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Amid
Midtown Atlanta’s new luxury
apartments and condominiums,
restaurants and high-rise buildings
lies an unusual piece of prime real
estate. The multi-million-dollar
asking price includes an exceptional
example of Queen Anne architecture, a
two-acre park and a whole lot of
history.
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The
Peters Property (Ivy Hall), 1895
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The Trust for Public Land and The
Georgia Trust are partnering to
purchase the 3.4-acre Peters property
in an effort to save it from
development in this popular area of
the city. The two organizations hope
to raise $2.5 million. They are
optimistic the property will attract a
nonprofit seeking to relocate who will
purchase the property for the balance
of the acquisition cost and then
restore the house (formerly The
Mansion restaurant) and landscaping.
The acquisition and restoration
process could run as much as $7
million. A preservation easement and
open space easement will be retained
on the property.
“Both
the house and the history of the
Peters family are extremely
significant to the state of Georgia
and the city of Atlanta,” says Greg
Paxton, president and CEO of The
Georgia Trust. “With the property in
transition, this represents an
excellent opportunity for a long-term
solution.”
The
Peters House may not be Atlanta’s
most famous house, but its
inhabitants’ influence touches
almost all facets of the city’s
history. With a park-like setting and
the first and one of the finest Queen
Anne houses in the state (built 1883),
the Peters property represents an
opportunity to blend land conservation
and historic preservation in a major
project, as The Trust for Public Land
and The Georgia Trust recently
succeeded in doing with Hardman Farm
at Nacoochee Valley.
The
Peters family name may not ring a
bell, but in the late 19th century
Richard Peters and his offspring set
in motion many events affecting the
entire state. Mr. Peters, as
superintendent of the Georgia
Railroad, spent 10 years building the
rail line and rode the first passenger
train from Augusta to
“Marthasville,” as Atlanta was
then known. It was under his
supervision that the first rudimentary
sleeping car was invented.
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Mr. Peters was also known as an
exponent of scientific agriculture.
From his farm in Calhoun, Gordon
County, he conducted extensive
experiments with grains and grasses,
shipped specimens of peach trees as
far as California and New Zealand, and
in 1854, joined with two other
businessmen to introduce Chinese
Sorgum cane, also called Chinese
sugarcane, to Georgia. Mr. Peters
himself figured out how to process the
cane, which later produced a substance
known as molasses.
Mr.
Peters passed his entrepreneurial
leadership on to his son, Edward, who
with his father founded and became
superintendent of the Atlanta Street
Railroad Company, the city’s first
horse-drawn trolley line—Atlanta’s
first mass transit. The trolley was
initiated to spark development on Mr.
Peters’ property in West End and
later Midtown. Richard Peters owned
what became nearly 65 square blocks
from the eastern edge of Midtown to
Georgia Tech between North Avenue and
Eighth Street. Edward Peters led the
building of “Athletic Park” on
family land near Peachtree Street and
North Avenue, so people would use the
trolley to get to games played by
Atlanta’s first semi-pro baseball
team, which he named the “Atlantas.”
On June 3, 1882, Edward Peters and
city officials laid the ceremonial
blocks to pave the first street in the
city of Atlanta, Alabama Street.
It
was Edward Peters who constructed the
Peters House, then known as “Ivy
Hall,” in 1883 on a block of land
his father gave him and his bride as a
wedding gift. The house was designed
by Gottfried L. Norrman, a prominent
Georgia architect who also designed
such notable buildings as the Windsor
Hotel in Americus, the Church of
Christ Scientist in Atlanta’s Ansley
Park and Fountain Hall on the campus
of Morris Brown College. A house on a
full block was a rarity for its time.
Today it is the only such historic
house in this area of Atlanta. The
house is the city’s foremost
tangible link to the Peters family.
In
2000 a developer sought to build
condos surrounding the house, without
a clear preservation plan for the
historic structure. Since the house is
a local landmark, the decision went
before the Atlanta Urban Design
Commission (AUDC), who vetoed the idea
5-1. The AUDC, however, charged
preservation groups including The
Georgia Trust and the Atlanta
Preservation Center to find a feasible
use for the property while helping its
owner obtain a reasonable return. The
house is now unoccupied after a minor
fire, but it is still in sound
condition.
“This
would probably be the best—if not
the last—opportunity to preserve the
property,” says Russ Marane,
executive director of The Trust for
Public Land. “We are looking for
someone to occupy the house and become
stewards of the property.”
For
more information about the Peters
property, contact Glen Bennett,
Georgia Trust senior director of
preservation services, at
404-885-7804.
This
article was originally printed in the Sept/Oct.
2003 issue of
The Rambler
Learn
more about the Peters family
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