THE COMMUNITY AND THE HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE
The original farmhouse that sat on 31 acres of land was purchased by Willis J and Clara Swancy in 1930 . Clara ’ s family lived in a home across the street on land that is now the site of the DeKalb County firehouse on Chamblee-Dunwoody Road .
Willis and Clara ’ s family included two children , who all lived in the three-room house . They also had a barn on the land . Willis later added a kitchen and a porch onto the house , tore down the original barn and built another . In the 1940s , stairs were added , and an upstairs room was built .
The home did not have electricity until 1945 because a nearby farmer did not want power poles on his property . The farmer thought the power poles would lower his property value . Indoor plumbing was added in 1950 .
The family raised chickens and cows . In 1966 , Willis and Clara sold 21 acres of their property and built a new brick house behind their original farmhouse . The Knollwood subdivision was developed on the 21 acres . They sold more acres in the 1980s , and the home currently sites on one acre .
Swancy family members lived in the original farmhouse until 1996 .