This morning I attended a proud moment in a neighborhood Northeast of Midtown Atlanta. Northwoods Subdivision is located in Doraville, an ITP (Inside The Perimeter) city in the Metro Atlatna Area! The Mayor of Doraville, Donna Pittman was on hand to cut the ribbon on one of several new community signs that have been installed in this unique neighborhood.
The residents of the Northwoods Subdivision have worked for the past couple years to raise the funds to install these unique neighborhood entrance signs, which reflect on the Mid-Century modern homes that can be found in this area! The neighborhood has been nominated to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the community is just waiting to receive that designation.
The community has even created a website, Doraville Life Modern Living in Metro Atlanta.
Besides its incredible location (tucked off of I-285 and I-85), the community really does have a uniqueness. Northwoods is the first Planned Unit Development (PUD) in the entire state of Georgia! The community first broke ground in 1952, with local contractor Walter L. Tally when the entire area was pretty much all woods.
But after a period of slow sales of the traditional ranch homes, he recruited 2 recently graduated Georgia Tech architects, Ernest Mastin and John Summer to offer variety. Mastin and Summer designed state of the art, modern homes that would eventually sell before they were even finished. Northwoods boasted 6 floor plans, mostly ranch style, and Better Homes and Gardens even featured a Northwoods home in one of its 1953 editions, with an affordable starting price of $10,000.
Originally envisioned as a housing community for General Motors executives due to its proximity to PDK and the GM facility, Northwoods Subdivision became such a popular place to live that it grew to over 700 homes by the subdivision’s completion in 1962. Northwoods featured its own parks, tennis courts, shopping center, church, service station, professional building and school. John Portman, a fellow classmate of Mastin and 
Summer, and who would go on to achieve worldwide acclaim for his architectural work, was hired to design the two main schools in the neighborhood (currently known as Carey Reynolds Elementary and Sequoyah High School).
Some of the original home owners still live in Northwoods and many of the homes retain their original character, including original hardwood floors, pink or blue bathrooms and retro appliances.
For home buyers looking for incredible values and Mid-Century architecture, Northwoods Subdivision is the place to be.
Congratulations to the residents of this neighborhood in seeing this sign project and historic designation come together!
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