Family falls in love with Druid Hills home

Q. When did you start looking?

Michael: I wasn’t in the position to buy a house a few years ago, and I saw this house ... and I really just liked it. We got engaged [at the] beginning of 2010, set a date for October and ... I saw that the house was for sale again. We decided to call the real estate agent. We went to take a look at it and [Aja] really liked it, too.

Q. Was it hard for your daughters to move, even though it was close by?

Michael: I talked to my 10-year-old [Miller] and told her, “Hey, we’re thinking about moving.” She immediately got very upset. We made an appointment to see the house at 5 p.m. on the day after. I said, “Let’s just take a look at the house.” ...  We went over there, and they [Miller and 8-year-old Ella] just went in the house and ran around and around and around. They ran up to me 5 minutes later, and Miller was like, so when can we move in?

Q. How did the style of the home appeal to you?

Aja: What I like is that even though the house is pretty big and spacious, from the street it looks like a very quaint, understated house. You wouldn’t expect the height of the ceilings [at least 10 feet]. It just looks very cute from the street and not overly grand.

Michael: I love the original hardwoods that are in the house. It was renovated very nicely.

Q. How did you sell in two weeks?

Michael: We really put a lot of work into it. ... Peggy has a stager who came in and consulted with us. She gave us a punch list of things we needed to do. I hired a contractor to come in and do some light repair work. We painted the outside of the house. We replaced the driveway. It was just under the $400,000 price point, which I think included more buyers than if we had priced it at $409,000.

At a Glance

Michael and Aja Pascale’s home, which was built in 1922, has four bedrooms, four baths and about 3,200 square feet of livable space. They purchased it in September.

Druid Hills

County: DeKalb

Information: Druid Hills Civic Association, www.druidhills.org, 404-523-3422

Homes: About 4,000 households, including condominiums

Price range: High $200,000s-$2.65 million (for homes listed on the market)

Lot sizes: Less than one-third acre to more than 3 acres (for homes listed on the market)

Homeowners fees: None

Amenities: Druid Hills Golf Club, parks

Schools: Fernbank Elementary, Shamrock Middle, Druid Hills High

More on schools: schools.ajchomefinder.com

Getting there

The rough boundaries of Druid Hills, whose historic district is on the National Register of Historic Places, are: Briarcliff Road to the northwest, the Fulton County line on the west, just past the Emory Road line to the north and following to the south side of Emory Road, according to the National Park Service.

From I-75 south, take Exit 249D (North Avenue) and travel east. Turn left onto Piedmont Avenue. Travel one block and turn right onto Ponce de Leon Avenue. Take Ponce de Leon Avenue toward Decatur. Turn right onto East Lake Road.

For sale

$389,000: 1606 Emory Road N.E., Atlanta, GA 30306. A three-bedroom, one-bath home built in 1952 with a basement and a deck.

$579,000: 2237 East Lake Road N.E., Atlanta, GA 30307. A four-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath home built in 1925 with a wooded backyard and natural stone throughout.

Recent sales

$322,500: 211 E. Parkwood Road, Atlanta, GA 30030. A four-bedroom, three-bath home built in 1949 with a basement apartment and hardwood floors.

$550,000: 345 Durand Falls Drive, Atlanta, GA 30030. A five-bedroom, three-bath home built in 1964 with screened porch and an unfinished basement.

Community information provided by Peggy Hibbert of Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby's International Realty and compiled by Delaney Young.