The Pink House

Anyone who has driven along West Paces Ferry Road in Buckhead has driven past the Spanish style home known as the "Pink House" two doors down from the sad replica of "plantation style" architecture known locally as the Governor's mansion. The Pink House sits regally on the corner of Tuxedo and West Paces Ferry across a wide expanse of green lawn. It's one of the prettiest homes in the entire city and also one of the most historically significant.

Ever since the first time I drove past this home, I've plotted ways to sneak in and have a look around. The Pink House, so called because it's original exterior color was pink, was designed and built in 1926 by Philip Schutze and Neil Reid. It has remained in private hands ever since and as far as I know, no one has called this house their home since I've lived in Atlanta. It has been quietly rotting from disuse and a lack of love despite, at least, two previous ill-conceived renovation efforts.

Opportunity Knocks
The Pink House is currently open to the public for the price of admission ($22 per ticket) for Art House 09. This event is sponsored by the Atlanta Gallery Association and brings together a number of local art galleries and purveyors of overpriced antiques. Participants stake out a plot of space within the house to hawk their wares. 

The home has changed hands a number of times. It was purchased sometime within the last two years by a fantastically wealthy Russian businessman and his wife. The couple had made a fortune (on top of their fortune - gotta have money to make money) in the Florida real estate market and saw an opportunity to restore and flip this magnificent home. Despite what the Art House volunteers tell you, there is absolutely no sign the couple ever lived or planned to live in the home.

The Pink House had previously been owned by a local businessman who had it on the market for years for 10 million dollars, leaky roof and all. In fact, we were told that the place was in such a state of disrepair that a lake formed in one of the main downstairs rooms after every rain shower. The house was a multimillion dollar wreck. 

As if anyone needed any additional evidence that home prices are way way way overvalued, the current owner purchased the home for a song. A mere $4.9 million. After extensive renovations, he put it back on the market for $20 million. Que? That was three months ago. This past month, his asking price was reduced to $10 million and he and his wife immediately started shopping for a home back in Russia for their pending permanent relocation.

Beautiful Bones
It's a magnificent home and one that every architecture and interior design student should tour. Throw out all of the extravagant woodwork, stone, and amenities and you have a structure with beautiful bones. One thing is certain, tour a hundred McMansions and none will have been designed with as much attention to detail as you will find in the Pink House. It's a study in space. The interior layout flows effortlessly from one space to another. It's a big house with big rooms that feel comfortable no matter where you are.  Pocket doors close off each room without sacrificing the "swing" area. High ceilings in all the rooms and vaulted ceilings in the hallways give the home an air of open comfort without making you feel as though you are walking through the cold austerity of an English royal palace. It's simply a comfortable home.

On the third floor, I nearly fell to my knees and wept. The most perfect room I have ever seen opened up before my eyes at the top of a winding staircase. The room was bathed in a magnificent light streaming through a half dozen large sky lights punched through the 15 foot ceiling.  This long rectangular room had a raised platform that extended almost the entire length and most of the width of this 40 foot by 20 foot space. Low shelving lined one wall, a small kitchenette covered in white marble occupied a corner, and on the far end next to the kitchenette was a big bedroom with a seating area and large bathroom. 

This space was an artist's studio. It was set up for a potter, complete with a brand new electric kiln. But, all I could think of was how unbelievable it would be to set up my easel and paint under that miraculous light. It is the perfect room ... for under 11 million dollars.

Improvements
I do have to give the new owners (flippers) credit. While they added a lot of contemporary touches to the home, some spectacular, they managed to upgrade it's features without demolishing the home's soul. It still feels like a beautiful historic home at the same time you are scraping your jaw off the hardwood floor after laying your eyes on "improvements" like the circular, room-sized bathtub in one of the master bedrooms.

As impressive as the renovation of the home is, in my opinion, the most impressive improvement is buried in the front yard. The owners dug twenty-two individual wells in the front yard. These wells provide the energy that now powers the home. Thanks to geothermal energy, the home's monthly maintenance costs have been reduced from $6500.00 per month to $150.  No kidding. 

Another interesting side note: No doubt the wealth necessary to build, maintain, and improve a home like this is a step beyond even the wildest dreams of most people. But, if you are a home owner, be thankful that the property you own doesn't reside next door to the Pink House. No one likes to pay property tax, but what you and I pay is a drop in the bucket compared to homes residing in Atlanta's most expensive zip code. Property tax for the Pink House is a yearly dip into the pocket book that will cost the next owner a measly $175,000.00. Buckhead is a money making machine for the City of Atlanta ... So, why then, has the city been hundreds of millions of dollars in debt for as longer as I can remember?

ArtHouse 09 ends Februrary 8th. Go visit. It will, in all likelihood, be the last time common folk will have an opportunity to see the interior of this magnificent historic Atlanta home.