Historic Atlanta home with ties to ‘golden age of Hollywood’ on the market

A historic home built in 1926 with ties to the 'golden age of Hollywood' is on the market in Druid Hills.

Located at 938 Lullwater Road, the property hasn’t been on the market in decades, according to listing agent Kellum Smith with Engel & Völkers Buckhead Atlanta. The home is listed for $2,399,000.

Edward and Ella Fontainbleau Schiller, the original owners who built the home nearly a century ago, had ties to Hollywood and Broadway. Mr. Schiller worked closely with Marcus Loew of Loew’s Grand Theater in New York, and was tasked with expanding the enterprise to cities outside of New York, including Atlanta.  Mrs. Schiller was a former stage actress and their courtship, engagement and marriage were covered in the periodicals and newspapers of the time 

“No doubt, their Lullwater home was the site of numerous social gatherings of stage and movie stars, captains of industry and fellow Atlantans,” Smith said, noting that Schiller was on hand for the 1939 premiere of Gone With the Wind at Loew’s Grand, which used to be located in downtown before it burned in 1978 and was demolished to make way for the Georgia Pacific building.  

“Even today, it’s easy to imagine Vivien Leigh, Olivia de Havilland and Clark Gable entering the home’s spacious foyer or strolling through the gardens as music plays and guests converse,” Smith said.

While many homes in this historic neighborhood have been altered, 938 Lullwater is noteworthy for retaining its original design and architectural finishes, such as the marble and tile sunrooms, art deco baths and original elevator. 

The kitchen has been modernized into a spacious chef’s kitchen and breakfast area, while the original guest house has also been carefully preserved on the property.

The nearly 2-acre site bears evidence to Mrs. Schiller’s green thumb, with its original stone wall terraces, fern garden, mature trees, flower beds and circular stone-walled fountain that splashes into a small pool below. 

A century later, her love of gardening continues to impact the area. In 1928, she and a group of neighborhood women founded the Lullwater Garden Club.  Since 1931, the organization has maintained the Lullwater Conservation Garden, a 5.21-acre tract of land that once belonged to the Candler Estate. 

See more photos of the property here.

This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with Rough Draft Atlanta.