Community Corner

Randolph-Lucas House Takes to the Road Tonight

The historic house will be moved from Buckhead to Ansley Park in what's expected to be a six-hour trip starting at midnight.

The historic Randolph-Lucas House will be on the move tonight, heading from its Buckhead location to the Ansley Park neighborhood, the Buckhead Heritage Society announced in a news release today.

Since July work has been done to prepare the house for relocation from 2500 Peachtree Road in Buckhead to 78 Peachtree Circle in Atlanta’s historic Ansley Park neighborhood.

Overnight Traffic Alert

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The house will be transported south on Peachtree Road from its intersection with Lindbergh Drive beginning around midnight on tonight. The house should reach 1301 Peachtree Street, a vacant lot owned by One Museum Square, by 6 a.m. on Saturday morning. This lot is across Peachtree Street from the Woodruff Arts Center.

The house will be moved across this vacant lot on a temporary road to the Peachtree Circle lot, which will be the permanent home of the Randolph-Lucas House.

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 Moving this large a house in one piece is not feasible. Since July, Complete Demolition Services has been preparing the house for the move, including removing the brick façade and the slate roof. The brick veneer will be cleaned and reinstalled after the wood-frame house is set on its new foundation. The slate shingles have also been salvaged for reuse. The exterior windows, doors, and dormers have been removed, carefully labeled, and will be reinstalled at the new location.

The house will be split above the first floor and the roof will be hinged and lowered so that the house can be transported in two separate pieces. The maximum height of each section of the house will be 19 feet. Steel beams and wooden bracing have been installed to stabilize the sections during the relocation.

Low-hanging utility lines and traffic signals will be temporarily relocated during the relocation. Utility crews from Georgia Power; Comcast; AT&T; and the Wright – Brown Electric Co., a City of Atlanta Department of Public Works approved contractor, will accompany the house along its route. They will move any obstructions as the house approaches, and put back the lines and signals as soon as the house moves past the conflict. Police escorts will also accompany the house and temporarily reroute traffic at affected intersections.

Historic Building Will Become Primary Residence

Since February, Christopher Jones and Roger Smith, founders of NewTown Partners, have been working with the Buckhead Heritage Society, the 2500 Peachtree Condominium Association, the City of Atlanta, and other partners to coordinate the logistics of moving the structure, which is a locally designated Historic Building in the City of Atlanta. Jones and Smith will use the house as their primary residence once it is relocated to Ansley Park.

Regarding the relocation, Buckhead Heritage Society President, Wright Mitchell, stated: “The relocation of the Randolph-Lucas House to Ansley Park is the culmination of many months of hard work by Christopher Jones and Roger Smith of NewTown Partners, the 2500 Peachtree Condominium Association, the City of Atlanta and Buckhead Heritage Society. This project sets an example, not only in the City of Atlanta but nationally as well, regarding how creative minds and committed individuals can come together to solve even the most difficult historic preservation problems.”

This project was financed by Georgia Commerce Bank located in Buckhead. NewTown Partners is an Atlanta-based economic development consulting firm focusing on distressed historic resources.

The Buckhead Heritage Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to identifying, preserving, and promoting Buckhead’s historic resources. For more information on Buckhead Heritage and the Randolph-Lucas House relocation project, please visit www.buckheadheritage.com.


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