the home of the Metropolitan Community Church." Currently ... ice cream parlor (Ben and Jerry's) and coffee shop (Starbucks) reside(d) in the space once occupied by the Hilan’s entrance and lobby." - First Metropolitan Community Church


Did you know it was theater?


From the Dark Horse in the back of Surin you can see the big boxy thing where the auditorium is.


From North Highland there's a long corridor back to the theater.


I think they renovated the auditorium hoping to attract the Cotton Club. What with parking, noise, and late night rock and rollers the neighborhood didn't go for it. The Cotton Club moved to the basement of the Tabernacle.


All dressed up and no place to go: Terrific renovation. They removed the sloped floor, there's a dance floor, a mezzanine, and a balcony, two bars.


From the behind the balcony bar.


They kept the good parts.


The proscenium style stage has it own behind-the-band balcony.


I took this from the southern Juliet balcony.

Maybe these will help give you a sense of the space.
Panoramic video from the center stage 30 seconds.
Panoramic video from the southern Juliet balcony 24 seconds.

Then there's the roof!


There are two levels of rooftops up there.


The first level.


Looking down on North Highland. I want to party here.


There's another level.


Yeah...


I want to party here too.


To the north "Wolfmother" Mural by Matt Haffner commissioned by whitespace.


To the east the steeple of Druid Hills Methodist designed by Ivey and Crook


To the south the lantern at Druild Hills Baptist designed by Edward Bennett Dougherty


To the southwest Druid Hills Presbyterian designed by Francis Palmer Smith.


Now you know.