Tour Stop Eight: 515 Mead St. SE

A rare contemporary bungalow in the neighborhood, 515 Mead was built from the ground up in 2016 with the owner, Sarah, serving as the architect. The original home on the lot was built in the late 1960s.  It seems this street may have been developed after WWII, since it is not in the historic district, and almost every house on the street originally had the same Cape Cod design. 

When Sarah made the decision to build a home for herself and her children, it was important for them to ensure it would fit into the neighborhood with a welcoming front porch, no front-facing garage, and a traditional gabled roof. On the inside, she chose to incorporate simple versions of a traditional historic home into the design, using stained doors and trim, oversized windows, cabinets that look more like furniture, transoms over the outside doors, rounded corners, white oak floors, and a screen porch. There are also some "new construction" details, such as a raised dishwasher, a large laundry room, wall niches in the office, and lots of storage.  

The first thing you will see as you arrive at the house is some beautiful marble slab pavers. These were salvaged in 2015 from a construction project at 58 Edgewood, which was built in 1929 from the north Georgia marble you see all over downtown. As you continue walking through the home, you will notice the intentional design of consolidating all the living space on the main floor, with a 600 sq. ft. room upstairs that serves as a mix of playroom, exercise area, and crafting space. In addition, a few of Sarah’s favorite elements include the custom cabinets for the kitchen and bathrooms, the full light glass interior doors that allow light to filter through the house, the large backyard, and the floating office divider wall. 

A fresh and modern home that incorporates traditional and historic design concepts is the perfect way to describe 515 Mead.