Residents of Midtown’s Peachtree Manor condominiums are marking the tower’s 100th birthday as what they call a “timeless architectural jewel of Atlanta.”
Opened in 1923 as a luxury apartment building at Peachtree and 6th Street, the Manor is now part of the Cornerstone Village condo and commercial complex. The brick-and-limestone Georgian Revival tower is on the National Register of Historic Places and is legally preserved through an easement agreement with the nonprofit Easements Atlanta.
“In a rapidly changing cityscape, the Peachtree Manor building serves as one of the last remaining vestiges and connections to Midtown’s early 20th-century development, providing a tangible sense of place for residents, visitors, and future generations,” said Ian Michael Rogers, Easement Atlanta’s acting executive director.
His organization is joining the Atlanta Preservation Center and the Cornerstone Village residential condominium association in hosting a private celebration of the century mark on Oct. 21 for residents and supporters.
“It is with a great sense of pride that we embrace the responsibility to conserve this important architectural treasure in Midtown Atlanta,” said the condo association’s board of directors in a written statement. It calls the Manor the “heart of our community,” hosting various common areas and activities.
The five-story, H-shaped Manor was originally known as the 696 Peachtree Street Apartments, a street address that has since changed but remains carved into the facade. According to the National Register listing – which was approved in 2013 – the building was designed by Hentz, Reid and Adler, one of the city’s most influential architecture firms and originator of a movement known as the Georgia School of Classicists. It reflects an economic boom in Midtown that would not repeat until the early 2000s and is one of the city’s few remaining “luxury” apartment buildings of its era.
In 1947, the building was converted into a hotel called the Peachtree Manor. In the mid-1980s, a developer attempted to convert it back to condos, but the plan stalled, leaving the building vacant for almost 15 years, according to Easements Atlanta, which secured a preservation easement in 1985.
The rehab into the current 40 condo units was done in 2000. The Manor is now part of Cornerstone Village, which comprises the entire block bounded by Peachtree, 5th, 6th and Cypress streets. The complex includes the neighboring Landmark building, dating to 1940, and two condo buildings were built in 1999, according to management.
According to the National Register listing, the Manor’s common spaces retain such original features as wainscoting and marble floors in the main entrance.
