Meet Doug & Marketia Patterson

For Doug and Marketia Patterson, life in Five Points has become a comfortable blend of old traditions, new adventures and the everyday pleasures of living in a neighborhood where people still stop to talk. 

The couple has called Five Points home for eight years, but their story together began decades earlier. Doug, originally from Decatur, Georgia, and Marketia, a Louisville, Kentucky native, met while working at the Atlanta headquarters of Days Inns of America. They married in 1982, beginning a life together that would take them to several cities across the country. 

Doug spent 27 years with what is now the Wyndham Hotel Group, and during those years the family lived in Atlanta; Knoxville, Tennessee; Scottsdale, Arizona; and Mountain Lakes, New Jersey. Later, he taught for six years at Kennesaw State University and also became a Dunkin’ Donuts franchisee in northern Colorado. 

Retirement, however, did not exactly mean slowing down. 

Today, Doug is back in the classroom—this time as a student. He is currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in Sports Management at the University of Georgia and expects to graduate in spring 2027. For someone who has long followed UGA athletics, returning to campus has added an entirely new chapter to his connection with the university. 

Before moving to Athens, Doug and Marketia spent 12 years in Milton, Georgia. Eventually, traffic began to wear on them, and Athens kept pulling them back. 

“We spent every weekend of the fall in Athens for football,” they said, so eventually they began looking for a home that would make those weekends permanent. 

They knew they wanted walkability, character and a true neighborhood atmosphere. Friends already lived in Five Points and nearby, and the idea of living in a college town appealed to both of them. They also have a fondness for older houses. Their Five Points home is the second house they have owned that is more than 100 years old. 

That sense of history is part of what they enjoy about the neighborhood. 

Their favorite thing about Five Points, they say, is that it feels like “a neighborhood and not a subdivision.” When they are outside, there is almost always someone passing by on foot, creating opportunities for a wave, a quick conversation or a longer visit. 

“We are fortunate to be surrounded by some great neighbors that make living in Five Points special,” they said. 

Their days tend to reflect the neighborhood itself—active, friendly and pleasantly familiar. 

A daily chai from Jittery Joe’s has become a regular ritual, and several other Five Points businesses are favorites, including Independent Baking Co., The Expat, ZZ & Simone’s and 5&10. 

Doug is an avid golfer at Athens Country Club and serves as an alumni advisor to undergraduate members of Chi Psi fraternity. He also enjoys reading, walking through Five Points and working in the vegetable garden at Five Points Farm. And, of course, there is UGA athletics. Doug follows just about every Georgia team and rarely misses a baseball game. 

Marketia is equally happy with a book in hand. 

“I spend way too much time reading anything and everything,” she admits. 

In recent years, she has also become increasingly interested in gardening, especially filling their yard with flowers. The Master Gardener fall bulb sale has become something of a weakness, although the results have been good news for the front yard. She also attends Pilates classes three or four times a week at Pure Balance. 

The couple shares a love of working in the yard, reading and walking around the neighborhood. Their Aussiedoodle, Maggie, rounds out the household. 

Fall is easily their favorite season. They enjoy the energy that comes when UGA students return to Athens and football season begins. Beyond Saturdays between the hedges, they also attend women’s basketball games and GymDogs meets. 

There is, however, one bit of friendly collegiate rivalry under their roof. Doug is firmly devoted to the Bulldogs, while Marketia remains a loyal member of the Big Blue Nation. A University of Kentucky graduate, she still proudly supports her Kentucky roots. 

When they are relaxing at home, HGTV and cooking shows are often on television, while their musical tastes tend toward the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s. They also enjoy the TGC Radio app, operated by Georgia Club resident Sanders Hickey. 

Travel has long been part of their life together. Boston and Isle of Palms are favorite destinations, and family beach trips to Isle of Palms have become treasured traditions. These days, Boston has taken on even greater importance. Their grown children include sons Daniel, who lives in Athens, and Michael, who lives in Wilmington, Massachusetts, along with daughter-in-law Meisha. The recent arrival of their first grandchild, Nolan, now five months old, means trips north come with a particularly good reason. 

There are still destinations on the wish list. Marketia would like to take a castle tour through Scotland, while Doug hopes to visit Normandy. 

Closer to home, Thanksgiving remains one of their most important traditions. Each year they host Marketia’s family—and they are apparently not easily deterred. They even managed to host Thanksgiving in 2023 while their kitchen was undergoing a renovation. 

Through careers, moves, travel, family milestones and now grandparenthood, Doug and Marketia have collected plenty of experiences along the way. One favorite motto seems especially fitting: “Never assume you’re the smartest person in the room.” 

It reflects a curiosity that still keeps them reading, learning and trying new things. 

For now, they are happy with life in Five Points: tending flowers and vegetables, walking Maggie, heading to games, meeting neighbors along the sidewalk and starting the day with a familiar chai. After years of living in communities around the country, they have found something in Five Points that feels increasingly rare—a place that still feels unmistakably like a neighborhood.