Historic Houses of Georgia: The Antebellum Years | GPB Documentaries

Cedar Grove Meadow Garden dinglewood their names roll off the tongue like drops of Honey warm and sweet white column plantation homes Irish townhouses and imposing Mansions their owners rode the crest of the wave as King Cotton Ruled the Land although much of Georgia's history has indeed Gone With the Wind all over the state there remain beautiful houses that tell us the Bittersweet stories of Antebellum Georgia [Music] for those who live in the shadow of Atlanta's 20th century skyscrapers George's Antebellum past is indeed hard to find search through historic Oakland cemetery and you can see a few early gravestones but the rest of the Antebellum city known first as Terminus and then is Marthasville has not survived the Civil War and modern development for the rest of Georgia the truth is very different from Savannah to Rome and Augusta to Thomasville there are houses and other historic buildings that remind us of that era of contrast and contradiction before the Civil War for affluent whites it was a time of Elegance and progress for their slaves a time of deprivation and repression their stories can be read in the bricks and stone the plaster and woodwork of the buildings of Antebellum Georgia [Music] 's first city is a place of gracious Shady squares and elegant historic buildings founded in 1734 by General Oglethorpe by the early 1800s Savannah had become a thriving Port City some of Savannah's residents had become rich enough to build fine townhouses emulating the homes and lifestyles of Europe we hear ladies with families of small children boast of having been out to parties 10 nights in succession until after midnight and sometimes until three o'clock in the morning and that they had not seen their husbands for a week Mrs Scarborough lately sent out cards of invitations to 500 persons 300 attended every room in a large house was newly furnished for the occasion the beds Etc were sent out Refreshments handed round from Garrett to seller through the night an anonymous woman visitor [Music] [Applause] but life was not all fun epidemic diseases would sweep regularly through the population yellow fever carried by mosquitoes was a particular Menace against this backdrop of uncertainty the citizens of Savannah built their families and businesses and their homes the houses that remain today are a tribute to the people who crafted each brick and column each Window and Door many of the workmen were slaves skilled creative men whose talents often coerced and unpaid made these fine buildings possible foreign Savannah mayor James Wayne commissioned a Regency townhome built of Savannah gray brick stuccoed and scored to look like bathstone the house cost four thousand dollars when the average home cost no more than 1500. on entering visitors waited in the front hallway while decorated with durable materials to withstand the dirt brought in from the unpaved roads it also had to create a first impression of wealth and elegance downstairs rooms were used for many purposes and had lightweight furniture that could be moved to create a ballroom parlor reception room or dining room elaborate plaster work and classical motifs added to the Elegance of the public rooms the bedrooms not on view to guests were more simply finished and furnished in 1831 Wayne was elected to the U.S Congress and sold his fine home to his niece Sarah Gordon and her husband the Gordon's granddaughter Juliet would later become world famous as the founder of the Girl Scouts a contrast in style is the 1848 italianate Mansion of Andrew Lowe a very wealthy cotton Merchant Lo was something of a trendsetter in house design by breaking away from the very popular Greek Revival fashion as a businessman he traveled regularly up the east coast and to Europe and his house reflects these wider influences designed by New York architect John Norris the Mansion was tailored for the Savannah climate and lifestyle the entrance hall has practical floor cloths and Hardy upholstery yet appears elegant but as in many 19th century houses appearances can be deceiving plaster walls were painted to look like marble and local Pine painted to resemble exotic hardwoods as a man of wealth and prominence low entertained often one house guest was the English author William makepiece Thackery who considered Savannah a jolly little friendly town he enjoyed Lowe's Hospitality during his lecture tours and in the letter home said he was riding from the most comfortable quarters I have ever had in the United States where I can get all these Comforts all free Gratis in the house of my friend Lo last time I was here he was a widower with two daughters in England now here is a pretty wife added to the establishment and a little daughter numbering three crowing in the adjoining Nursery it's a pretty little place and Mr Lowe my host has made me as comfortable as mortal man could be in such hot weather [Music] for many wealthy Savannah residents their fine townhouses were only one of several homes beyond the city limits up and down the Marshland Coast were rice plantations like halfwell Broadfield today the house and grounds Bears silent testimony to the slaves whose hard short lives were spent in these Moshi Fields the work was back-breaking and life-taking and the marsh has won back most of what they fought so hard to tame foreign the halfwell Broadfield Plantation was owned by the same family from 1804 to 1973. the present House was built around 1851. it may have been an overseer's house adopted by the family when a grander house burned but Plantation houses were often simple structures the families would live there during the fall and winter only moving Inland to finer homes in the Pine Barrens to escape the heat mosquitoes and plagues of Summer yeah George dense hofwell house though simple was elegant the 1850s were a boom time for the rice industry and the Planters enjoyed a busy social life of entertaining visiting and outdoor activities many pieces of furniture are family heirlooms even older than the house each telling its own story in the dining room is a china cabinet made around 1780 there are 13 panes of glass a common design for that period in honor of the 13 original colonies inside the cabinet is China from Canton Priceless today the pieces came over as ballast in the clipper ships which took back cotton and other New World exports in their place the fire scream once protected the fair complexion of a southern lady more than just for Comfort it would have stopped the beeswax in her Antebellum Cosmetics from melting not a flattering sight upstairs is a beautifully carved rice bed in warm weather the bed was moved to the middle of the room without the headboard for better air circulation the hooks for mosquito netting sir reminder that the Planters lives had plenty of Hazards and tragedies the same damp fertile lands that brought them wealth brought sickness and death to many deep in the Sleepy East Georgia Countryside lies birdsville Plantation the same family has lived here since 1784 when Philip Jones received the land as a bounty grant for his Services during the Revolutionary War for a while this peaceful Farmhouse now so far off the Beaten Track was at a major crossroads during that time on the road here in front of the house was a main was a main thoroughfare and the stagecoach came this way from Savannah going to Louisville Mary Andrews is the latest in the long line of Jones descendants to live at birdsville Louisville was the first capital of Georgia and so there was a lot of traffic coming this way and the community was completely settled there was a stage stop right across the road I presume there was a Tavern a place to eat and it was run by Mr Samuel Byrd and since it seemed to be a Gathering Place the mail bag was dropped off at Mr Bird's place so in 1792 when the United States Post Office became an official place it had to have a name and they named it birdsville for Mr Samuel Byrd Philip Jones son Henry inherited birdsville and expanded the property to 75 000 acres by 1853 as his property grew the original Federal style house no longer seemed Grand enough the front part was added on in the 1850s because that style was popular at the time and my great great grandfather's Brothers had all built beautiful homes in the Antebellum Style and I assumed he wanted one too so he just remodeled dad's old house and put a nice pretty front on it the house and grounds are a memory book for Mary Andrews we have lots of stars that have been handed down and some I wouldn't dare tell you about but those are in every family the one that's passed down the most and the most well-known story is the one about the great great grandmother who was here when the when Sherman soldiers came through and they tried to get her out of the house and told her they were going to burn it and she refused to leave it seems that she had just lost her newborn twins and the soldiers did not believe her of course they saw fresh graves in the cemetery so they dug them up and realized that she had indeed just lost her babies and so they did not burn her house that's why it's still here today upriver from Savannah lies Georgia's second oldest city Augusta it was established in 1736 by General Oglethorpe as a fort and trading post the city soon sprawled Beyond its original grid system and by the early 1800s contained many fine buildings [Music] on the Sandhills overlooking Augusta wealthy citizens built summer homes where they could escape the heat and humidity somerville's Antebellum houses are still highly prized homes [Music] at the edge of old Augusta lies the home of two-time Georgia Governor George Walton Meadow Garden was built in two stages starting in the 1790s and is thought to be the oldest house remaining in Augusta it originally stood on 121 Acres a simple but comfortable house built as a farm home and not designed to impress visitors foreign by the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1900 Meadow Garden was the first historic preservation project in the state of Georgia although close in location and age the Ezekiel Harris house looks very different from Meadow Garden tobacco Merchant Harris hoped to found a town to rival Augusta he purchased 300 acres sloping down to the river and built his house on the hilltop [Music] its style was influenced by houses in New England which often had similar Gambrell roofs and Tall entrance ways the front door itself is one of several parts of the house built from catalog patterns apparently Georgia was not a trendsetter when it came to design Harris's Builders used a catalog that was over 50 years old at the rear of the house is an unusual exterior staircase the only way to reach the two upper stories flanking the stairs are Travelers rooms for tobacco Merchants using Harris's Warehouse [Music] inside the house is a more typical plantation home with a central hallway that could be opened at both ends to catch the breezes foreign was able to enjoy his home for only a few years financial problems forced him to give up the house and his dreams of a new town [Music] by the early 1840s the whole town of Augusta was in trouble some local disasters and a financial crisis in the region had all but ruined the city's economy the tide was turned by the building of the Augusta Canal it was the brainchild of Henry Harford a somewhat unlikely hero as his great-great-granddaughter Nancy Connolly tells he was a quiet withdrop with retiring person very smart very well educated he was a lawyer he was the founder of one of the oldest law firms here in Augusta um and he was a scholar he was a thinker and so he conceived of this idea and then as I said got some other prominent citizens to listen to his story and they did and they went to city council and so he was persuasive enough in his quiet manner to persuade them that this was the the road to take this was the Waterway to take toward improving the economy and the State of Affairs of Augusta and that's what happened the canal brought Mills and turned Augusta into an industrial success in thanks the city presented shy Henry with a 17-piece silver service part of which is still cherished by his family although some people made money in Commerce and Industry most worked or invested in agriculture fertile land was plentiful as new areas were opened up for settlement [Music] foreign can you get a better sense of George's early years than at Alexandria Plantation the house crowns a hill near Thompson west of Augusta even today fertile land stretches to the Horizon with no sign of human development now cattle pastures have replaced the cotton fields owned by Thomas Carr who built the house in 1805. she chose a style common in Virginia with chimneys at the back but elegant design by the 1850s Alexandria had a near neighbor across the fields lies Snow Hill a typical cotton era plantation house built by James Duffy planter Snow Hill is still the center of a working farm [Music] small towns are strung across Georgia's fertile Piedmont like pearls on the necklace many of them such as Washington are still Treasure troes of Antebellum houses foreign 's older towns Washington was founded in 1780 on lands taken from The Creeks a few years before the 1820s the Greek Revival fashion had taken hold and even today Washington is a town of white columns and porticos [Music] the Robert Tunes house reflects how tastes changed with the times the house was begun in 1797 by Dr Joel Abbott as a simple Federal style home by the time Robert Toombs purchased the property in 1837 Greek Revival was the fashion rather than tear down the existing house tomb simply added a Greek Revival Portico although it has the desired effect from the front from the side the addition looks decidedly out of proportion but Victoria Nanos allowed them to see only what they were supposed to see so the addition served its purpose of impressing visitors and passers-by with its imposing Elegance foreign foreign was a lawyer a planter and a politician and the interior of his house reflects his wealth and position [Music] tombs is also well known for being the unreconstructed rebel who never regained his citizenship after the Civil War [Music] started about the same time as tombs Grand Portico but looking very different was the Charming Barnett Slayton Cottage Samuel Barnett Georgia's first railroad commissioner acquired the property some 20 years later and enlarged the front part of the house delicate fret work inspired by the italianate style was to become increasingly popular in marked contrast to the white column Grandeur of the Greek Revival Style the Barnett Slayton house is now home to the Washington Wilkes Historical Museum in 1801 a site was chosen on a high Bluff above the Oconee River for the first state chartered University in the country the town was named Athens in keeping with the classical fervor of the times gradually the town became the cultural center of the state attracting prominent families who built large homes and other buildings in many different styles there were Federal homes like the church Brumby house and italianate Villas like the Hamilton house even Gothic Revival made an appearance in the house of newspaper editor James a sledge a local Foundry made cast iron available for decoration and structural work So Graceful Verandas and balconies adorned many of the buildings [Music] but the dominant design in this self-styled classic city was Greek Revival and column porticos still lined many Athens streets today in the 1840s Savannah planter cotton Merchant and militia officer General Robert Taylor built himself a majestic summer house in Athens the Portico has 13 Dora columns said to represent the original 13 colonies a delicate Twisted wire railing contrasts with the massive columns as in many 19th century houses the windows reached to the ground so they can be used as doors and for ventilation boxwood Gardens were also common in the Antebellum years grass was not easy to grow or maintain but boxwood hedges were Hardy and could be trimmed to match the symmetry of the classic styles the interior of the house has high ceiling Airy rooms and elegant plaster work [Music] during the Civil War the house was bought by Major William Grady whose son Henry was to become famous as an orator and Atlanta newspaper editor one of the last great Greek Revival mansions to be built in Georgia was the grand house now home to the presidents of the University of Georgia the house sits grandly behind a typical picket fence and boxwood Garden [Music] Virginia railroad magnate John T Grant spent 25 355.25 on his Athens Mansion which was finished in 1858 Grant decorated his house with graceful fluted columns topped by elaborate composite capitals even the rear of the house is elegant framed by more simple dark columns [Music] everything about the interior is ornate and stylish [Music] blocked wall France greets the visitor wallpaper was available throughout the Antebellum Period and this design of corn and wheat was custom made for Grant the furniture though not original to the house is of the same period in style by the front door is an early 19th century Rosewood console it has a low mounted mirror for the ladies to check that their petticoats were not showing foreign with its carved marble mantles and elaborate plaster work the president's house is considered one of the finest Greek Revival mansions in the south the location of Georgia's state capitol was gradually moved West as new lands opened up in that direction in 1804 Millageville took over from Louisville as the political center of the state built by the navigable Oconee River Millageville was a carefully planned city based on a grid system it had 20 acre squares set aside for major public buildings the capital was built in 1807 in a very daring Gothic Revival style at a time when the governor still lived in a log house within a few years Millageville streets were graced with fine houses a distinct variation of the prevailing Federal style developed there the homestead is an outstanding example of what some have called Millageville Federal it has the typical two-story porch framed by full-length columns and a semi-circular fan light over each door the homestead was built in 1818 by Peter J Williams for his bride Lucinda at her Direction a boxwood Garden was planted in front of the house framing the walkway to The Elegant porch the brown Stetson Sanford House built in 1825 is another fine example of the Millageville Federal style but it has some unusual features the palladian porch in the front is unique and the leaded fan lights incorporate a spread eagle design which was symbolic of national pride at the rear of the house is a Charming Garden planted with flowers that were popular in the mid-19th century built for George D Brown the building was originally used as an inn in 1857 Daniel B Stetson a prosperous Merchant bought the house and raised his family there his daughter Elizabeth continued to live there after her marriage to judge Daniel Sanford [Music] the interior is representative of the more luxurious houses of the time in The Parlor the woodwork has been painted to look like mahogany and Bird's Eye Maple the mantle is marbleized and finely carved [Music] in the entrance hall is a curving cantilevered stair which has no visible means of support [Music] the bedrooms are light and Airy with Fine Furniture [Music] a family Ledger gives another peek at the lives lived in this fine 19th century townhouse [Music] thank you George's increasing Prosperity was reflected in the Millageville Governor's Mansion which was built in 1838 the exterior has a Greek Revival port with ionic columns as with many stucco houses of the period the governor's mansion was painted a color not white the muted pink was described as mellow Rose the color of a lovely pink tinged Sunset just deepening into crimson not visible from the outside the Mansion has one very unusual feature a rotunda which is constructed entirely within the Attic starting with George Gilmer 10 Governors made their home in the stately Millageville mansion the Mansion was described by a contemporary writer in glowing terms you may find more elaborate carvings wider paneling a more beautiful dome but you will not find a more perfect Gem of architecture in the state Morgan is settled by an intelligent population many of the citizens are wealthy and live in much style the ladies especially those of Madison are remarkably pretty and many of them are highly accomplished the most cultured and aristocratic town on the stagecoach route from Charleston to New Orleans contemporary writers use these words of praise to describe Madison founded in 1809 the town thrived as the county seat of cotton Rich Morgan County today it is still full of fine Antebellum architecture from the federal style of the early 19th century to the italianate and Greek styles of the mid-century well I don't think there's people in this family ever threw anything away it all accumulated in boxes in closets and just stored away in drawers and it takes years to go through all this stuff the 1822 Stokes McHenry house is one of the few houses in Georgia still to be owned by the original family Colonel Dan hickey is descended from James McHenry a wealthy Savannah cotton Merchant the mchenry's intermarried with the Stokes of Madison and the small federal-style house was soon enlarged and embellished with an elegant porch since those Antebellum days several Generations have filled the house with Furniture memorabilia which Colonel hickey and his wife had him in a cherish well I feel like it's very special because it has remained in the same family for all these many years and the little things that we have here some of them are just old and worn but they mean something you understand because of the fact that they've been here so long the hickeys explore their house for what it can teach them about the past in this room for instance we found out that all the fireplaces had been painted black that was a housekeeping thing see for the soot recently an old passport turned up which described colonel hickey's great-grandfather in my new detail every detail you can imagine in writing but what amused me was after all that detailed written description of him down in the body of the document it just said accompanied by wife that's all it said about that as a child Colonel hickey was warned not to damage the Family Treasures they would say that's an antique don't do that so I couldn't wait to get away from all the old furniture and get me some new furniture he now feels very differently about his family heirlooms for the hickeys and those who visit their fascinating house the collection opens doors into the past just west of Madison lies Covington Incorporated in 1822 Covington also Drew its wealth from the cotton industry of the Piedmont [Music] Greek Revival was the favorite style of Covington's wealthy citizens including Judge John Harris his townhouse The Cedars with its gracious dark columns was used as a model for 12 Oaks in Gone With the Wind Judge Thomas Jones broke away from the Greek Revival tradition when he built an italianate town home for his bride Elizabeth in 1838 this house is unique in this area because it's not the usual clapboard frame house this is Brick made out of what we think to be Georgia red clay the walls are one and a half feet thick solid brick inside and out which makes every room quiet and cool and warm as the seasons determine our son played drums so we were quite lucky to have these nice thick walls because they're soundproof too Irene Smith and her husband Billy are the current owners of Dixie Manor both with long roots in the community they are their fifth family to own the house there were 55 acres here originally the this was the town property the plantation was in the eastern part of the county but all of the outbuildings necessary for the maintenance of a home this size were of course on the grounds and they were brick as the main house is the only one remaining is the four-seater Outhouse don't talk to me about the good old days when I look in the backyard and see that four-seater Outhouse that to me is not the good old days there are a lot of problems about living in a house this old of course one thing in its favor is the craftsmanship to begin with was quite well or it wouldn't have stayed here this long so houses were built better then but as with any property or body as it ages you're going to have problems uh I've had workmen drive up in the yard take one look and leave without even coming inside because they had worked on old houses enough to know that you're going to run into problems that you don't expect but for the Smiths the sense of history that comes with an old house outweighs all the disadvantages we bought the house in 1976 and are the fifth family to live here and I feel like we are caretakers for the Next Generation [Music] [Applause] at the southernmost tip of the Fertile Piedmont on the edge of the coastal plain lies Macon founded in 1824 the city thrived as a shipping point for the cotton industry some of the finest townhomes in the state were built by wealthy Macon residents Jerry Cowles a banker and railroad financier chose a Hilltop with a view of Macon for his Greek Revival Mansion originally named Overlook Cowell's Mansion is now known as the Woodruff house [Music] the Greek Revival style was very popular but Macon also had some architecturally Progressive citizens they were usually industrialists whose travels had exposed them to other styles on the way to the object of our early Promenade we came to the princely residence of Colonel William B Johnston just as the sun emerging from his watery bed poured out his golden light upon it and made the architecture look so Airy and graceful that we had to rub our eyes to convince ourselves that we were not in the sweet land of dreams it seemed to us that we were beholding the unfinished work of some munificent and graceful fairy who had been compelled by the mourn to leave off her task before she'd given the finishing stroke in causing fragrant Gardens and fascinating statues to arise from the earth a splendid Mansion which can truly be called the Palace of the South Rambles through Macon Macon Telegraph April 16 1860. the house has three main floors over a full daylight basement on top is a cupola which Rises 80 feet above the house and offers magnificent views in all directions [Music] work began on the Mansion In 1855 and was completed in 1859 it has 24 rooms totaling 18 000 square feet and cost about one hundred thousand dollars to build eight or nine times more than other homes under construction at the time entrepreneur Johnston and his wife Ann planned their Italian Palace during a three-year honeymoon in Europe the interior had the latest in modern conveniences from a coal-fired central heating system and three indoor bathrooms to a speaker tube intercom system the basement included the food storage areas they were all carefully secured with bars because food was a common Target for theft [Music] The Wine Cellar was built in the coolest place possible under the front porch with special doors for altering the ventilation the first floor is the grandest of them all but even the johnstons use some Victorian deception the marble floors are real but the walls are a painted illusion of marble which was recently retrieved from beneath layers of paint the massive front doors each weighing 500 pounds only look like bronze they are actually hand carved wood with bronze paint the picture gallery is one of the most beautiful rooms in the Mansion designed to house the art collection purchased by the johnstons in Europe here again illusion Reigns The opulent Oak in Rosewood is actually homegrown Pine painted to look like the more expensive Woods the picture gallery and the adjacent double parlor provided an expansive area for the johnstons to entertain in a Regal fashion the massive dining room has two unusual features a magnificent vaulted roof arches over the table and dominating the room is a beautiful stained glass window depicting the seasons of The Vineyard [Music] souvenirs from the Johnston's European honeymoon decorate the room with all this Grandeur the Johnston's Mansion now known as the Hay House really was the Palace of the South in the fertile rolling Countryside around Thomasville in Southwest Georgia lie White columned Mansions that Define the Antebellum era some of the finest were designed by John wind an english-born architect Cedar Grove was built by wind in the 1840s for a Harriet Blackshear and her husband James James Blackshear was killed in an accident while the house was being built [Music] with Wynn's help Harriet finished the house and then went on to manage the plantation herself it was a cotton Plantation at that time it had 8 000 Acres and 100 slaves and they were very prosperous before the Civil War for Harriet Blackshear and the other plantation owners slaves were an unquestioned part of life a commodity to be bought and sold the Planters and their families lived well on the labors of their slaves after Civil War I think I stood empty for a while I think it even stored hay in this living room here and then the Northerners came down the family from Cleveland Ohio Sports casino and they lived here for three generations and I bought and gotina from them today Cedar Grove now known as susina Plantation inn is run by another woman swedish-born Anne-Marie Walker moved to Thomasville from California someone mailed the brochure that susina was for sale and of course I fell in love with the picture the Tranquil setting and beauty of wins building proved even more appealing in real life [Music] the flower on the pediment is win's trademark he is said to have carved it himself with only a pocket knife the furniture here at Lucina are all antiques and I bought them in this area most of it in Thomasville I tried to keep the furniture took for the empire style and that was about 1840. at that time they're sold American Furniture it's a very um trunking place very Serene place here with huge trees they're way out of any towns so I think that's very special you get back in time the Shady streets of Thomasville offer another Journey back into history here again John Wayne's Legacy can be seen in the fine and varied townhouses he designed for Robert Hardaway he makes the classical Revival and italianate styles the house has wim's favorite porch supports and is typically elegant front doorway [Music] contrast in style is the classical Revival Cottage built for judge Augustine Harris Hansel different again is the Brandon house originally a late Georgian design the house was changed in the 1870s to its present Second Empire Style [Music] many of thomasville's Antebellum houses have grown or changed over the years but they still tell their cotton era stories loud and clear many New Towns were established in the 1820s and 30s in Georgia's newly settled western counties Columbus was founded by the Falls of the Chattahoochee River the river offered transportation and Powerful Mills so Columbus soon became an important commercial and Industrial Center by the time of the Civil War fine buildings of many different styles had been constructed along the town's Gridiron downtown streets meanwhile the land outside the town was also being settled by wealthy Planters and industrialists Saint Elmo's Tuscan columns are 40 feet high and three feet in diameter their massive size contrasts with the delicate ironwork of the balcony and the woodwork of the balustrade originally known as El Dorado the house was built in 1833 for Colonel Seabourn Jones on the crest of a hill above Columbus sits Oakview the Greek Revival Mansion of Colonel William Nguyen the area around Oakview came to be known as Winton and is the site of fine Antebellum houses in a variety of styles ornate dinglewood was built in 1858 by Alabama planter Joel early hurt slaves from Hertz Plantation constructed the elegant italianate villa which was designed by the Columbus Architects Barringer and Morton Winton was also home for the family of John Banks they're the wealthy lawyer Merchant legislator planter and school teacher built a fine classical Revival house he named The Cedars it originally stood on a 265 acre tract approached by a Long Avenue of Cedars with its 18 inch thick brick walls the house was designed to stand the tests of time the house has remained continuously in the bank's family since it was built in 1836 even though it passed mostly from daughter to daughter through the generation so that the surname changed almost every generation Ron and Lucy's shawl moved moved Lander to live in The Cedars John is the generation to raise his family in the house it was a life-changing decision to move here for the last 14 or 15 months we have been in full-scale restoration mode we have been doing a lot of pure restoration of plaster work would work and that will continue particularly with the restoration of the marbling in in the hall behind me the chef dolls have also put in a few modern conveniences such as central heating and air conditioning but we've been very careful not to remove or destroy any of the historic fabric of the existing house but simply build within it's going to be a family house when we finish we have three young children and they are the eighth generation to will be the eighth generation to live in this house and we're proud and excited about that and committed at least as long as we're able to keep it a family home that's our heritage and and and something that has brought us here to to to actually live in this in this place just north of Columbus lies LaGrange which was established in 1828 by 1849 LaGrange was receiving glowing reviews the town is healthy and the water excellent no place in Georgia can boast of a population from its foundation to the present time possessing greater merits and point of refinement of manners benevolence of feeling general intelligence and moral worth than LaGrange the country and the immediate vicinity of LaGrange is highly improved presenting numerous beautiful mansions surrounded by grounds ornamented with flowers and trees Joel D Newsom built his mansion in 1833 soon after he planted the first pecan tree in the area on his property the tree attracted so many visitors that the house was given the name Nutwood Evergreen has been in the body family since it was built in 1836 designed by Cullen Rogers who also designed Nutwood the house has his trademark stick flower design on the capital of each column built close to the road the house became a weigh station for travelers the bodies added a 40-foot long dining room around 1844 to cater to their passing guests in 1853 noted lawyer and politician Benjamin Harvey Hill decided to build himself a lavish Greek Revival mansion the result was Bellevue still framed by the original Magnolias the outside is adorned with ionic columns and cornices hand carved by slaves from hills 12 000 acre Plantation the interior is also a showcase for the skills of the slaves and other Craftsmen [Music] the two parlors connected by pocket doors were used as a ballroom Caroline Hill presided over the entertainment and also ran the plantation while her husband traveled for his political career [Music] to the north the town of Noonan was also flourishing it was a shipping center for cotton grown on surrounding plantations such as Shadow lawn Shadowlawn was the center of a 1200 Acre state owned by John wilcoxon a lawyer built in 1852 the front and rear of the house are identical except for the balcony styles one of Noonan's most historic homes is Buena Vista the house was built in the late 1820s by Edward B story who moved to Texas not long after his brother-in-law Colonel Hugh Buchanan enlarged the front of the house in 1850 adding the two-story Dora columns and the cantilevered balcony the Vermont style shutters were designed by a sister and were the first in Noonan [Music] Roswell is a Pity Village so-called from Roswell King Esquire situated 13 miles from Marietta and one mile from the Chattahoochee settled by persons chiefly from the Seaboard of Georgia and South Carolina and is the seat of an extensive Cotton Factory tumbling Creek Waters and healthy Piedmont air attracted settlers to Roswell in the 1830s and 40s among them was the Reverend Nathaniel Pratt who built Great Oaks the first Brick House in Roswell in around 1842. the house was intended to be a column Greek Revival Mansion however a couple days before the construction was to begin the seasoned Lumber caught fire and burned and at that time they decided to build the house out of hand molded bricks Colleen and Edward Breeze Meister purchased Great Oaks a few years ago from descendants of the Reverend Pratt and Roswell King they feared that coming from Minnesota might lose them the house however Mrs Russian was thrilled because her father was from Minnesota and therefore she felt like we were already part of the family I think the advantage of living in an old house is that these houses were built with a consideration for proportion and scale and I don't believe this exists in houses today the Reverend Pratt and his wife Catherine raised 11 children in the spacious rooms at Great Oaks which was then the manor house for a plantation growing corn sorghum and wheat the most unusual feature of the house is the good morning staircase which Mrs Pratt copied from a house on the Georgia coast the staircase has two sets of stairs that descend from the front and rear bedrooms with a central Landing uh leading down to the side and and front doors and on this Central Landing then the family would meet and greet and say good morning I I love this place it's um it's it's such a privilege to live here and yes it is a lot more work and a lot more expense to take care of but the rewards of living here far outweigh the disadvantages [Music] close by Great Oaks lies Bullock Hall the Greek Revival Mansion built by Major Jane Stephen Bullock in 1840. the house is one of the few examples in the south of true Temple form architecture with a full pediment on the Portico designed by Willis ball Bullock Hall is simple stately and symmetrical Bullock was a wealthy man and the interior of his Mansion is very elegant [Music] Bullock broke some accepted customs in his house on the public floor adjacent to the Parlor is the master bedroom walk-in closets and washrooms were also unusual except among the very rich homeowners then were taxed by the number of rooms and closets counted as rooms while the Bullocks enjoyed the luxury upstairs their house servants worked Below in the basement kitchen [Music] foreign fifty three Bullock's daughter Mitty descended the stairs to the dining room to marry Theodore Roosevelt senior they were to become the parents of the country's 26th president Theodore Roosevelt Jr [Music] the situation of Rome is certainly very romantic and the buildings of which it is composed are neat pretty and unostentatious no matter how crowded it becomes it will always be a picturesque place Rome was founded in the 1830s at the head of the Coosa River on the site of a former Cherokee Indian settlement there a Cherokee leader known as The Ridge had built a plantation Mansion called Chieftains that could rival those of white Planters around the state Ridge started Chieftains in the 1790s as a log cabin by his River Ferry and expanded it over the years as he became more successful when Rich signed the treaty seating the Cherokee lands to the U.S government and moved West Chieftains became part of the land lottery it changed hands several times in the next few years until in 1863 it was purchased by Addison Jones his great-grandson Dean Jeffries spent his first years in the house my father I used to say that this house was the oldest continuously lived in-house in Floyd County now a museum Chieftains has changed a lot over the years but the staircase remains unchanged since the house was expanded by Ridge in 1828 it was part of Dean Jeffrey's childhood I was kidding about the reason the stairs were so alone that we wore them out sliding down Mr Jeffrey's father sold Chieftains and the farm he owned around it when the land was sought for a mill site Chieftains today reflects 200 years of the history of Northwest Georgia and at its heart the log cabin with its 54-foot beam can still be seen to remind us of its earliest days good tranquil oh Carol sits nearby on Berry College's 28 000 acre campus slave laborers built the gracious Greek Revival plantation house in 1847. [Music] 12 years later Captain Thomas Berry brought his Young Bride to Oak Hill by the standards of the day Oak Hill was comfortable and unpretentious today it seems lavish pecan wood paneling from the plantation lines the library the entrance hall has ornate plaster work and a magnificent staircase on the Newell post is a crystal ball the discreet Victorian way of telling people that the mortgage has been paid off The Parlor is dominated by an elaborate mirror [Music] foreign the berries raised eight of their own children at Oak Hill and three adoptees who had been orphaned during a yellow fever epidemic one of their daughters was Martha Berry who remained at the house until her death in 1942 dedicated to the cause of Education in 1902 she established Berry College on the family lands hear the past and the future blend history is a constant companion as hopes are shaped and goals are realized [Music] our historic houses have many lessons to teach and stories to tell they bring the past alive and help us to understand that time of contrast and contradiction we call the Antebellum years [Music]

Channel: GPB

Views: 157,262

Keywords: gpb, georgia public broadcasting, georgia

Id: Es8OHM4LpXU

Length: 63min 14sec (3794 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 18 2023