The Eidson Home Place (circa 1931)

5171 Chamblee Dunwoody Road, Dunwoody, GA

Recognition: First brick home built in Dunwoody

The Eidson family members were pioneers in Dunwoody. Boyce and Zachariah were brothers, the first in the family to move to Dunwoody. Both brothers donated land for various landmarks including the original Dunwoody Elementary School (donated by Zachariah) and the Eidson Cemetery on Winter’s Chapel Road (donated by Boyce).

Boyce’s son, Douglas, married Margaret Warnock. They had several children including Lon (Lonnie), who built this brick home on Chamblee Dunwoody Road. Lon owned a store and filling station nearby, also on Chamblee Dunwoody Road. Mr. Glen Austin and Mr. Calvin Eidson actually constructed the home and Mr. Havey Drake, a member of the extended Eidson family, completed all the brick and concrete work.

Lon Eidson's wife, Bertha Moss Eidson, was the daugher of P.L. Moss, owner of Moss' General Store, the first real store in the Dunwoody community. The turn-of-the-century store, which sold general merchandise and featured a water well for visitors, was located at what is now the triangle formed by Mt. Vernon Road, Chamblee Dunwoody Road and Nandina Lane.

Lon and his wife Bertha had two children, Perry and Bertha. Some of the memories shared by the children of moving into this home include building a fire around the wash pot for their first bath in their new home.

The house included two fireplaces, which helped provide heat for the house, and a set of French doors which separated the living and dining rooms and helped retain heat in the primary living areas of the home.

Bertha was the first president of an organization called the Dunwoody Home Demonstration Club, which began in the early 1920s from a program at the University of Georgia intended to instruct farmers’ wives on optimal methods to preserve and prepare foods. The wives gathered at these home demonstration clubs and learned about canning, pressure cooking and freezing foods. They met initially at the Eidson home and then in the cafeteria/library of Dunwoody Elementary School.

In 1999, the Eidson family sold a portion of the family property for residential development - a subdivision named Eidson Hall, in honor of the family.

Today the house is a private residence.

Eidson Hall, a neighboring subdivision, began development in 1999 after the family sold a portion of their land for the subdivision.