St. Elmo selected as a Best Neighborhood by 'This Old House'

photo Jim Drexler cuts the grass in the front yard of his St. Elmo home in this file photo.

"This Old House" magazine has selected St. Elmo as one of its Best Old House Neighborhoods for 2013.

The neighborhood, sitting at the base of Lookout Mountain, is one of 16 neighborhoods chosen in the South by the magazine. A total of 61 neighborhoods were chosen in the South, Northeast, Midwest, West and Canada.

In a news release, the magazine said St. Elmo "offers something for everybody."

"Though its homes and buildings suffered from neglect when many residents left for the suburbs in the 1960s and 1970s, the neighborhood has been on an upswing," the release said. "Today, owners of all ages and walks of life are restoring historic houses to their original splendor, and small businesses have been emerging in the commercial district built around the intersection of St. Elmo and Tennessee Avenues."

Along with praising St. Elmo's home styles, which include Folk Victorians, Carpenter Gothic, Queen Anne and Italianate, the magazine also touted the nearby hiking trails on Lookout Mountain and the proposed extension of the Tennessee Riverwalk into St. Elmo.

Other Southern neighborhoods selected by "This Old House" include Old Fourth Ward in Atlanta, Norwood in Birmingham, Belhaven in Jackson, Miss., New Iberia, La. and York, S.C.

For a complete list of all the neighbhorhoods, go to http://tinyurl.com/lrhbzvr.

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