580 Linwood

I’ve heard a few different stories about how the Atlanta neighborhood we live in, called Poncey-Highlands, came to be. But have yet spent any amount of time digging through city records and so forth to find out for myself. What I do know is that our place was built in 1935. And that by the 60’s the future wasn’t looking to bright for this part of Atlanta. A Toll road had been proposed and then in the 70’s it was to be a freeway. This new east-west corridor for Atlanta drivers was to cut through many established and historical areas. The State of Georgia, Fulton County, Atlanta and many influential people and organizations pressed on. Even condemning homes and buying right-of-ways. Of which our house and land around was part of. Thankfully, a coalition of concerned residents from around the city banned together and successfully fought against the development of the freeway. But it took decades to accomplish and wasn’t until 1991 that an agreement was reached to build what is now called Freedom Parkway. During that time and from the records I have found so far, our house was owned by the State or GA DOT, who owned it first and before the DOT I don’t know yet. Then the house and land it sat on, but not the part of the original lot that you would consider the backyard, was sold to the owner we bought the house from. Then in 2004 Darell and I looked at the house and by January 2005 were the new owners of it and the piece of property behind the house, aka the backyard, which the GA DOT sold back to the previous owners before we closed.

In buying the house we figured after a year or two we would put some more money into it and make our own changes to the house (like just about any buyer of a 70 year old house would think.) Previous changes have been done to the backside of the house, possibly as a result of the DOT freeway project, to the kitchen and a conversion of the attic into a large bedroom with small bath. Making the house a two/two. Back in late 2004 when we were looking at the place we figured we would end up with at least a 3/3 which would include a new kitchen and updated master suite made out of the upstairs bed/bath area.