Century-Old Lullwater Home on the Market for the First Time in Decades

ATLANTA -- William Faulkner famously wrote, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” How true this is within Atlanta’s beautiful Druid Hills neighborhood, graced with stately, historic homes, the 111-year-old Druid Hills Golf Club and the unique Linear Park designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, designer of New York City’s Central Park. Not surprisingly, families hold on to their homes for generations, so when a meticulously maintained historic home comes on the market, people take note.

Such a home is now available for the first time in decades, according to Kellum Smith of Engel & Völkers Buckhead Atlanta. The home is located at 938 Lullwater Rd. and was built in 1926. https://kellumsmith.evrealestate.com/ListingDetails/938-Lullwater-Road-NE-Atlanta-GA-30307/7223086

Just under a century ago, Edward and Ella Fontainbleau Schiller built their gracious family home in what was then – and continues to be – one of Atlanta’s most beautiful neighborhoods. Mr. Schiller worked closely with Marcus Loew of Loew’s Grand Theater in New York, and was tasked with expanding the enterprise to cities outside of New York, including Atlanta. Mrs. Schiller was a former stage actress and their courtship, engagement and marriage were covered in the periodicals of their day. When they relocated to Atlanta, they chose Druid Hills as the ideal location for their new home.

“No doubt, their Lullwater home was the site of numerous social gatherings of stage and movie stars, captains of industry and fellow Atlantans. Perhaps the stars of Gone With the Wind were hosted by the Schillers during the film’s 1939 premier at Loew’s Grand Theater in Atlanta,” said Smith. “Even today, it’s easy to imagine Vivien Leigh, Olivia de Havilland and Clark Gable entering the home’s spacious foyer or strolling through the gardens as music plays and guests converse.”

While many homes in this historic neighborhood have been altered, the home at 938 Lullwater is noteworthy for retaining its original design, exceptional building materials and architectural finishes, such as the marble and tile sunrooms, art deco baths and original elevator. The kitchen has been modernized into a spacious chef’s kitchen and breakfast area, but the remainder of the home displays timeless style, charm, beauty and grace. The original guest house has also been carefully preserved, and is perched at a corner of the property.

The nearly two-acre site bears evidence to Mrs. Schiller’s green thumb, with its original stone wall terraces, fern garden, mature trees, flower beds and circular stone-walled fountain and waterfall that splashes into a small pool below. A century later, her love of gardening continues to impact the area. In 1928, she and a group of neighborhood women founded the Lullwater Garden Club. Since 1931, the organization has maintained the Lullwater Conservation Garden, a 5.21-acre tract of land that once belonged to the Candler Estate. The Club purchased the property in 1964 from Emory University.

It may be hard to imagine that the intown Druid Hills neighborhood was conceived and heralded as one of Atlanta’s first suburbs. Generations have been drawn to its lush landscaping, multiple public greenspaces, gracious homes and easy access to the city and nearby landmarks including Emory University, Emory Hospital, Fernbank Museum and Fernbank Science Center, Atlanta Botanical Garden, The Carter Center, and much more. Now, one of its most storied homes awaits its next chapter.