King-sized Cabbagetown bungalow guns for neighborhood record at $789K

It’s a rare treat when a property’s listing description blesses us with a backstory, especially one described as “Real News” regarding a home that apparently changed building standards around here.

Without further ado, the succinct and all-caps backstory, per the listing:

“Builder Acquires Permit for Normal if Oversized House for C-Town Which Receives Historic Status After Permitting in 2002 Thus Limiting Size of New Homes/Expansions. As We Know, Tiny Houses Are Magical Houses. Bigger is Not Always Better. Amen. Now We Are Here & Want You to Know We Must Embrace What We Were Born With: Big & Lovely. Gracious Not Gratuitous.”

Well, that’s different. And so is the home in question, given its nearly 2,900-square-foot layout in a wellspring of pint-size shotguns and cottages like Cabbagetown. That being said, its Craftsman-inspired, non-mondo facade doesn’t jolt from an esthetic perspective.

But for longtime Atlanta real estate observers, an asking price approaching $800,000 in Cabbagetown might be jolting indeed.

Counting four bedrooms (including one upstairs that could function as a huge den and office) and three bathrooms, the house is steps from Esther Peachy Lefevre Park on the corner, facing the wondrous, ever-changing gallery of Wylie Street murals.

Perks include a soothing koi pond and off-street parking—Cabbagetown gold in many cases—courtesy of a long drive and single-slot carport. The Beltline-bolstered “Very Walkable” 81 WalkScore won’t turn anyone away.

Plus, as usual, there’s a scarcity of supply around these parts. It’s one of a half-dozen (inhabitable) C-town houses for sale without contracts at the moment.

One drawback—or possibly a plus—is that the large footprint and considerable driveway gobbled any semblance of a yard. (Although a darling shed fit quite well). Aspects including the kitchen and bathrooms might scream for updates in the eyes of buyers in this echelon.

Which brings us to the asking price, as posted this week: $789,000.

Records indicate, at that number, it would be the neighborhood’s highest single-family sale in recent years and possibly ever—the only north of $700,000, in fact—although a significantly smaller house a few blocks away came close in scoring $675,000 this past summer.

So, in short, big size has equaled big ambitions here.

• 659 Wylie Street SE [Coldwell Banker Residential Brokers]