Tag Archives: Georgia Greek Revival Architecture

Harper Fowlkes House, 1844, Savannah

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The Harper Fowlkes House museum in Savannah, Georgia.

The Harper Fowlkes House was built by prominent architect Charles B. Cluskey as a Greek Revival townhouse for Savannah shipping magnate Stephen Gardner on Orleans Square in 1844. Financial difficulties soon compelled Gardner to sell the house to his brother, who then sold it to Aaron Champion (1792-1880). Champion’s daughter, Maria Sophia McAlpin (1832-1890), used the house for in-town entertaining while living at the Hermitage Plantation. Her husband James McAlpin was a trustee of that property. By 1895, Maria’s son, Henry McAlpin (1860-1931) and his second wife, Isabel, were living in the house, and Isabel was responsible for the addition of a third floor and mansard roof, to accommodate servants. Alida Harper Fowlkes (1908-1985) purchased the home, which today bears her name, for $9000 in 1939. Mrs. Fowlkes, who owned the Georgian Tea Room in the Olde Pink House in the 1930s and 1940s, later became an antiques dealer and preservationist, restoring ten houses in Savannah. In her will, she left the house to the Society of the Cincinnati in the State of Georgia and stipulated it never be sold. It is operated as a house museum today by the Coastal Heritage Society.

Savannah National Historic Landmark District, National Register of Historic Places

Sorrel-Weed House, 1840, Savannah

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The Sorrel-Weed House in Savannah, Georgia.

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

Ardis-Abbott House, Circa 1845, Marietta

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A large, white Southern-style antebellum house with two stories, featuring a wide front porch supported by columns, black shutters, and manicured shrubs in the garden.

David Ardis (1804-1872) and Eliza C. Gray Ardis (1804-1867) are the earliest known owners of this home, one of the few antebellum residences in Marietta to survive the Civil War. They regularly came to Marietta as a retreat from the hot summers of their native Edgefield, South Carolina, and moved here permanently circa 1850. Ardis Street in Marietta is named for this family. The house is now home to the Little & Smith Insurance Company.

Northwest Marietta Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Greek Revival Cottage, 1850, Columbus

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Historic Greek Revival cottage in Columbus Historic District with a light blue door and an American flag, surrounded by greenery and flower beds.

This is another fine example of the Greek Revival cottage style so popular in antebellum Columbus. Like its neighbor, in the previous post, it has been expanded over time and has had decorative elements added, but to no detrimental effect.

Columbus Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Greek Revival Cottage, Circa 1835, Columbus

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Greek Revival cottage built circa 1835, surrounded by greenery and a palm tree, located in the Columbus Historic District.

This cottage has been expanded at the rear section, but retains its historic integrity. It’s one of my favorite houses in Columbus, though I have been unable to locate any history beyond an approximate date of construction. The ornamentation is a stylistic addition, likely done 20-40 years after the house was built.

Columbus Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Goetchius House, 1839, Columbus

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Goetchius House, one of the oldest in Columbus, now a restaurant, on Broadway near the Chattahoochee River.

Richard Rose Goetchius (1814-1875) came to Columbus from New York in 1834 and quickly established himself as a prominent builder and architect. He built this grand Greek Revival cottage as a gift for his wife, Mary Ann Bennett Goetchius (1819-1878), upon their marriage in 1839. It originally stood at 11th Street and 2nd Avenue but was moved circa 1970 to save it from commercial development.

All six of the Goetchius children, five sons and a daughter, were born in the house. The two eldest sons died in the Civil War. Another son died in early childhood. One son became a Columbus lawyer and another a Presbyterian minister. Their daughter, Mary Goetchius McKinley, died in childbirth, and her daughter Mary McKinley Wellborn, eventually inherited the house. It remained in the family until 1969.

It has been completely restored by its new owners, who have transformed it into a popular gourmet restaurant.

National Register of Historic Places

Greek Revival Cottage, 1852, Columbus

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A historic Greek Revival cottage in the Columbus Historic District, featuring a blue façade, a red front door, and decorated with pumpkins and greenery for the season.

Columbus Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Wells-Bagley House, 1840, Columbus

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Historic house in the Columbus Historic District, surrounded by trees and a white picket fence.

This house was located at the corner of Front Avenue and 8th Street, overlooking the Chattahoochee River, until 1969, when it was moved to its present site by the Historic Columbus Foundation. Little of the early history of the house is known; it was purchased by saloon keeper Francis Marion Bagley (1845-1903) around the turn of the 20th century.

Columbus Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

John Spencer Roberts House, Circa 1850, Columbus

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Front view of the International Funeral Home, also known as the John Spencer Roberts House, featuring a white building with black shutters, a set of steps leading to the entrance, and greenery in the front yard.

This Greek Revival cottage is thought to have been built for John Spencer Roberts, the founder of Georgia Webbing & Tape, an early Columbus industrial concern, though further information on Mr. Roberts or his company has not been easy to locate. By 1896, it was home to Joseph Hecht (1844-1917) and Adele Kober Hecht (1859-1920). The Hechts were Austrian Jews who came to Columbus in the 1860s and later established Hecht’s Candy Company, a successful wholesaler.

It’s been home to Charles E. Huff’s International Funeral Home for many years.

National Register of Historic Places

William A. Bedell House, Circa 1838, Columbus

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A view of a Greek Revival cottage, known as the Bedell-Stark House, featuring a central entrance flanked by large columns. The house is surrounded by neatly trimmed shrubs and a manicured lawn with a stone pathway leading to the front steps.

This fine Greek Revival cottage is also known as the Bedell-Starke or Bedell-Browne House. It is the oldest extant house in what would come to be known as the Wildwood Circle subdivision. When the neighborhood was being platted for the subdivision between 1911-1917, it was moved across the street to accommodate a new road. A renovation by local architect T. Firth Lockwood in 1926-1927 added Colonial Revival elements to reflect the popular style of the era, though its Greek Revival origins remain evident.

A Greek Revival cottage known as the Bedell-Stark or Bedell-Browne House, featuring a Colonial Revival appearance with a portico supported by Doric columns, surrounded by lush greenery.

The first owner, William A. Bedell (1818-1903) was an early settler of Columbus, involved in real estate, warehouses, groceries, and most significantly, cotton brokerage. His obituary in the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, dated 24 September 1903, noted: “William Augustus Bedell was one of the oldest cotton buyers in the state of Georgia. He was born in Jones County. The family moved to Harris County, and when he was a lad of 15, he persuaded his mother to let him come to Columbus for a visit. He arrived in Columbus in November, 1833. Mr. Bedell did his first work in Columbus as a clerk for Ridgeway and Bowden, located at what is now known as Needham’s Corner….”

Numerous owners followed, including Hugh Dawson (1861-1867); John M.* & Mary E. Grier Starke (1867-1884); H. H. Epping (1884-1885); Mary Welch Reynolds (1885-1889); Columbus, later Flournoy, Real Estate Company (1889-1917); J. Rhodes** and Nina Young Brown (1917-c. 1946?). *-The house is located on Stark Avenue, which was likely named for the Starke family. Presumably, the “e” was dropped at some point. | **- J. Rhodes Brown was involved in banking and insurance and served as a mayor of Columbus and on the Muscogee County Board of Commissioners.

Hillcrest-Wildwood Circle Historic District, National Register of Historic Places