The Old Sorrel-Weed House, also known as the Francis Sorrel House, was an early symbol for historic preservation in Savannah. It was designed and built between 1835-1840 in the Greek Revival style, with strong Regency influences, by Charles Cluskey for Mathurin Francois “Francis” Sorrel (1793-1870). Sorrel was an immigrant of French descent, born in the Dominican Republic. He was a longtime enslaver and transporter of enslaved people and a guardian of several free women of color. He married into the wealthy Moxley family of Virginia, first to Lucinda J. Moxley (1805-1827) in 1822. After her death from yellow fever, he married one of her sisters, Matilda Aminta Douglass Moxley (1806-1860). Their son, Gilbert Moxley Sorrel (1838-1901), was a Brigadier General for the Confederacy during the Civil War. Robert E. Lee was a good friend of Francis Sorrel’s, dating back to the 1830s, and was a guest in the home during late 1861 and early 1862.

The home was sold to prominent Savannah merchant Henry Davis Weed (1803-1875) in 1862 and his family retained ownership until 1914.

Savannah retailer A. J. Cohen, Sr., bought the home in 1941 and it remained in the family until the early 1990s. The first scene of Forrest Gump was filmed from the rooftop of the Sorrel-Weed House, and numerous ghost hunter programs have filmed here, as well. It is considered one of the most haunted places in Savannah. It is now a house museum.

Savannah National Historic Landmark District, National Register of Historic Places