Community Corner

New Owners to Turn Historic Craigie House into Single-Family Home

Midtown property, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, had been named a "place in peril" by The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation in 2011.

In recent months, Midtowners have watched the McCord Apartments – designed by noted architect Neel Reid in 1923 –  demolished on 7th Street, and learned that soon two-thirds of the Landmark Crum & Forster building on Spring Street will suffer a similar fate.

But it appears that the historic Craigie House across from Piedmont Park has been saved.

As first reported this week by the Atlanta Business Chronicle, the former location of Georgia's first chapter house of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) organization, was sold this month to Bert Sanders and Laura Koch, who intend to turn the house and property into a single-family residence.

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There had been concerns from preservationists that the home, built in 1911, would ultimately face the wrecking ball because it didn’t have any historic protections. But those concerns have been eased after the Morningside couple purchased the home last week for a reported $350,000.

“We've always loved that beautiful place," Sanders told the Chronicle. "We look forward to being responsible for bringing it back.”

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The house, which had not been designated as a local landmark by the Atlanta Urban Design Commission, was the second chapter of the DAR established in the country. Reportedly parts of the original Craigie House, which was the Massachusetts State building at the 1895 Cotton States Exposition, were moved to the site from Piedmont Park. The building was used by DAR until 1985 when it was damaged by a fallen tree. 

In 2001, Inman Park Properties purchased the property, located at 1204 Piedmont Avenue just north of 14th Street, but it later fell into foreclosure. Two years ago, the Craigie House was named a “place in peril” by The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation. And even though it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, such a designation offered it no protection from being taken down.

But with the new local owners, that appears no longer an issue for now.

Are you pleased with these new developments for the Craigie House? Let us know in the comment section below.


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