PITTSBURGH SHOTGUN HOUSE

Atlanta, Georgia 

Our studio was hired to resurrect this abandoned 1920s Shotgun House located in one of Atlanta’s oldest neighborhoods, Pittsburgh – founded before the Civil War in 1864. The Pittsburgh neighborhood is known for their many shotgun houses that were built around the Pegram Railroad Repair Shops. Shotgun houses are typically one room wide by four rooms deep. There are two theories on why this style of house is called a “shotgun.” The first comes from the idea that because the interior and exterior doorways are typically aligned, a “shot” can be easily fired straight through them from front to back. Another theory is that the name comes from the African word “togo” which means place of assembly. The first design challenge was to make sure that the house was structurally sound and next was to make sure that the original footprint and style were kept while simultaneously updating the 950 square foot shotgun for modern living.  Our studio met the challenge and designed a 2-bedroom 2.5 bathroom + large open kitchen with island and living room area with a front porch.