Why waste a great garage on a stupid car?

Julia over at Hooked on Houses is hosting her "Hooked on Friday's" blog party. This is my 4th try.

If you are queasy, you'd better leave this page now. You probably don't want to live here. But you might come here to eat, or to drink, or to shop. While here you'll probably muse for a few minutes about what it's like to live here. Let me tell you, it's pretty darn good. This is de facto new urbanism.

Most folks start here young and childless, or they arrive from other "urban" environments.

I want to show you a fantastic little 1930's house in one of Atlanta's best neighborhoods. The listing pictures aren't so good. I pass this one often and enjoy it's straightforward plainness. The sand/white/pink paint scheme makes it pop. You can't use pink in just any neighborhood. And, Donna Pinter's mosaic is just down Barnett street.

This is a facade? Broken hex pavers? Shabby retaining wall? Weak landscape? No setback? This place is great!!

In this neighborhood, the perfect lawn that's is a rarity. This is perfectly fine. Easy to clean gutters too, a necessity with all the trees.

Yuck? Well, here is the craftsman entrance. I spoke with the owner. A builder offered him several thousand dollars for the porch. Said he'd also replace it with a simpler one. No Deal!

It's on the corner so there is no hiding.

Now we're getting somewhere: 3BR, 2 BA, 10 foot ceilings.

Huge garage. But in our neighborhood, who'd waste a garage on a silly car? You can have a workshop, or a studio, or maybe both and a potbelly stove, with a skyline view in the winter.

You'll need a "city" car, a 15 year-old beat up Volvo wagon, to park on the curb.

For this neighborhood, this is a sprawling estate. How about huge mature trees to give you some summertime shade?

What's the deal?: It's across the street from a park, and a short level walk to other parks (including Piedmont Park), schools, churches, bars, restaurants, drug store, hardware, movie theaters, ice cream, hair cuts, blues, people watching...

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Returning control back over to Hooked on Houses is hosting her "Hooked on Friday's" blog party.

Next week, if all goes well, I hope to show you one of the most dignified, humane buildings in Atlanta.