Druid Hills, Atlanta
Painting Druid Hills homes inside Atlanta and in unincorporated DeKalb
Druid Hills sits on both sides of the Atlanta city line, and which side your house is on decides whose preservation rules apply. We paint homes on both.
Phones answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
- Phones answered 24/7
- Scheduled from Tucker
- Interior and exterior
Updated October 2026
Short answer
Druid Hills was conceived by Joel Hurt and designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, and today it is split. Atlanta designated its in-city part a Landmark District in 1989, while unincorporated DeKalb County has its own designated Druid Hills Historic District. On either side, exterior changes can need a certificate of appropriateness before work starts.
Homes in Druid Hills
Olmsted's parkways, two governments and two sets of rules
Frederick Law Olmsted designed Druid Hills as one of his last commissions, and Olmsted Linear Park still strings 50 acres of green in six parks along Ponce de Leon Avenue. The parks and parkways joined the National Register in 1975 and the wider historic district followed in 1979. The houses include historic mansions from the late 19th and early 20th century, Callanwolde among them.
The neighborhood does not follow city lines. The census-designated place, with 9,429 residents in 2020, is unincorporated DeKalb County, bounded on the south by the Atlanta city limit. The Druid Hills neighborhood inside Atlanta lies south and west of it, next to Morningside/Lenox Park, Virginia-Highland, Poncey-Highland and Candler Park.
Inside the city, the preservation code requires a certificate of appropriateness to change the exterior appearance of a building in a Landmark District, and even repainting in the same color is listed among the Type I certificates the director can approve. On the DeKalb side, the county Historic Preservation Commission reviews exterior alterations in its Druid Hills district. A new color scheme or new materials is the point to call the right office first.
Work we do here
Druid Hills jobs we plan around the review process
Plaster Wall Repair
Cracks in older plaster cut out, reattached and patched so the walls stay plaster, not drywall.
Trim, Baseboard & Door Painting
Window casings, paneled doors and deep baseboards sanded back and repainted in enamel.
Exterior House Painting
Exterior repaints in existing or approved colors, with every loose edge scraped first.
Wood Rot Repair Before Painting
Soft sills and trim repaired where possible, and replacements matched to the original profile.
Color Consultation
Color plans worked out early, so they are ready for review before ladders go up.
Interior Wood Staining
Stained trim, doors and built-ins refreshed instead of painted over.
Scheduling
Fitting a Druid Hills job around approvals and weather
We schedule Druid Hills work from our Tucker office. Call at any hour, and we walk the house with you and write up the surfaces, prep and colors. If the job changes how the exterior looks, the review step comes first, so interior work can start while you wait and exterior days go on the calendar once you have the approval in hand.
Nearby places we paint
Questions
Painting questions from Druid Hills
It depends on which side of the city line you are on and what you are changing. Inside Atlanta, the Landmark District rules require a certificate of appropriateness to change a building's exterior appearance, and even a same-color repaint is listed as a Type I certificate. In unincorporated DeKalb, the county Historic Preservation Commission reviews exterior alterations in its district. Ask the right office before a color change.
The unincorporated part is the DeKalb census-designated place north and east of the in-city neighborhood. Your property tax bill or the county parcel map shows whether the address is inside Atlanta.
Yes. Short sections of sill, casing and trim are replaced with pieces matched to the existing profile, then primed and painted with the rest.
Yes. We paint across Druid Hills on both sides of the city line, from the streets around Emory to the houses facing the parks on Ponce de Leon Avenue.
Ready when you are
Planning paint for a Druid Hills house?
Call any hour. Tell us your street and whether you are keeping the colors or changing them, and we will set up a walk-through.