One Ivy Walk
Nov 10 One Ivy Walk
One Ivy Walk Townhomes
One Ivy Walk Vinings
John Wieland Homes, Atlanta G
John Wieland Homes has done it right. One Ivy Walk in Vinings is not only better than their prior projects, but John Wieland actually priced them right. The successful redevelopment of downtown Smyrna was in no small part due to the integration of a Live/Work & Play community by John Wieland Homes. 
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Address: 1675 Cumberland Parkway, Smyrna, GA 30080
One Ivy Walk Townhomes builds upon this concept with a self sufficient community located on the edge of I-285 and Atlanta Rd, about 2 miles south of Historic Vinings. Built as a high end residential/commercial mixed use development, One Ivey Walk may be more than just a new design trend.
John Wieland Homes in many respect is an icon in the home building industry and though not a national player, (they are only in five states), they carry a level of prestige and self importance that exceed that of any national builder.
Thus, I dub John Wieland Homes the official Grey Poupon of Atlanta home builders.
It is much easier to point out what I like about a John Wieland home than what I don’t. So, how about we start with what I don’t like about their homes
Exteriors: While the vast majority of the exteriors are nothing short of spectacular, some of their older communities lacked soul. One Ivy Walk has true southern soul!
One Ivey WalkPrice: I feel that their homes are extremely expensive and in most cases, seem to be pushing the upper limits of home values. There could be some evidence to support this by simply looking at how long many of their communities take to sell out. Olde Ivy at Vinings, a condominium project that was started back in 2000 is still on the market and not sold out.
Location: I am not always happy with a majority of their home locations, especially those communities closer to Atlanta. They seem to always pick areas that are in transition or will take another five years to turn around, plop in a high priced community in the middle of it and hope that particular area continues to transition. Sometimes, they do pick a area and are the ones credited with starting the transition in the first place. I am sorry, but if I am going to be paying top dollar, I want a good neighborhood from day one.
Floor plans: I do not know what it is about their floor plans but you can almost always divide their plans into two categories. Category A - useless or category B, pure genius. It seems that within in any one of their communities, the lower priced homes always feature floor plans that are just plain useless. However, they serve as the incentive to move to the higher price point where their plans show pure genius. Hmmm, sales and marketing strategy?
Obviously John Wieland must be reading this site because One Ivy Walk was their answer to just about all of my complaints. I can not say anything else bad about them and what I have said so far has been a stretch at best.
One Ivy Walk takes you back to old Charleston or Savannah and they have successfully managed to infuse a historic design into a new construction project. A couple could spend hours walking the community and viewing the many different elements that take these homes back in time some 200 years.
Black painted cast iron bars, painted brick exteriors, long storm shutters and huge wrap-around porches graces these city styled row homes bringing visitors back a full 200 years.
One Ivy Walk in Vinings has found a life that Atlantic station in midtown still lacks. With construction of the community more than 75% complete, shops have already begun to open on the lower levels and residents may be seen strolling the sidewalks, window shopping, dining or just stopping into a pub for cocktails.
Hey, to have a bar one flight of steps down from my home, I might even be willing to pay a bit more.
Atlanta Home builder John Wieland adds incredible detail in their molding with each piece sanded to perfection. This may not sound like a big deal, but the number of home builders that leave their molding strips un-sanded, jagged and with gaping holes in the wood from missing knots is pretty common. The crown molding in most places features a level of sophistication you only find in luxury single family homes.
In particular, pay special attention to the doorframes and window frames which are much wider and replicate the trim you would have found in high-end homes from the 1820s up through the 1940s. This home builder seemed to have figured out that the interiors had to breathe history as much as the exteriors.
The hardwood floors are site finished and solid wood plank as opposed to the various manufactured hardwoods many Atlanta home builders are using these days. There is both a pro and a con to this as solid wood plank floors are more prone to scratches and splitting as humidity adjusts in the air. At the same time, there is not a single type of manufactured hardwood flooring on the market that would not have stolen some of the character away. One note of personal opinion is the use of lacquer; I prefer hardwood floors that feature a satin finish as opposed to the high gloss polyurethane they used. This is just a preference of course.
Yes, their stairs are real wood as well and not a framed particle board case with carpet tacked on.
Black lighting and faucets fixtures have become all the rage much as brushed silver was five years ago. I love the dark fixtures since they remind me of southern coastal towns but at the same time, they almost contribute to many of the homes being overly dark. Would I change them out? Probably not as it would change the character of the home.
Elevators – yes they come with elevators but this is an option. However, with some homes having four floors and 10 foot ceilings, an elevator is suddenly a mandatory addition. No doubt, laundry day will be a bit easier with the aide of an elevator. Just one small note – I never would have thought elevators would have been made available in a townhome?
The master bathrooms are simply the largest I have ever seen in any Atlanta townhouse and owners have opted for either tile or granite surround tubs. The shower stalls, well, you and several of your best friends will find plenty of room without ever being crowded. To give you an idea of how large these bathrooms are, some of the tubs jet outward from the wall lengthwise rather than running parallel along a wall. You have to have a pretty large bathroom to place an oversized Jacuzzi tub in that manner while still having room for large cabinets, duel vanities and linen closets. Come to think of it, some of these bathrooms are about the same size of the master bedroom in my first condo.
Construction quality is definitely some of the highest you will find in Georgia compared to most other home builders but I will admit, I was not too crazy about the thin firewalls I saw between many of the units. Residents in a similar community in downtown Smyrna have informed me that noise is not an issue. So I am assuming they are following the same formula with One Ivy Walk.
Parking may be a bit of an issue since it appears that the driveway cross over a sidewalk. I am not sure if the HOA will require your vehicles to be parked in your garage at all times or not and you should know that parking along the streets is very limited. However, there is a great deal of parking near the clubhouse and of course along the street where the shops are located.
As far as floor plans go, I will add additional details under the photo gallery and along with the plans featured in our Home Gallery section of the site. Adding them here would just not make much sense, as there are simply too many details.
In short, One Ivy Walk is the reason that home owner give up single family homes, buy a townhouse and never look back. This community is setting the standard as simply the most luxurious and high-end community in Vinings.
One of my biggest complaints about John Wieland homes are the fact they always seem to be asking a price tag that is simply above what the market will tolerate. With this community they started many of their homes out in the mid $300s and went up from there, a reasonable asking price. I applaud them for letting the first to purchase get the best price. Since then, the prices on these units have skyrocketed with the average price now over $500k.
They also nailed the location as the intersection of the east-west connector and Vinings has become a hot bed of new construction and commercial development. Partially in thanks to their other community located around the corner, Olde Ivey of Vinings.
Congrats John, you outdid yourself on this one.
Directions: From I-285 westside, take ext 16 (S. Atlanta Road) and go outside the perimeter (if traveling north, turn left and if traveling south, turn right). At the 2nd light, turn right onto Cumberland Parkway and an immediate left into Ivy Walk.
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