Contemporary

This is a unique opportunity to buy 2 MCM Bernard Webb-designed houses nestled on 3 wooded lots totaling 4.7 acres on Upper River Road. These unique houses are cited on top of a hill and totally secluded. If you are game for some serious, yet intriguing, renovations and have the vision and imagination to see through vegetation and some nature-caused damage, the end result could be the envy of every modern architecture aficionado. 1831 Upper River Road was built by Marshall and Gertrude Daugherty in 1947 and is still in the same family. Marshall was the head of Mercer's Art Department for many years, and the house had his studio in it. The concrete block structure was intended to be covered by ivy, and boasts a flat roof (which needs some repair or replacement) and floors of randomly-shaped marble slabs. The living room and dining room open to one another and have a window wall the length of the house. There are lots of built-ins in the dining area and kitchen area. Outside is a liver-shaped pool that has been used as a lilly pond for some time, but could be reclaimed. This house could be a delightful house-in-the woods with a decidedly artistic character. 1835 Upper River Road was built in the early 1950's by Macon historian Calder Payne as a party house in the woods and originally had no bedroom. The original brick house had a greatroom with a wall of glass into the woods, beamed ceiling, a fireplace, a small kitchen and a bath. When it was sold to the Daughertys' daughter, she hired Bernard Webb, who had designed the original house, to add a bedroom, another bathroom, and a sunroom onto the house. No one has lived in the house for a number of years and the roof in the greatroom developed a leak at the fireplace and will need rebuilding. But this house, which was called "Persimmon Hill" by Calder Payne, could be reclaimed with some vision and thoughtful renovations and could, once again, be a magical wooded retreat.