Recent years have seen large older churches around Atlanta converted into apartments, a food hall, and even a stylish art gallery. But big old mansions? Not so much. 

One such example of a converted mansion is found at the Downing Park project in Druid Hills, which kicked off after demolition of the towering but crumbling Jackson Hill Baptist Church five years ago. 

The pocket neighborhood has replaced the sanctuary with standalone, upscale housing and repurposed a historic, circa-1914 Tudor Revival mansion on a property once collectively known as Pinebloom, at Druid Hills’ border with Candler Park. The 1585 South Ponce de Leon site in question abuts the PATH Foundation’s Freedom Park Trail, with Shady Side Park across the street.  

Sellers with Engel & Völkers Atlanta report the mansion project is down to its last unsold condo, after deliveries began in late 2024. The stately former home was remade into six roomy, for-sale residences overall.   

Pinebloom's Tudor-style mansion and the razed church next door, as seen in February 2020.Google Maps

Courtesy of Engel & Völkers Atlanta/Downing Park

Asking $1.87 million, the last unclaimed condo (unit 19) is the size of a larger intown house (2,955 square feet), spread across two levels that meld “timeless architecture and modern sophistication,” per listings. That buys three bedrooms and three and ½ bathrooms, for a breakdown of $635 per square foot. 

Perks of the gated property include dual primary suites, two original fireplaces, and access to the property’s saltwater lap pool and estate gardens. 

At this price point, the $428 monthly HOA fees probably won’t be a deal-killer, but they’re nothing to sneeze at. 

The condo has been on the market at the same price since late April. 

Inside the Downing Park project's last model home condo, a three-bedroom, three-bathroom option in 2,955 square feet. Asking price: $1.87 million. Courtesy of Engel & Völkers Atlanta

Courtesy of Engel & Völkers Atlanta

The full project is being developed by Joel Reed of Reed and Company, while Atlanta-based TSW architect firm master-planned the Downing Park site and is serving as both architect and landscape architect. Hammertime Construction restored and converted the mansion condos and a carriage house (now standalone housing) located behind them. 

Designed by architect Walter T. Downing, the Tudor home and its carriage house were built in 1914 for Georgia Railway and Power Company president Preston S. Arkwright, while the neighboring Jackson Hill Baptist Church was erected later. 

The Pinebloom property had been up for sale for more than a decade, but concerns about the decaying church building next to the mansion and other circumstances hampered prospective deals. 

According to the Atlanta Urban Design Commission, the original Tudor home and converted carriage house are considered contributing structures to the Druid Hills Landmark District, while the church was not. 

Downing Park marks the second recent repurposing of a historic church property in Druid Hills’ Ponce de Leon Avenue corridor, following Minerva’s conversion of Druid Hills United Methodist Church into condos called 1200 Ponce. Another adaptive-reuse project—a pocket neighborhood called Frederick Trust—now stands next door to Downing Park, just to the east.

Swing up to the gallery for more images and context. 

Recent construction progress on Downing Park's villas (foreground) and the Tudor-style mansion (at left) now adaptively reused as condos in Druid Hills. Courtesy of Monte Hewett

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