Druid Hills Tour of Homes - Special Section, April 2022

Celebrating Parks for All People

Frederick Law Olmsted, considered the father of landscape architecture, designed some of America’s most preeminent greenspaces: Central Park in New York City, Prospect Park in Brooklyn, the Emerald Necklace in Boston, the grounds of the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, and the grounds of the United States Capitol in Washington D.C.

In 1892, while finishing the Biltmore Estate, Olmsted was invited to Atlanta by developer Joel Hurt to design his latest planned community, Druid Hills. The centerpiece of the neighborhood would be a series of linear parks along Ponce de Leon Avenue. It would be Olmsted’s last commission before his death in 1903.

As with all his designs, Olmsted’s main goal, no matter what and where he was working, was to attempt to change American society for the better. He used his landscape designs to promote harmony, health and social democracy and believed that parks and greenspace were a place for all people to come together, build community and connect on common ground.

A group of neighborhood organizations has come together to represent Druid Hills as part of the National Birthday Celebration for Olmsted’s 200th Birthday. The group is comprised of representatives and volunteers from Olmsted Linear Park Alliance, Druid Hills Civic Association, Emory Village Alliance, Olmsted Plein Air Invitational, Druid Hills Golf Club, South Fork Conservancy, The Frazier Center, Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, The Lullwater Garden Club, Fernbank, Emory University, and the schools and churches within Druid Hills.

Olmsted’s 200th birthday will be celebrated at the spaces he designed across America this year. Turn the page to find out more about the celebratory events in Druid Hills.

Collin Kelley

A series of events are planned in April to commemorate the 200th birthday of Druid Hills designer Frederick Law Olmsted. Mark your calendar for these and be sure to visit atlantaolmsteadpark.org/olmsted200 to find even more by partner organizations.

Olmsted 200 Tennis Tournament

Olmsted Linear Park Association is partnering with the Druid Hills Golf Club to host the Olmsted 200 Tennis Tournament to benefit the park and commemorate Frederick Law Olmsted’s 200th birthday on April 25. The tournament will have two sessions: 5 to 6:30 p.m. and 6:30 to 8 p.m. This is a mixed doubles event limited to 44 players each session, so register early to reserve your slot. Players will be partnered up by their USTA level unless specified otherwise. This is a fun, charitable event and each registrant will receive a swag bag. Food and drinks will also be available. Register at atlantaolmstedpark.org.

Historic Druid Hills Home & Garden Tour

Twelve historic homes and gardens in the Olmsted-designed Druid Hills neighborhood will be showcased at the 52nd annual event, which returns after a two-year pandemic hiatus. Find out more about the tour and homes on page 38 and purchase tickets at Eventbrite.com.

Olmsted Plein Air Invitational

Painters will be setting up their easels around Intown from April 16 - 24 for the 8th annual Olmsted Plein Air Invitational. The painting extravaganza will offer a series of experiential and educational events for artists, collectors, and admirers. Painting sessions will be held in the invitational’s namesake, Olmsted Linear Park in Druid Hills. For more details, visit olmstedpleinair.com.

Olmsted Linear Park Artists Market

Head over to Dellwood Park from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on April 30 for great shopping from local artisans, kids’ activities and more.

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Olmsted 200th Birthday Gala at Callanwolde

Celebrate Olmsted’s birthday in style on April 26 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at this black-tie optional soiree at the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, 980 Briarcliff Road. The evening will featuring live jazz music from Joe Gransden and culinary treats by Zest, along with beer and wine options. The event will be both indoors and outdoors, with COVID-19 protocols in place. Tickets range from $125 to $500 and are available at Eventbrite. com.

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Frederick Law Olmsted (FLO) was a 19th-century innovator, author, city planner and founder of landscape architecture whose remarkable landscape designs have literally changed the face of America.

Olmsted and the Olmsted Firm developed beautiful and functional landscapes throughout the nation, including parks and parkway systems, diverse recreation areas, college and institutional campuses, urban and suburban areas, planned communities, estates, cemeteries and specialized landscapes for arboreta and expositions. Olmsted envisioned the preservation of America’s great scenic features for the enjoyment of all Americans and his son (FLO, Jr.) played a critical role in the creation of the National Park System.

Olmsted and the Olmsted Firm undertook nearly 6,000 projects over a period of 100 years. These designs can still be enjoyed coast to coast – from New York’s Central Park to Palos Verdes in California. These landscapes are part of America’s cultural heritage.

“Communitiveness,” a word coined by Olmsted, was the bringing together of groups and individuals for the betterment of all. Nothing exemplifies that more than Olmstead Linear Park, the centerpiece of the Druid Hills neighborhood.

The park is divided into six segments –Springdale, Virgilee, Oak Grove, Shadyside, Dellwood, and Deepdene – along Ponce de Leon Avenue. Children ride their bikes, exercise enthusiasts run along the paved pathways, and dogs and their owners enjoy a leisurely stroll through the old-growth forest. Some of the trees in the park are more than 275 years old.

Sandra Stewart Kruger, executive director of the Olmsted Linear Park Alliance (OLPA), said the 45-acres of greenspace had proven, once again, their vitalness to not only Druid Hills but the entire city.

“The park has been a wonderful oasis for visitors who needed to be outside, spend time with their families, and shake off the COVID-19 mess,” Kruger said. “We even had home school and pop-up classrooms.”

It’s hard to believe that the lush park was ever considered disposable, but after decades of neglect, the park was almost lost to a highway project.

“The state thought the park wasn’t important because it had become a place to avoid,” Kruger said. “There had been erosion, people parked their cars in there, modifications that weren’t part of Olmsted’s design had been made, and it was just dilapidated.”

In 1997, the OLPA was formed as a public-private partnership to return the park to Olmsted’s original vision. Through a series of capital campaigns, OLPA raised more than $10 million to ensure the restoration and preservation of the park.

Kruger calls Olmsted a visionary.

“There are all these spaces across the nation we have today because of his vision,” she said. “Olmsted was an abolitionist, fought for social justice, and believed parks and greenspaces should be accessible for everyone. That is definitely something to celebrate in the environment we are in today.”

For more about the OLPA, visit atlantaolmsteadpark.org.

‘Communitiveness’

Olmsted’s last park was almost lost, but the community rallied to save it 8

Hammersmith Proudly presents the 2022 Druid Hills Home & Garden Tour

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The 52nd annual Historic Druid Hills Home & Garden Tour coincides perfectly with the Olmsted 200 celebration with a showcase of 12 of the neighborhood’s most notable dwellings.

According to tour organizer Kit Eisterhold, a real estate advisor with Engel & Volkers Atlanta, this year’s tour has some of Druid Hills’ most beautiful homes, including the “Driving Miss Daisy” house at 822 Lullwater Road.

Now owned by Jim and Cyndy Roberts, the Tudorstyle home has been virtually unchanged since it was built in 1920 and when it was used as the home of the title character in the Academy Award-winning film starring Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman.

maples. Golf legend Bobby Jones was married in that garden.”

Famed architect Neel Reid designed the French Manor home at 1348 Fairview, which Eisterhold calls “one of the finest in the neighborhood.” It was originally owned by an heir to Rich’s Department Store.

For Tour & Ticket information

Another noted architect, Arthur Neil Robinson, designed the Tudor at 1296 Fairview, which comes with a scandalous history. Eisterhold said C.S. Carnes, an accountant for the Southern Baptist Convention, bought the home with embezzled funds that in today’s dollars would amount to more than $12 million.

Eisterhold described the Tudor-style “estate home” at 1741 S. Ponce, which faces Olmsted Linear Park, as a “showstopper.”

Eisterhold said another tour-stop not to miss is the garden at 797 Springdale. “It’s famous in the neighborhood for having tensof-thousands of bulbs planted and Japanese

Tour hours are 1 to 5 p.m. on April 29; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on April 30; and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on May 1. Tickets are $35 and available via Eventabrite.

797 Springdale

956 Springdale

2026 North Ponce

2016 North Ponce

1200 Ponce

822 Lullwater

1741 South Ponce

995 Springdale

1783 South Ponce