They Don't Build Them Like This Now

There are a couple of buildings on Oglethorpe Square that deserve some of your time and attention. The first is the The Owens-Thomas House is located on the northeast corner of Oglethorpe Square and is operated as a historic house museum by the Telfair Museum of Art. The house was begun in 1816 and designed by English architect William Jay. It was orginally called the Richardson House named after its first owner and builder. It is the finest example of English Regency architecture in the United States. The house was built between 1816 and 1819 for Richard Richardson a wealthy cotton merchant and banker and his wife Francis Bolton. Mr. Richardson's brother-in-law was married to Ann Jay the sister of the architect. Three years after its completion Mr. Richardson suffered financial losses and had to sell the house. It came into possession of the Bank of the United States and for several years was a boarding house run by Mary Maxwell. On March 19, 1825 Revolutionary War hero Marquis de Lafayette was a guest of the city of Savannah, stayed at the house and addressed the citizens from an iron veranda on the south facade. George Welshman Owens purchased the house for $10,000 in 1830. Mr. Owens was a planter, congressman, lawyer and mayor of Savannah during his lifetime. The home remained in the Owens family until 1951 when Mr. Owens granddaughter Miss Margret Thomas bequeathed it to the Telfair Museum of Art. It contains period furniture dating from 1750 to 1830, a decorative arts collection, an English parterre garden and an original carriage house thay contains one of the earliest intact urban slave quarters in the South.

Tabby was used in the construction of the house. It is a combination of lime, sand, water and crushed oyster shells. It was used in this area because Savannah lacked stone to build the house and bricks were rare and expensive due to the lack of local clay. It is a labor intensive process that required the use of slave labor to crush and burn the oyster shells to provide lime. That was combined with water and sand, placed in wood forms until it hardened.

This is some ornamental iron work below the area where the Marquis de Lafayette spoke. The detail and beauty are breathtaking.

This is a view of the rear of the house showing the parterre garden. A parterre garden is a formal garden constructed on a level surface with symmetrical planting beds separated and connected by gravel pathways.

 

Another view of the house from the front. You can see the iron work pictured above and the veranda where Marquis de Lafayette spoke. The is a must see when you visit Savannah.

 

The other building I want to briefly mention is the Presidents' Quarters Inn. It is a bed and breakfast so if you want to stay in the historic district in a beautiful building here is a picture of it.

The building was originally constructed in 1855 as twin federal style mansions. It was renovated into a bed and breakfast in 2007 and features 16 suites. Each suite is named for a United States President who has visited the city of Savannah. Bring a big wallet as rooms run $250 per night and up. If it makes you feel better for the past six years it has been voted the best of the best in Savannah Bed and Breakfast. As you see some rooms do feature a private balcony.