Custom Residential Design and Architectural Specialists, Atlanta, Georgia

Historic Preservation
Restoring the history, warmth and beauty of the past........

A STORY OF HOW A DREAM WAS BORN AND STILL LIVES ON

Specializing in the "Vintage Repurposing" of your home....

When the journey began in the late 1960's in search of a life's work, all spare time was spent wandering the streets and alleyways of Atlanta in search of a dream. Restoration of the warmth and beauty of the past was capturing our hearts as we explored from Whitehall Street to underground Atlanta to Inman Park. Our passions ran rampant and our dreams grew. There was so much work to be done, little time, young and with no money it was almost impossible. But we eventually concentrated on the following projects and knew some day, some way we would realize our dreams:

At that time underground Atlanta belonged to the winos and the rats, but we poked and walked those old dark alleyways and were amazed by the possibilities we saw.... dreams of a "Bourbon Street" in the heart of our city filled evey moment. The dream took money and we were just beginning our dreams. As you now know eventually this area was developed into what we know as "Underground Atlanta" but regretfully it was by others.
The old houses in Inman Park, Grant Park, Candler Park were begging to be saved and we searched for investors and a way to restore the past for these once grand homes. We had dreams...and plenty of them, but no way to carry them to fruition. We only hoped that somehow, someone would come along to save them.
Then we found Savannah and continued our dreams knowing we wanted to be a part of the awakening hours for that fine old city. We also knew there were plans for I-95 that would bring people to Savannah to enjoy the history. In 1969 we found investors and amassed $23,000 in loans to buy 16 old row houses in the historic district. Along with HUD who had 3% loans with a maximum of $15,500 for each unit for renovation and restoration in the historic district.....our dreams began to come to fruition. Working closely with Reid Williamson, Director of Historic Savannah, and Myers Rosenthal, Director of Building for the City of Savannah, we began the work that launched our hopes into full orbit and evolved into the restoration of 48 old homes in the historic district there....the first of which was the restoration of the Mercer House with Jim Williams and his then partner Philip.

The History of Inman Park

Just a short story about Inman Park.......We arrived in Savannah in August, 1969, to begin our work. Soon after we were invited to breakfast by some friends in Savannah, Charlie Bennett (who became director of television's "I'll Fly Away" )and Tom White (who went on to own Hilton Head Interiors). They wanted us to meet another friend of theres who was a dreamer from Atlanta, Robert Griggs. During that breakfast it was hard to tell who grew more excited. We discussed our once sought after plans for Inman Park to restore that glorious neighborhood to it's once proud self. Through new zoning ordinances the houses had been allowed to be divided into sometimes 8 apartments and the vines and rubbage had taken them over. We could see the deteriorization all around, but the structures themselves were strong and could be salvaged. We encouraged Robert Griggs to return to Atlanta and start the work there. In the 2010 Tour of Homes brochure, there is a History of Inman Park. I've attached it below to show how that mornings little breakfast evolved into the refurbishing of Inman Park.

Today's Inman Park residents weren't the first Atlantas to want suburbn living a short distance from downtown. Joel Hurt, a civil engineer who envisioned a suburban neighborhood with urban convenience, developed Inman Park as Atlanta's first garden community. In 1889, Hurt auctioned generous lots upon which fashionable Victorian mansions would be built, and Inman Park was born. In the center of his new neighborhood, he set aside 138 acres for Springvale Park (currently 5 acres) and landscaped its grounds with exotic trees and shrubs, many of which had never been seen in Atlanta. Hurt also proposed Atlanta's first electric streetcar system to give Inman Park residents easy access to the city center two miles away.

By 1898, most of Inman Park's landmark houses had been built. The new suburb attracted Atlanta's most influential families, including the Candlers and Woodruffs of Coca-Cola fame, as well as Hurt's own family. But changes were taking place that Hurt hadn't envisioned. As the motorcar made outlying suburban development possible, Hurt's wealthy clients sought larger and grander homes in newer communities to the north that were accessible only by automobile.

In 1910, city lot restrictions lapsed, allowing Hurt's large lots to be subdivided into lots for smaller homes. Within months, developers moved in to build speculative houses, still large enough by today's standards, but far smaller and much closer together than the grand Victorian mansions. Housing styles had also changed with the century. Asymmetrical,highly decorated Victorian building styles were set aside for simpler lines influenced by the Arts & Crafts movement. Builders quickly embraced the simplified modern styles, since they were cheaper to build and mortgages of any kind, except owner financing, had yet to be devised. Houses cost from $3,000 to $6,000 cash.

Working class people took the place of their bosses as inhabitants of Inman Park. Another surge of building occurred in the 1930s when remaining lots on the Mesa, originally a park bordered by Euclid Avenue, Edgewood Avenue and Waverly Way, were filled with small brick homes. After World War II, landlords built government-financed apartment housing for returning servicemen and their new families. Many long-time residents and war widows turned Inman Park's larger homes into

apartments and boarding houses. Gradually, homeowners moved away from the neighborhood, and absentee landlords dominated Inman Park, dividing the once elegant homes into small apartments. By the 1950s, the community's turn-of-the-century glory was little more than a memory covered with too many coats of paint.

No one cared enough to protest when the city passed a blanket rezoning ordinance that brought the neighborhood to the lowest point in it's decline - multi family zoning throughout, with many "prime" corner lots available for commercial development. The lake in Springvale Park, clogged with debris, was drained, and the park was cut in half by the extension of Euclid Avenue. Junked cars, piles of trash, and bare dirt yards were a common sight. The owner-occupancy rate declined to a low percentage.

At the time, it seemed a small loss when the Department of Transportation began tearing down houses in preparation for the planned Stone Mountain Freeway and I-485 extension. Happily, in 1969, Robert Griggs spotted the house at 866 Euclid Avenue, jumped out of his car in the rain, and declared that he must have that red Victorian for his own. Inman Park was reborn through the tenacious efforts of the supporters Griggs recruited and the supporters they in turn recruited. Beginning in 1970, the neighborhood association, then called Inman Park Restoration, worked to resolve the Stone Mountain Freeway/I-485 controversy, known in successive years (and configurations) as the Marbut Plan, the Great Park, and the Presidential Parkway. Citizens from Inman Park and neighboring communities fought the idea of a multi-lane limited access commuter roadway through historic Atlanta until 1991 when a compromise was reached that allowed the construction of the more modest Freedom Parkway. This agreement ensured that the proposed right-of-way land in Inman Park would become a public park bordered by a small amount of property for new housing.

In 1973, the western portion of the neighborhood was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In June, 1986, the eastern portion was added to the Register, and in the spring of 2002, Inman Park was locally designated as a historic district under Atlanta's Comprehensive Historic Preservation Program. Inman Park is unusual because Robert Griggs started a renovation movement here, but it isn't unique. Historic restoration and renovation has become a national enthusiasm that can benefit any city.

Savannah, Georgia

Gail Bowman as Owner of Savannah Building and Development and chief stockholder of a holding company, Robert P. Thomas and Associates, began the restoration/renovation program in Savannah, Georgia in 1969 and has been a part of approximately 48 revitalization projects in that historic city. One of her first projects was working with the owner on the historic restoration of the Mercer House. A book and later a movie called "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" was written about this house and its owner, Mr. Jim Williams, and has made this perhaps the most famous house in Savannah at this time. Along with the Junior League, Gail helped to develop the Savannah colors for Martin Senour Paints and researched their history with a local artist, Ann Osteen. The tour bus narrative speaks often about the projects done by Gail and her companies during the waking hours of Savannah's revitalization program. The first of many books and articles written about her work in Savannah was in 1971 in Life Magazine. The work Gail did continues to be a popular subject for authors.

The Mercer House-Renovations completed 1970

Savannah Restoration

Cohen and Troup Rows

This second project in Savannah was on Troup Square on the corner of Charlton and Abercorn Streets. This is a before and after picture as it appeared in Southern Livings March, 1977 issue. Each home was sold and restored individually under the guidance of HUD and Historic Savannah. It was the first major project to be initiated under the new guidelines.

Atlanta, Georgia

The old Nesbit Ferry Farm house on Nesbit Ferry Road was built before the turn of the century. Architective II (now A Design Group) worked with the owners to meticulously renovate this old farm house to it's original splendor. We found that the subfloor built over large old foot adzed beams nestled painfully close to the ground were heart pine and ranged from 12" to 20" wide. We removed the newer flooring on top and carefully added a subfloor beneath the old boards. An old raised panel wainscoting taken from a rural Post Office in south Georgia during it's demolition was found while rummaging with the client in an old demolition yard. It was restored and added to the dining room walls. The owners, who owned a landscaping company and she an engineer, made it a pleasure to work on this project. Later they added an old log cabin to the rear of the house. A 10 page article appeared in Southern Homes about the entire renovation.