House of the Week:
Mid-Century Contemporary

What: Five bedrooms, six bathrooms in 8,100 square feet on 6.1 acres.

Where: Atlanta

Amenities: Decorative stone walls line the front of the house. Swimming pool, two fireplaces and two spring-fed, 18-feet-deep lakes, measuring about an acre each, stocked with bass and bream. Living room with floor-to-ceiling windows, with lake views.

Asking Price: $3 million

Opening Bid*: $2.8 million

Listing Agents: Carolyn Mellon, Jenny Pruitt Associates (404) 851-0765.

Due Diligence: This split-level Contemporary was built in 1953 and sits on property once owned by the Howell family, early publishers of the Atlanta Constitution. (The daily merged with the Atlanta Journal in 2001.) The property -- in Buckhead, an affluent section of Atlanta with large homes, expensive hotels and shopping areas -- lies close to the Chattahoochee River, and the acreage is rare for a property just eight miles north of downtown, real-estate agents say. Owner John Griffin, a plastic surgeon, bought the property in 1979. He says local architects renovated the house in 1983, converting the garage into a large entry hall, adding dual dressing and bathrooms to the master bedroom, and updating the cooling and heating systems. Several Civil War-era gun emplacements are on the property, Mr. Griffin says. He plans to buy a smaller home in the area when this one sells.

Additional Photos

Email your comments to rjeditor@dowjones.com.