506 Sydney Street
Having lived in Grant Park on Cherokee Avenue since 1991, Wade Marrionneaux sold his beloved home and left for a five-year stint to Sydney, Australia in 2002. When he returned with his partner, Darren Wegg, he knew they’d both be headed back to Grant Park. He missed living in a neighborhood that felt like “a small town in a big city.” Plus, Grant Park still offered one of the most economical price points in Atlanta for a historic home on a public park. So, in 2007, Wade and Darren purchased 506 Sydney and began the task of making it their own.Built around 1910 as a Transitional Craftsman bungalow, the home had many traditional Victorian features – such as the wide central hallway, high ceilings and detailed woodwork – as well as architectural elements from the emerging Arts and Crafts movement, like diamond-paned windows, a symmetrical façade and a hip roof with central gable. Over the years, however, many of the interior elements had been stripped from the home, while the exterior and architectural features fortunately remained largely intact.
After closing on the home, Wade and Darren began the daunting task of painting the exterior from “Halloween-orange” to a more subtle and regal gray with white trim. Also on the list was relocating the back exterior door so that visitors could literally stand on the front porch and look all the way through the house to the back yard. One of the biggest tasks was taking the rotten deck down to the support posts and building their now-favorite spot on the back of the house – a covered, screen-in back porch. The porch overlooks the manicured back yard and garden that, just two years ago, sported one lonely oak sapling.
As for the interior, one of the features that sealed the deal was the true master suite with the full-sized bath and large closet, an amenity that’s hard to find in a 100-year-old home. Also, the previous homeowner had replaced much of the missing millwork, hardware and doors, all of which worked with Wade and Darren’s style and sensibility. In fact, Darren, who is Australian, found an opportunity to incorporate many of his Aboriginal art pieces throughout the home, while Wade secured a perfect spot for his great, great, great, great, great grandfather Francois Marrionneaux’s portrait in the front hall.
And the best feature of all? The chickens! After visiting a few other neighborhood poultry enthusiasts, including GardenHood, Wade and Darren decided to try their luck with the growing trend. Today, their seven-member flock includes: a Buff Orpington and a Black Orpington; an Ameraucana and an “Easter Egger,” both of which lay blue eggs; a Silver-Laced Wyandotte; a Blue Barred Rock; and the favorite of the bunch, a Rhode Island Red hen appropriately named “Mrs. Feathers.”
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