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Second Atlanta home of Tuskegee Airman’s family offered as affordable housing at $198K

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The renovated Mozley Park dwelling joins an initiative to bring affordability and sustainability to Westside neighborhoods

White house with red brick porch and shrubs out front.
The Earthcraft-certified property’s refreshed facade on Mozley Place.
Photos courtesy of Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation

The second of two homes previously owned by the family of the late Edward Johnson, a ground instructor in the Tuskegee Airmen, is now available for purchase for qualified buyers, as part of a push to keep homeownership attainable west of downtown Atlanta.

Built in the 1920s as a two-bedroom bungalow, the property now includes an addition in the back that created a third bedroom and second bathroom. It measures a total of 1,300 square feet.

The renovated Earthcraft-certified property at 1575 Mozley Place retains some of its original touches, such as the hardwood floors, brick fireplace, and wood trim, while sporting modern updates in the kitchen and bathrooms.

Across Martin Luther King Jr. Drive from Mozley Park, the property also is near the Beltline’s Westside Trail.

The home is one of two the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation purchased as part of its West Atlanta Preservation Initiative, which aims to affordably and sustainably revitalize neighborhoods on the city’s westside.

The first home, located at 1138 Harwell Street in Washington Park, became available last September but has yet to sell. Both homes are priced at $198,000.

Brick house with white trim, maroon front door, and maroon garage door.
The first of two West Atlanta Preservation Initiative houses, which borders an entry to the Beltline’s Westside Trail.

Potential homebuyers must meet qualifying income requirements, specifically earning 80 percent or below of the area median household income. That translates to no more than $57,400 for a family of three and no more than $63,750 for a family of four.

Each home comes with a preservation easement to protect it from demolition or “insensitive” alterations in perpetuity.

Both homes will host open houses Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

As the first black Licensed Master Electrician in Atlanta, Johnson had built the Washington Park home himself on one of the neighborhood’s last available lots, neighboring an active railway that’s since become the Beltline’s Westside Trail.

With his wife, the late Harriet May Robinson, an Atlanta Public Schools kindergarten teacher and Spelman College graduate, he raised three daughters there. His mother-in-law lived in the Mozley Park home.

Johnson died in June at age 103. But before his passing, he’d sold his properties to the Georgia Trust in hopes the houses could afford other families a life similar to what he’d known.

Here, a closer look at the Mozley Place option:

Empty living room with gray brick fireplace and windows on each side of the fireplace.
The living room is dominated by the original fireplace in the Mozley Park home.
A large empty room with window chandelier, large window and entryway to the kitchen.
The living room leads into the kitchen.
White kitchen with white cabinets, stainless appliances and dark hardwood floors.
The kitchen epitomizes today’s current trends.
Large empty bedroom with doors leading into a bathroom, out into the kitchen and a double set of closet doors.
The master bedroom sits off the kitchen.
White bathroom with single vanity, framed mirror, and tiled shower with window.
The master bathroom is full of trendy accents.
The back view of a white house with wood-colored door.
The rear entrance of the house.