Once Ryan and Brooke Beach, who grew up in suburban Atlanta, experienced inside-the-Perimeter living, the couple wanted to buy a home close to their jobs in Buckhead and with the convenience and community they enjoyed as renters.
“We loved that things were walkable, that you got to know your community,” said Brooke, CEO of Kevy, an Atlanta e-commerce marketing company.
Peachtree Park, the Buckhead neighborhood where they were renting, was out of their price range, though. Brookhaven and Sandy Springs offered older homes with character without drastic commutes for Brooke and Ryan, who works for Pardot. Working with Ginger Lightburn of Village Realty, they considered these three homes.
NO. 1: BIG BACKYARD
A two-bedroom, two-bath home on Standard Drive in Brookhaven boasted a massive backyard that was like a mini-park, Brooke said. The move-in ready home also boasted new granite countertops and hardwood floors. “I loved that house and I loved the street. The street was super, super cute,” Brooke said. The trade-off is that the home was about 1,100 square feet, so they would have to expand for future kids. The brick home, built in 1923, was listed for $345,000.
NO. 2: CRAFTSMAN COTTAGE
A three-bedroom, one-full and one-half bath home on Osborne Road in Brookhaven lacked charm because of its patchwork-like layout and its pallor. The exterior, walls and carpet all were light yellow. “As soon as you walked in, it made everything so small. It was so off-putting that you couldn’t even see past the colors,” Brooke said. The long, gravel driveway lined with oak trees was beautiful, but she was concerned about its location on a main road. The home, built in 1935 in Kendrick Estates, was listed for $375,000.
NO. 3: ROOMY RANCH
The three-bedroom, three-bath home on Mystic Place in Sandy Springs stood out with a yard filled with huge oak trees, Brooke said. The Chastain Park location also offered convenience to restaurants and shops, including the new Sandy Springs Getaway development. The roomy digs included a full basement and screened porch. They would need to update the interiors, though. The home, built in 1955, was originally priced for $565,000.
THE CHOICE
No. 2. “I always watch fixer-upper shows and thought I would never be the wife to say, ‘No, I have no vision here.’ I totally was,” she said. A Sherwin-Williams app that allowed them to virtually change the paint colors and a visit to a Brookhaven dog park, where more than a dozen people introduced themselves, swayed Brooke. They moved in during December 2015, changing the color scheme to gray and white. “Keep an open mind,” she says. “Don’t let aesthetics scare you, because you can change them.”
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