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Three Midcentury Moderns Duke It Out! Which Will Prevail?

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Imagine you're in the market for a midcentury modern. You're willing to look anywhere ITP and you need at least three bedrooms. Let's put your budget at under $650,000. These three homes, all listed online just two days ago, fit the bill, but which will you choose? The spacious house on a wooded lot? The polished and renovated turn-key option? The affordable fixer-upper? Let's give these three midcentury houses some boxing gloves and see which one survives. It's time for Real Estate Deathmatch!

2081 Castleway Lane


Our first option is the cheapest per square foot of our three contenders, weighing in at $145/square foot, and the largest at 3,027 square feet. On the other hand, it needs a serious loving touch and updates aplenty. The stacked stone fireplace and massive patio are nice, but the stained carpets, outdated kitchen and questionable paint choices are not. THE BASICS

Built: 1963
Price: $442,000
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 2
Square feet: 3,027
Special bonus: A wooded lot with enough leafiness to provide maximum privacy
Potential drawbacks: Owner must love DIY (or have plenty of spare cash for upgrades)
Walk Score: 25

1055 Robin Lane


Considerably more polished than our previous contestant, but also considerably more expensive, this Morningside/Lenox Park midcentury modern has an open, light-filled floorplan and a quirky retro kitchen. It sits on a half-acre lot with a fenced backyard on a cul-de-sac and you can walk to the 30-acre Morningside Nature Preserve in about 60 seconds.

THE BASICS

Built: 1956
Price: $649,900
Bedrooms: 4
Bathrooms: 3
Square feet: 3,000
Special bonus: In the district for highly rated Morningside Elementary and Inman Middle schools
Potential drawbacks: It's the most expensive of our three contenders by a large margin.
Walk Score: 48

1546 Beechcliff Drive


The most affordable of the midcentury modern trio, this North Druid Hills home has good, solid bones obscured by street-cone-orange carpet and Brady Bunch-era decor. Spend more time looking at the floor-to-ceiling windows and private backyard than the green bathtub and you'll be fine. You can walk to restaurants and Whole Foods in about 15 minutes, but it's not a pedestrian paradise.

THE BASICS

Built: 1957
Price: $329,000
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 2
Square feet: 1,702
Special bonus: The listing promises that hardwoods are hiding under that horrid carpet.
Potential drawbacks: That kitchen needs an upgrade, stat.
Walk Score: 43

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