The team behind the first neighborhood of Atlanta tiny homes under 500 square feet continues to build a community of modern dwellings in a setting that starkly contrasts the big city.
About two hours north of Atlanta, or roughly 15 minutes from Blairsville, The Nest at Brannon Ridge Reserve is marketed as an eco-conscious community like no other in the North Georgia Mountains, an increasingly popular second-home destination for Atlantans, Floridians, and others with the means.
The Nest, for short, is being developed by Atlanta native Kim Morrison, founder of Tiny South, a MicroLife Institute board member, and general advocate for minimized living.
Closer to home, Morrison’s company is finishing the truly tiny Cottages on Vaughn in Clarkston, with plans still in development for 40 homes under 1,000 square feet in East Point.
Back in 2019, The Nest was initially planned to offer smaller home options around 1,000 square feet in the high-$200,000s. Escalating material costs and the ballooning price of labor in the mountains made that impossible, Morrison and her sales team have said.
Designed by Atlanta's Pattern r+d, the model Finch floorplan was the first home finished. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta
The Nest’s larger floorplans are now priced in the high $500,000s, depending on which pre-platted lot is chosen (37 were available originally, ranging from 3/4 to more than 2 acres).
More recently, The Nest has begun offering a smaller floorplan—the 1,040 square foot The Sparrow—in an effort to tamp down entry-level costs.
Wrapped in modern cement board and cedar shiplap, The Sparrow plan has two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a starting price around $370,000.
The Nest's latest floorplan, The Sparrow, is space-conscious but doesn't qualify as tiny. Courtesy of The Nest at Brannon Ridge Reserve; designs, Yamaguchi Martin Architects
How The Sparrow's 1,040 square feet are arranged. Courtesy of The Nest at Brannon Ridge Reserve; designs, Yamaguchi Martin Architects
Other floorplans in North Georgia’s first all-solar community—as illustrated with a handful of finished homes shown in the gallery above—range from the 1,199-square-foot, two-bedroom The Finch, up to the 1,500-square-foot The Starling, which can be configured with either two or three bedrooms.
As officials with broker Harry Norman Realtors note, each floorplan can be built on a full basement to double the bedroom count—for a price. Atlanta firm Crazy Good Designs has been tapped to customize each interior for buyers.
Views from The Finch's deck in late autumn.Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta
Another finished example is The Wren floorplan. This one has the basement option, bringing square footage to about 2,300. Courtesy of The Nest at Brannon Ridge Reserve
It’s a stretch to call this the “exurbs,” as a recent email from Harry Norman announcing the smaller options does, but we’d agree The Nest isn’t exhaustively far from ATL, and is close to happening mountain towns, “yet far enough away to feel like a getaway."
• Atlanta-style luxury condos bound for the North Georgia Mountains (Urbanize Atlanta)
• The Nest at Brannon Ridge Reserve (website)
