By Sarah Tilton
The Wall Street Journal
STATS: A 6,555-square-foot home with six bedrooms and 5½ baths asking $2.1 million, or $319.60 a square foot. The price was lowered last month from $2.2 million. Property taxes in 2010 were $33,477.36.
Photo by Jamey Guy
Emily Giffin says the desk where she wrote three of her five books is negotiable. The courtyard includes a plunge pool and guest house.
DETAILS: The owners say that visitors to this traditional looking brick home in the historic Brookhaven neighborhood often ask when it was built, and are surprised to hear that the house only dates back to 2000. The original owners built the house to look like the older homes in the area and thus chose a slate roof, mature landscaping and antique doorknobs from a Chicago hotel. The owners, who were expecting twins when house hunting, also liked that the house needed little work. The family room opens onto a garden with a plunge pool, an outdoor fireplace, a grill area and a one-bedroom guest cottage with a bath. There is guest suite over the garage.
SELLERS: Buddy Blaha and his wife, Emily Giffin. Mr. Blaha is president of corporate development for Newell Rubbermaid. Ms. Giffin is the author of five best-selling novels including “Something Borrowed,” which was made into a movie starring Kate Hudson. She’s currently working on her next book, “Where We Belong.” (The desk where she has written three of her five books is negotiable.)
THE NEIGHBORHOOD: “It feels like a neighborhood, not a prefab subdivision where everything looks alike,” says Ms. Giffin, who sometimes writes at the nearby Library Coffee Co., where a large latte is $4.23 (after tax). Dinner at Haven (the dessert menu features fried blueberry pie with blueberry sour cream ice cream) is also just minutes away.
WHAT WE PAID: The couple paid $2.5 million for the house in 2003 and put $150,000 into upgrades.
WHY WE’RE SELLING: The family wants more outdoor space. “Our kids are very outdoor kids,” says Ms. Giffin. “We fell in love with another house on five acres with a pond and a pool.”
WHAT WE’LL MISS: “It’s sentimental because all three of the kids were brought home from the hospital there and my mother lives nearby,” says Ms. Giffin.
WHAT WE WON’T: The allocation of the bathrooms. “It’s a Jack-and-Jill bathroom for our three kids,” says Ms. Giffin. She says that there is nothing wrong with sharing and she shared a bathroom growing up, but considering the number of bathrooms in the house it doesn’t make sense.
OTHERS SAY:Frank Nelson, an agent at Dorsey Alston Realtors, built the house and lived there with his wife until they sold it to the couple while the market was still going up. He thinks the price is fair. “The Atlanta market has been tough. It’s a good number,” he says. Rudy Harrell, an associate broker at Dorsey Alston, agrees. “The price is very competitive with the market,” he says.
For information about this house contact:
Sam Bayne
404-375-8628
sam@atlantafinehomes.com