Howard and Katharine Connell decided they were committed to Atlanta after their October 2012 wedding. The “perpetual renters” in neighborhoods such as Kirkwood and Poncey-Highland discussed their priorities before viewing any properties.
Howard, a professor and managing director of the Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business at Georgia Tech's Scheller College of Business, and Katharine, an attorney in downtown Atlanta, chatted about their century-old Candler Park home. The house came with a bonus, a treehouse, which is on the Oct. 4 Candler Park Fall Fest Tour of Homes.
Q: What were your priorities?
Katharine: Location. We are both native, intown Atlantans and wanted to live in one of the historic intown neighborhoods close to both of our workplaces.
Howard: Top priorities were an intown neighborhood (south of 14th Street) with great public elementary schools. We also both really wanted to be walking distance to restaurants, shops and maybe a MARTA station.
Q: How did you find this home?
Howard: I bought a street-level map and highlighted neighborhoods, school district boundaries and the very small parts of Atlanta that we thought were "in play." We then told our agent not to show us anything that didn't fit. We also let friends and family know.
Katharine: We had been under contract for house in Inman Park that fell through. We were very disappointed. My husband was talking to a friend. She told him, "I think my neighbors are getting ready to sell. Would you be interested in their home?" We had long admired the house from the street, but I was a bit wary after our experience with the first contract. Howard went to see the house while I was out of town and told me, "You have to see this." I visited with our agent and both of us went in feeling very skeptical, but after we finished our tour, she turned to me and said, "This is a great home." I was sold. This house was never even on the market.
Q: What do you love about the home?
Katharine: It is a 120-year-old Victorian house. It had been totally renovated, but it kept all of the charm of the original house (original fireplaces, pocket doors, heart of pine floors). I had described, before we started looking, what my dream home was. Really, this was it. And we love our bonus treehouse space, which we are currently using for yoga and meditation, but which we hope will be a fun space for our children someday.
Howard: The screened-in back porch is great for early breakfast or a cocktail at dusk, looking out on the backyard but protected from the mosquitos.
Q: What’s a tip for first-time buyers?
Katharine: In a hot market, many homes in the most popular neighborhoods are sold without ever going on the market. Ask your friends who are residents to reach out to their neighbors, or work with an agent who specializes in the area.
Howard: Start talking about the details months in advance. You don't need to agree or decide other than on the deal breakers. But knowing where each other stands on even smaller details helps the process once looking immensely.
At a Glance
Howard and Katharine Connell’s home, built in 1895, has four bedrooms, three baths and about 2,800 square feet. They purchased it in July 2014, assisted by Emily Bernstein and Stacy Tunick of Keller Knapp Realty. Four-bedroom homes in Candler Park, in DeKalb County, range from the $400,000s to the mid-$800,000s.
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