Swancy Farmhouse (circa 1889)

5308 Roberts Drive, Dunwoody, GA

Willis J and Clara Swancy purchased this home, which originally sat on 31 acres of land, in 1930. Clara’s family lived in a home across the street on land that is now the site of the DeKalb County firehouse on Chamblee-Dunwoody Road.

Wills and Clara’s family included two children, who all lived in the three-room house. They also had a barn on the land. Willis later added a kitchen and a porch onto the house, tore down the original barn and built another. In the 1940s, stairs were added, and an upstairs room was built.

The home did not have electricity until 1945 because a nearby farmer did not want power poles on his property. The farmer thought the power poles would lower his property value. Indoor plumbing was added in 1950.

The family raised chickens and cows. In 1966, Willis and Clara sold 21 acres of their property and built a new brick house behind their original farmhouse. The Knollwood subdivision was developed on the 21 acres. They sold more acres in the 1980s, and the home currently sites on one acre.

Swancy family members lived in the original farmhouse until 1996, when it was sold to its current owner, who added more rooms and remodeled the home.

Today the home is a private residence.