The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation rehabilitated and sold two affordable, single-family homes as part of its West Atlanta Preservation Initiative, a program that aims to revitalize neighborhoods affordably and sustainably.
The two houses – located at 1138 Harwell Street, next to the Atlanta Beltline Westside Trail, and 1575 Mozley Place – were sold through a partnership with the Atlanta Land Trust to ensure permanent affordability to buyers who met qualifying income requirements based on area median income averages. Through its Revolving Fund program, the Georgia Trust placed preservation easements on the houses, which will protect them from demolition or insensitive alterations in perpetuity.
In 2018, the Georgia Trust purchased both houses and an undeveloped lot from the family of Harriet and Edward Johnson. Mr. Johnson, a ground instructor in the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II, moved to Atlanta after the war and became the city’s first African American licensed electrician. Mrs. Johnson, a graduate of Spelman College, earned a master’s degree in education and taught kindergarten in Atlanta Public Schools.
“We are so grateful to the daughters of Harriet and Edward Johnson for their generosity of spirit in making the acquisition and rehabilitation of these properties possible,” said Georgia Trust President and CEO Mark C. McDonald.
Both houses underwent a sustainable rehabilitation and served as a pilot project for a residential scale Earthcraft Sustainable Preservation program, a set of construction standards and guidelines created by the Georgia Trust and Southface to make historic buildings more energy efficient.
In 2019, the Georgia Trust donated the undeveloped lot to Habitat for Humanity, which will allow for the construction of an affordable house.
The home at 1138 Harwell Street in Washington Park was sold to Iman Siferllah-Griffin, a professional movement artist and choreographer who has organized and curated workshops and community events in West Atlanta.
Chase Moore and Grace Florio, who both work in the non-profit industry, purchased the house at 1575 Mozley Place, a 1920s bungalow in the Mozley Park neighborhood.
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