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Typical house in Brookwood Hills
Historic District
NPS Photograph by Jody Cook
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Brookwood Hills is a well-defined residential area that incorporates
the major architectural, landscape and planning elements of suburban
development of the early 1920s. In 1912, Benjamin F. Burdett and
a partner had purchased approximately 50 acres of land from the
A.J. Collier estate. Early in the 1920s Burdette joined George Washington
Collier, Jr., who owned some 25 acres directly south of the Burdette
holdings, to jointly develop 65 acres as a suburban subdivision
called Brookwood Hills. Brookwood Hills was developed in a series
of phases over a period of years. Phase I included the development
of Huntington Road, Palisades Road, Woodcrest Avenue and Northwood
Avenue. The area was substantially developed and homes sold by 1924.
Civil engineer O.F. Kauffman, who previously worked for the Druid
Hills Company planning its suburban community, drew the plat
for the subdivision. The curvilinear design for Brookwood Hills
clearly reveals the influence of Frederick Law Olmstead's principles,
although on a reduced scale, with whom Kauffman worked on the development
of Druid Hills. The second phase of development at Brookwood Hills
proceeded from 1924 to 1930. Development occurred along Wakefield
Drive, Camden Road, Brighton Road and the northern portion of Palisades
from Huntington Road to Wakefield Drive. Overall, the historic district
encompasses approximately 90 acres and includes more than 250 residences,
a large recreation area and two distinctive bricked and landscaped
entranceways to the subdivision.
Houses in Brookwood Hills, and
curvilinear street pattern
NPS Photograph by Jody Cook
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The general development density in the first phase of construction
provided an air of urbanity amidst the semi-rural setting. Building
lots in Phase II were primarily rectangular in shape, and all the
homes in this section give the impression of facing inward toward
the middle, or center, of the subdivision. The residences of Brookwood
Hills are diverse in style, scale and building materials, and reflect
a full range of early 20th-century architecture. Eclectic styles and
elements are represented by Tudor, Colonial, Neoclassical, Bungalow,
and Cottage styles. A variety of building materials, clapboard, brick,
stone, clay roof, and slate roofing add to the architectural diversity.
This diversity of stylistic expression is furthered by the range of
scale in the residences--varying from one-story bungalows and cottages
to two-and three-story spacious Colonial and Tudor mansions.
Brookwood Hills Historic District, east of Peachtree Rd., is
roughly bounded by Huntington Rd. to the south and east, Northwood
Ave. and Montclair Dr. on the west, and Brighton Rd. to the north.
The houses in the district are private residences and are not open
to the public. Visit www.brookwoodhills.com for information on community
events.
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