Baltimore Block is a series of eight

rowhouse In architecture and city planning, a terrace or terraced house ( UK) or townhouse ( US) is a form of medium-density housing that originated in Europe in the 16th century, whereby a row of attached dwellings share side walls. In the United State ...

s in the SoNo district of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. Rowhouses of the kind that are abundant in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

are an unusual housing type in Atlanta, where duplexes or semidetached housing, such as

shotgun house A shotgun house is a narrow rectangular domestic residence, usually no more than about wide, with rooms arranged one behind the other and doors at each end of the house. It was the most popular style of house in the Southern United States from t ...

s, were more common forms of high-density housing. Built in 1885 by Baltimore native Jacob J. Rosenthal, the houses were leased on long-term

ground lease A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

terms, a common practice in Baltimore. By the 1920s, the houses began to fall out of fashion, and four units were torn down while the others became derelict. A recovery began in the 1930s, and in the 1960s the area became a center of counterculture. Extensive renovation took place during the 1980s, when the units were consolidated and converted to office use.Sams, Gerald W. (ed): "AIA Guide to the Architecture of Atlanta", page 88. University of Georgia Press, 1993. Like many Baltimore houses, the brick three-story rowhouses of Baltimore Block present a unified wall-like front to the street with a continuous

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

line.

Photo gallery

Image:Baltimore Block Corner.jpg, View from West Peachtree Street Image:Baltimore Block Street Lamp.jpg, Front facade detail Image:Baltimore Block Front Steps.jpg, Front porches Image:Baltimore Block Door.jpg, Front door detail Image:Baltimore Block Windows.jpg, Windows and

details Image:Baltimore Block NR Sign.jpg, National Register Historical Marker Image:Baltimore Block Aerial View.jpg, Aerial view; 1980s construction makes an "L" around the original Baltimore Block, which can be distinguished, here, by its flat roof Image:Baltimore Block Aerial Atlanta.jpg, Aerial view from Bank of America Plaza's 46th floor; downtown Atlanta in upper left of photo; I-75/I-85 (the Connector) is the major road artery running under the bridges and near the edges of Baltimore Block at bottom right corner

References

External links

Baltimore Block
Atlanta Urban Design Commission

GeorgiaInfo Residential buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Georgia (U.S. state) Houses completed in 1885 Buildings and structures in Atlanta National Register of Historic Places in Atlanta {{GeorgiaUS-NRHP-stub