After sitting vacant for years, Rufus A. Rose House downtown hits market for $1M

After years of standing vacant, the historic Rufus A. Rose House on Peachtree Street downtown may finally be reborn.

In a surprise move for many real estate watchers around town, the property went on the market Monday.

Speculation arose that Liliana Bakhtiari or her family listed the home, but property records show the property actually changed hands in 2017 from her family to B&T Real State (sic) Investors LLC in Stone Mountain, which actually listed the property for sale.

With five bedrooms and three bathrooms, the 7,122-square-foot home is one of just two Victorian mansions remaining on Peachtree Street. Designed by Atlanta architect E.C. Seiz, the building landed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 and was designated as a Landmark Building by the City of Atlanta in 1989.

In 2015, plans were announced to convert the home into an arts space and entrepreneurial setup, but that announcement came and went with no movement on the conversion.

With the house now on the market, Historic Atlanta Inc. has offered the future buyer of the property assistance in any efforts to claim historic tax credit programs on the house.

Given the current state of the home, it’s not hard to figure out any extra financial assistance will be necessary to restore the home to its former glory beyond the current asking price of $1,000,000.

Not surprisingly, a lot of eyes will be watching and waiting to see what’s to come in the future of this home.

• 537 Peachtree St. N.E. [Keller Williams Realty Atlanta Midtown]