157 Eleanor St SE: $1,350/month
This beautiful Victorian cottage exudes personality and crafted ornate detail;
it dates to circa 1906. This cottage has just undergone a signature Laughing
Sun renovation and is located just blocks from Kirkwood’s new $10 million
dollar business district and is in short walking distance to bars and restaurants.
This Kirkwood cottage boasts fantastic architectural pieces, soaring ceilings,
luxurious amenities like a marble master bath, gorgeous custom built heart of
pine kitchen with sumptuous granite countertops, and stained glass galore. It
also has spacious sunny rooms, antique refinished oak floors, four stunning
antique pine fireplaces with gorgeously restored mantels and antique glazed
tiles, refinished heart of pine doors with jewel-like refinished door hardware,
original restored windows, and a wonderful cottage garden. This cottage even
has its own rare Victorian styled two-car garage behind the custom stockade
fence. The garden has clearly evolved over the last century and features a mature
fruiting fig tree, a golden delicious apple tree, day lilies, heirloom roses,
irises, yucca, nandinia, dogwood trees, and lots of other flowers and shrubs.
Laughing Sun Renovations restored this house to its former glory, while updating
the property with all new systems (new plumbing, HVAC, electrical), completing
extensive structural work and insulation, new roof and sheathing, a rebuilt
front porch, and a large deck. We altered the floor plan to create a welcoming
open entertainment home featuring a dream-inspiring master suite and lovely
custom gourmet kitchen. The home is outfitted with both historic stained glass
and custom designed stained glass pieces, octagonal cedar shingles, and decorative
gingerbread. The front yard is encircled by a historic appropriate Victorian
black metal fence. The final effect is a jewel set in a garden of flowers.
The house is located in the historic Kirkwood neighborhood. You can walk to
Kirkwood's huge fabulous business district which features restaurants, bars,
& shops, hair salons and specialty shoppes. To name a few: Vinocity (and
upscale restaurant and wine bar), Le Petite Marche (French eatery and specialty
shop), Urban Pie Pizza (best pizza in Atlanta), Ace's Bar & Grill (great
sandwiches), Arden's Garden juice shoppe, Takai Atlanta Hair Salon, Gathering
Grounds (our great coffee shop), Jasmin Spa, PB & J Gallery (artwork), Augusta
Designs (custom jewelry), Mission Motif (great mission furniture and lighting),
Gitche Yah Yah (fresh flowers and specialty shop), Kirkwood Feed & Seed
(pet supply place with clawfooted tub dog washing stations), Subway, & BP
gas station. This commercial and residential development includes 12,000 square
feet of retail and restaurant space as well as 23 condos and town homes. The
Kirkwood streetscape was recently rejuvenated with the addition of new brick
sidewalks, historic street lights, and newly planted flowering trees.
Less that 2 miles away, the Edgewood Retail District features the popular stores
Target, Lowe's, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Barnes & Noble, Moe’s Burritos,
Office Depot, Kroger, Petco and many specialty shops. The Oakhurst Village business
district (about a mile east) also offers a growing variety of restaurants and
shops.
Click here
to see the finished floor plan.
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Porch
This typical Southern front porch was inspired by detail-rich Victorian
homes, and uses color to show off the architectural accents. The blue
gingerbread was custom cut with a jigsaw, based on an authentic piece
that we salvaged. The new front porch features classic decorative Eastlake
Victorian handrails milled on site, octagonal cedar shingles in the gables,
and reclaimed Victorian porch brackets supporting the eaves. The custom-designed
stained glass transom
over the large window in the living room features the home's address numbers.
The front door is a lovely restored Victorian piece inset with beveled
glass. This is a porch where you can imagine kicking up your feet in a
swing and enjoying the streetscape and a cold beverage.
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Living Room
The living room is a large
airy space featuring a gorgeous opulently carved Victorian heart
of pine mantel with colorful glazed antique fireplace tiles. High
ceilings, oak floors, the
stained glass transom, and original restored doors will make visitors
say "wow!" The antique front door features beveled glass and
a reproduction doorbell.
The stunning moldings are indicative of the Victorian era: restored antique
crown moldings grace the ceilings and antique fancy fluted casings and
rosettes make every door and window a cause for celebration.
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Dining Room
The living room flows effortless into the dining
room. This entertainment space is the largest room in the house. It
features an original restored heart
of pine mantel, original 2 over 2 window, oak floors, restored antique
chandelier, and fluted casing and bulls eyes. High wood wainscoting
graces the walls. The dining room opens onto the stunning custom kitchen
allowing for easy entertaining and providing the chef with social inclusion
during gatherings. The dining room also has a rare but very convenient
utility closet for storing coats, vacuum cleaners, or anything else that
needs to be tucked away.
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Kitchen
This gourmet custom kitchen
tips its hat to a century past with the heart of pine cabinets milled
from reclaimed structural beams, and re-purposed antique heart of pine
porch columns used as legs for the breakfast bar. However, this kitchen
is rich with the amenities and luxuries of a modern chef’s kitchen.
The cabinets are topped with lustrous verde butterfly granite and a tumbled
jungle green marble
backsplash. Boasting high-end features such as flush inset doors,
an undermount sink,
granite countertops, stainless steel appliances,
and a large pantry
cabinet, this kitchen reflects attention to minute detail. Antique style
clasps hearken back to a farmhouse kitchen and a restored French door
opens out onto a large entertainment deck and a lovely private backyard
with fruit trees.
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Public Bathroom
This classic, dramatic black and white bathroom features a reclaimed stained
glass transom, antique oak flooring, an antique
medicine cabinet, and period style plumbing fixtures. The shower walls
are a beautiful pattern of subway tile and black and white checkerboard,
evocative of old Atlanta. The shower floor is tiled in a black and white
marble checkerboard mosaic. The dusky historic blue paint in this room
makes the monochromatic tile pop.
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Front Bedroom
This large, sunny bedroom peers
out on the cottage garden through an originally located diamond shaped
Queen Anne window. When
we purchased the house the glass was missing, so we commissioned our stained
glass artist to create a new piece for the space. Gorgeously restored
6 panel doors with antique door hardware, a restored
mantel with crackled antique fireplace tiles and cast iron surround,
and refinished oak floors are some of the features of the bedroom. This
bedroom also has a rare feature for a vintage house: double closets!
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Master Suite
This large private suite is tucked off the rear of the house and is outfitted
with an ornate heart of pine mantel
with carved Corinthian columns, antique crackle fireplace tile, and a
curved cast iron surround. Like the rest of the house, the master has
beautiful antique crown molding, dramatic window and door moldings, and
oak floors.
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Master Bathroom
A spacious luxurious bathroom
adjoins the master bedroom. It boasts gorgeous marble tile, an extra deep
tub, luxurious double shower heads, an antique medicine cabinet, and a
late 1800s beveled
glass transom, which sheds lots of light into the shower without compromising
privacy. Off to the left hand side of the bathroom is a large walk-in
closet.
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Deck & Backyard
Through the restored French door off the rear of the kitchen is a perfectly
sized brand new entertainment deck with wonderful views of the backyard.
We’ve installed gutters over the deck to shed water away from it.
The deck adjoins the backyard by original brick stairs. This lovely
backyard features three edible mature fruit trees: a fig tree, a golden
delicious apple tree, and a pecan tree. The custom built fence in the
backyard is a classic design with heavy-duty gates to secure your dogs
in the yard.
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Garage
A rare commodity in turn of the century neighborhoods, this home features
a two car garage with Victorian styling and a concrete floors, and glass
windows. We have restored the garage by installing a new roof and trimming
it out with Victorian shingles to meld it to the style of the main house.
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The Neighborhood
Kirkwood (established 1899) is one of Atlanta's oldest suburbs and is located
between downtown Atlanta & Decatur. In recent years, this neighborhood has
experienced a dramatic renaissance as demand for homes has skyrocketed as professionals
return to intown communities to reclaim the strong sense of community that they
lost in the suburbs. Many residents belong to the active Kirkwood
Neighbors' Organization, which holds monthly meetings. Beautiful victorian
homes are mixed in among Craftsman bungalows and American Foursquares, and many
of these gorgeous homes have been painstakingly renovated. Historically appropriate
new construction is taking place on virtually every available empty lot.
New commercial development is taking place in the area as well. The Kirkwood
business district is in the process of a radical transformation. Development
is underway on Kirkwood Station along Hosea L. Williams Drive, a new multi-use
development including retail and restaurants. The Kirkwood streetscape has also
been recently revitalized with new sidewalks, street lights, and tree plantings.
Another major new development has recently opened at the intersection of Hosea
L. Williams Boulevard and Moreland Avenue (the Edgewood
Retail District). It includes major retailers (Target; Lowe's; Bed, Bath
& Beyond; Barnes & Noble; Office Depot; Kroger; Petco) plus many other
businesses. The Oakhurst
Village business district (about a mile east) also offers a growing variety
of restaurants and shops.
Area amenities include: Bessie
Branham Park (an excellent neighborhood park with tennis courts, a new playground,
and a recreation center center); the Charlie
Yates Public Golf Course at East Lake; and the excellent East
Lake Family YMCA -- which opened in 2001. Residents of 30317 are eligible
to send their children to the Charles
R. Drew Charter School, an Edison
Partnership school that focuses on reading and math, offers an extended
day and extended school year, emphasizes technology, and promises a caring and
committed staff of teachers. Kirkwood and the surrounding neighborhoods are
served by the East Lake and Edgewood/Candler Park MARTA
rail stations. The neighborhood is also located on the PATH,
a multi-use urban trail that is enormously popular with local cyclists, runners,
walkers, and in-line skaters.
Quick Reference:
Where is this house? This house is located at 157 Eleanor St. SE in the historic
Kirkwood neighborhood of the City of Atlanta (DeKalb county 30317)
See a Google
map of the area
See a Google
satellite photo
Local Government: DeKalb
County - City of Atlanta - Neighborhood
Planning Unit (NPU) O
Public Schools: Toomer Elementary School - Coan
Middle School - Grady High School | for information on these schools, check
out the Atlanta Public Schools web
site; Drew Charter School (a
public k-5 charter school to which residents of 30317 may apply)
Neighborhood Associations: Kirkwood Neighbors' Organization
Transportation: Metropolitan
Atlanta Rapid Transit Association (MARTA); Hartsfield
International Airport
Area Amenities: Bessie
Branham Park (with Recreation Center); DeKalb Memorial Park; Wesley
Coan Park; East Lake Park; Charlie
Yates Public Golf Course; East
Lake YMCA; Atlanta-Fulton Public
Library (Kirkwood Branch); Edgewood
Retail District; Oakhurst
Village; Downtown Decatur
Contact
Kara: 678.595.0038
kara@laughingsun.com
