In order to save an historic Buckhead home, movers are going split it apart and put it back together again.
Buckhead Heritage Society reported Aug. 1 that preparations were under way for moving the historic Randolph-Lucas House from 2500 Peachtree Road to its new site in Ansley Park. At that time, no date had been set for the move.
“Last week, Complete Demolition Services began interior preparations for the relocation, including removing doors and baseboards on the second floor,” Buckhead Heritage said in a press release. “These features have been systematically numbered to facilitate reinstallation.”
The contractor planned to remove the brick exterior of the house and then reassemble the bricks on the new site.
The 1924 home is currently located at the intersection of Peachtree Road and Lindbergh Drive, just north of the Peachtree Battle Shopping Center.
“Although moving a historic building intact is always preferred, partial disassembly is a tried-and-true preservation approach,” Wright Mitchell, president of Buckhead Heritage, said in a press release.
“Our community benefits from two well-known examples of historic buildings, the Tullie Smith Farm and The Estate, formerly known as Anthony’s Restaurant, that were dismantled, moved to Buckhead, and reassembled. We look forward to seeing the Randolph-Lucas House return to its former appearance within the compatible streetscape of Ansley Park.”
Noted Atlanta architect P. Thornton Marye designed the Georgian-Revival style home for Hollins Randolph, a great-great-grandson of Thomas Jefferson, based on Randolph’s ancestral home near Charlottesville, Va. Margaret Lucas owned the house until her death in 1987.
The house was moved in 1998 – although only a few dozen feet – to make way for the 2500 Peachtree Road condominium project.
The condo association agreed to maintain the home and use it for functions, but the maintenance required quickly became cost-prohibitive and the house fell into disrepair.
Last fall, the 2500 Peachtree Road Condo Association was issued a demolition permit by the city of Atlanta. They offered to give the home away for free if someone would move it to a new location by the end of this summer.
Collin Kelley contributed to this report.