Donnie Sievers didn't have to look far to find a house. Her 1959 East Point brick ranch is just across the street from the house where she grew up. She not only knew the previous owners, she watched the house undergo changes through the years.

"I've been on this street for all but two of my 37 years, so I knew that the fireplace went where the garage was in the 1970s," said Sievers. She also knew there were interior rock walls, a marble and mahogany bar and a pool in the backyard where she used to swim.

Alison Church / Special (ENLARGE)

Barry and Donnie Sievers' brick ranch home in East Point is across the street from where Donnie grew up.

Alison Church/Special (ENLARGE)

The sun room contains exposed brick and a rock wall.

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She also knew it had been neglected for several years before it went on the market seven years ago. But Sievers and her husband, Barry, were up to the challenges.

"The house hadn't been updated since the 1970s and there were infestations of various kinds," said Sievers with a grimace. "But we knew it had potential. It has great bones, and it was near my parents."

With the help of both sets of parents, the couple tackled most of the work themselves, starting in what was a tiny kitchen. "It was so small you could cook and clean in here without moving your feet," joked Barry Sievers.

The original Frigidaire electric stove still works, though it's almost an antique with oven doors that slide up and burners that slide out of a drawer. It now anchors a side wall and is topped it with a copper vent, but Sievers uses it as much as her more modern gas stove and oven.

"We love it," she said. "It's great to have an extra oven when you have a crowd."

Around a new stove, the couple added a large island with oak molding and stone insets. A double ceramic sink sits below the original window that is now a pass-through to the den. When they couldn't find a refrigerator that would fit the small space allotted, they wound up creating a refrigerator wall where they installed a gigantic fridge-freezer combo. The eating area nearby is still framed by the original tongue-and-groove pine paneling.

A step down leads to the den, where a home office, TV viewing corner and social area are blended into the space that was once a back porch. At the far end of the room is a raised stone and brick fireplace and two leather sofas; in the center are two work stations. The other end of the room houses two comfortable recliners and the TV. Above it all is a beamed and bamboo ceiling. Four picture windows look out into the yard, where a deck and hot tub have taken the place of the filled-in pool.

Off the kitchen is a spacious den with a marble-topped mahogany bar as the showpiece. The brass foot rail below and the "Exit" sign over a nearby door were salvaged from Atlanta's defunct Loew's theater. On the other side of the room is a massive brick fireplace, surrounded by the room's original paneling that Sievers had painted a soft beige. A flat screen TV and oversized recliners make the space "our own little theater," she said.

Behind the den, Sievers transformed a previous owner's wood shop into a master suite, with French doors and a wall of built-in cabinetry. On the opposite side of the house are the original two bedrooms and baths, including the hall bath with its pink and white tiles. The master, done in a pale green, blends with the bath that still sports the original green tile work.

Perhaps the most surprising room in the house is the living room, with its original hardwood floors. But since the couple doesn't have a basement, they've turned the room into their home workout center, with a treadmill, elliptical and TV armoire.

The refurbished house now gives Sievers something to brag about. "I think East Point gets a bad rap," she said. "People never hear about the good stuff. But there are good houses like this and nice neighborhoods that people should know about."

Have a cottage, condo, loft or mansion you want to brag about? Call MetroHome at 678-574-6461 or email hm_cauley@yahoo.com.