SW Atlanta's Mid Century Modern: A Legacy of Style, Community, and Civil Rights

Southwest Atlanta's mid-century modern (MCM) architectural scene isn't just about clean lines and cool aesthetics. It's a story deeply woven with the city's (and nation’s) fight for equality. During the 1950s and 60s, neighborhoods like Collier Heights and Peyton Forest blossomed as havens for the burgeoning Black middle class. Segregated from public spaces and many residential neighborhoods, these communities found solace and solidarity within the very walls of their MCM homes.

Is Cloud Cline mid-century modern?

My questions is do all houses built in the middle of the 20th century qualify as being mid-century modern? Cloud Cline was built in 1965. The elevation alone, however, doesn't suggest some of the more iconic MCM attributes like seen on the Brady Bunch House. Thus, here's the question, is Cloud Cline MCM? Before we get to an answer, lets look at some of the design attributes of MCM especially how it applies to my neighborhood, Southwest Atlanta.

Division of space

The split level home is a hallmark of MCM houses. While it takes on many different forms (e.g., side split, back split, stacked split, split level ranch), the standard MCM home is known for its tripartite division consisting of a lower level , often containing the garage, with a half flight of stairs to the main living area and then another half flight up to upper most private area for bedrooms which sits atop of the lower level. The housing type was thought to maximize living area on small sites and privacy while also providing designs suitable for hilly sites.

Keeping it Cool.

In the south, avoiding heat gain from the sun is an important design consideration especially in houses that didn’t have air conditioning. Low slop gable or hip roofs with overhangs at least 18” provided protection from the sun. Most houses did not have central air when they were build, thus those deep overhangs were a necessity in a southern climate to block out the hottest summer hours. One of the early tasks after purchasing Cloud Cline was to adding central air conditioning for the first time in its history. The low sloped roofs and ribbon windows also add to horizontal element helping to ground the structure in manner that often is attributed to Frank Lloyd Wright’s influence on residential design.

Garage and Carports

Unsurprisingly, as the rise of car dependence grew through the mid century, so did the demand for an elevated place to put the shiny hunk of metal. MCM houses deliver with a carport or garage on the lower level. When we bought our current house (a twin to Cloud Cline), it had a 2-car attached, carport. Enclosed on 3 sides and completely open on the drive in side with no ability to shut the world out. Like many neighbors, this meant periodic car break ins and other crimes of opportunity endemic to a city environment. Thus, the first project we tackled was closing in the car port and adding a garage door. From a cost standpoint, this seems minimal yet a necessity from a safety standpoint and a desire to fully use the garage for storage. At Cloud Cline, the garage sits under the second floor bedrooms. Its not ideal. A few of the issues we intend to address are the migration of car fumes to livable areas, vibration and noise from the doors opening and closing, and low overhead. Changes in code about how to treat that space is definitely something we will visit in a future post.

Beyond the Façade: The Rise of the "Rec Room"

Many of Southwest Atlanta's MCM homes boast a unique feature – the "recreation room." This spacious lower-level area wasn't just for entertainment. Imagine if you will, Atlanta in the 1960s. Neighborhoods were still segregated and home ownership was still a struggle for Atlanta’s burgeoning African American middle class. African Americans were not welcome at most business establishments and were prohibited from congregating in public spaces. Thus, the party room that exists in many of these houses filled the gap. These lower level interior spaces became a vital social hub hosting everything from birthday parties and church functions to community meetings and even planning sessions for the Civil Rights Movement. If you’ve ever seen Hidden Figures, then you’ve seen the rec room. Here’s a great article about party rooms and the roll they played. Below is our rec room. We affectionately refer to the big ass bar as the pink elephant in the room. Its massive and takes up a good 1/3 of the space. The brick work is impeccable with a classic Formica counter tops. I always wondered about the parties that this house must of hosted.

From Dusty Rose to Seafoam, Field Tiles Were All The Rage

Another hallmark of MCM, is the 4x4 field tiles in bathrooms with matching sink basin, toilet and tub all in those lovely MCM colors of dusty rose, seafoam, aqua and lemon. Back in the day, these bathrooms must have seemed like the cat’s meow.

The characteristics of these houses on the outside are undeniably MCM. On the inside, they also deliver. The homes in SW Atlanta, especially Collier Heights, Peyton Forest and Chalet Woods and more, were trailblazers when they were built and continue to wow today. So, enjoy a few beauties that are in and around my neighborhood. And yes, the tri-level split, like its sister, ROFB - ranch on a full basement aka Atomic Ranch, is absolutely an icon of MCM.