More than four years after the project was introduced, finishing touches are underway at a Druid Hills infill development unlike any other in recent memory across Atlanta. 

Downing Park, a blend of four residential typologies that replaced a large church and historic but ailing Tudor Revival estate, has sold out (with one home pending sale), according to listings records. 

The final two properties to take shape—immense single-family dwellings called manor homes at Downing Park’s southern end—now flank a secondary driveway. The largest offering is a six-bedroom manor home with more than 5,000 square feet and a $2.79 million price tag, which is under contract now, per listing agents with Engel & Völkers Atlanta.

The manor homes join 11 large townhome “villas,” the Tudor mansion remade as six condos, and a former carriage house converted into a standalone home at Downing Park. That array of housing surrounds amenities that include a saltwater lap pool, a sunbathing terrace, and outdoor social zones. 

At the southern rim of Downing Park, the two standalone manor houses are shown at left earlier this month. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

The final unsold property at the project (left) is a 5,054-square-foot manor house asking $2.79 million, with a pending contract. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

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 (demolished several years ago) was erected later. The least expensive condos in the former mansion started in the high $500,000s. 

The church and mansion properties were 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.  

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 carriage house are considered contributing structures to the Druid Hills Landmark District, but the church was not. 

Row of villas previously sold out. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

Villas, at right, and condos on a hill. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

Joel Reed of Reed and Company developed the project, while Atlanta-based TSW architect firm master-planned the Downing Park site and served as both architect and landscape architect. Hammertime Construction restored and converted the mansion condos and the carriage house, while Monte Hewett built the new housing. 

Downing Park marks the second repurposing of a historic church property in Druid Hills’ Ponce de Leon Avenue corridor in recent years, following Minerva’s ongoing 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.

Head up to the gallery for a closer exterior look at how Downing Park’s unique infill plans came together, versus project renderings.  

Communal lounge today in the century-old English Tudor Revival property. Courtesy of Engel & Völkers Atlanta/Downing Park

Below is an overview of Downing Park site plans as sales were underway a couple of years ago: 

Downing Park/Engel & Volkers Atlanta

...

Follow us on social media: 

Twitter / Facebook/and now: Instagram  

• Druid Hills news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)