An Eye for Beauty Attracted Crist to Lilburn, Government

Editor's Note: In the coming weeks, Lilburn Patch will profile candidates of local political offices.

The large white house surrounded by the white picket fence and spacious front porch is known to any one who has visited Lilburn City Park.

It has attracted some surprise visitors, according to its owner, Lilburn City Councilman Johnny Crist.

One day, a woman who had seen the wedding of Crist’s daughter being held in the backyard stopped in, wondering if the place was open. She thought the house was an events facility, or perhaps a restaurant.

Another time, a couple of women came by also wondering if the house was open. They thought it was Lilburn’s historical Wynne-Russell House, which is actually located a couple of miles away off Lawrenceville Highway.

“We do have so many people come by and say, ‘We love your house. How long have you been living here …” Crist joked recently in an interview with Lilburn Patch. “What they’re really saying is, ‘Can we come in?’”

It’s this beautiful house — which has been historically preserved and expanded over the years— that may best explain Crist’s recent decision to give up his council seat and challenge incumbent Diana Preston in the November mayoral election.

It was the house that attracted Crist and his wife Anne to Lilburn 25 years ago. It sits across Railroad Avenue from the park and is less a block away from City Hall, the police station and the shops of Old Town. In its backyard is a small building that used to the Lilburn Post Office.

Like Crist, it is immersed in the city.

When he bought it, it was scheduled to be demolished, and since he has personally renovated it into a gleaming structure that is frequently part of area’s tour of homes during the winter holidays.

“I knew it we bought this house in 1986,” said Crist, only the third owner of 119-year-old home, “that [public service] was in my future.”

His entry into city politics grew from there, out of interest in solving problems and in leadership and teambuilding.  That has served him well as the founder and senior pastor of the Atlanta Vineyard Church and in the establishment of 19 other church plants.

After four years on the council, Crist says he not running as an alternative to the current direction of the city government, but instead to fulfill his passions of leading and collaborating, skills he says he brings to the table in city government.

“I’m in my sweetspot when I'm team-building,” he said. “I love this city. I love leadership. I love teamwork. I love that feeling of home.”

His vision for Lilburn is similar to the old house on Railroad Avenue: Create a community that people will want to visit. He favors open government and communication — such as live-streaming of city council meetings. When he attends ribbon-cuttings of new companies in nearby communities, he wonders what Lilburn isn’t doing to attract the same things here.

“When you drive into Lilburn, I want you to feel it when you get here: ‘Wow, this is a community I want to be part of.’”