Lifestyle Community: Drew Valley

James Challen and Katie Yopp, who are getting married in September, found a home in Brookhaven’s Drew Valley neighborhood that was built in 1989 and stood out from renovations of homes built in the ’50s. James, 30, a consultant, and Katie, 25, a fourth-grade teacher, chatted about their purchase.

Q: Why did you decide to look now for a home?

James: I just moved from Memphis and got a new job.

Katie: We got engaged in January. James just didn't want to live in an apartment for very long. We were just ready to move into a house.

Q: What did you want in a home?

James: There were certain things we were definitely looking for, like a big backyard for our dog and a deck because we like to grill out a lot.

Katie: We didn't want a busy street. We were looking for at least three bedrooms and two baths.

Q: How did you find the home?

Katie: We went with our Realtor (Lindsey Sanders with Harry Norman Realtors) one evening. We had narrowed a long list down to five. She took us to three or four of those houses. That was right before Christmas. We went to spend Christmas with both of our families. I was in New Orleans, and my stepdad told us we needed to stop talking about this house we liked so much because we didn't own it yet. The day after Christmas, we put a contract on it.

Q: What did you like about it?

James: We liked the fact that it was newly remodeled. It was very open downstairs and good for entertaining. It has an awesome deck and a big backyard.

Katie: There were a lot of really neat things in the house that we didn't see anywhere else. It had a wine cooler in the kitchen. There's a laundry chute. And there's a hot tub. We're right next to the detention pond that DeKalb County just built, so it's really private and there's a lot ducks and geese.

Q: Did you think you would end up with four bedrooms?

Katie: I didn't think we would find a house this nice for our first house.

James: We were incredibly lucky because of our timing, just in terms of where the market is and the historically low interest rates.

Q: What do you like about the area?

Katie: I grew up around here. It's fun to be living around somewhere that when I was younger, it was such a different area and such a different group of people living here. I feel like we've found so many fun little restaurants in this area. There's a walking trail from our house that goes up to the restaurants. It's 21/2 blocks away. We can walk up and eat dinner.

James: You see people walking, there's a ton of young couples out.

At a glance

James Challen and Katie Yopp’s home has four bedrooms, three baths and about 1,650 square feet of livable space, according to tax records. They purchased it in January.

Drew Valley

Address: 2238 Drew Valley Road N.E., Atlanta 30319 (See listing information below)

County: DeKalb

Price range: High $100,000s-high $300,000s

Homes: About 400

Square footage: About 1,300-4,000, on average

Lot sizes: Half to 3/4 of an acre, on average

Amenities: Streetlights

Homeowners fees: None

Schools: Ashford Park Elementary, Chamblee Middle, Chamblee High

More on schools: schools.ajchomefinder.com

Getting there

Take I-85 to I-285 to Exit 32 (Buford Highway) and head south on Buford Highway. Turn right onto Drew Valley Road.

Recent sales

$342,000: 2673 Drew Valley Road N.E., Atlanta 30319. A three-bedroom, two-bath ranch home built in 1958 with a remodeled living room and a new HVAC system and roof.

$279,000: 2077 Drew Valley Road N.E., Atlanta 30319. A four-bedroom, three-bath ranch home built in 1959 with a finished basement and an in-law suite.

For sale