Tag Archives: Georgia Plantation Plain Houses

William Root House, Circa 1845, Marietta

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The historic William Root House in Marietta, Georgia, surrounded by a white picket fence and landscaped garden.

The William Root House is a typical I-House form with a shed room at the rear (Plantation Plain), enhanced by a vernacular Greek Revival portico. Built circa 1845, it is one of the oldest houses in Marietta and an inspiring preservation success story. It was facing demolition when it was saved by Cobb Landmarks and now serves as a cultural and historic focal point. It was originally located two blocks east on the northeast corner of Church and Lemon streets and has been relocated twice. In 1893, the house was repositioned on its original lot. In 1989, it was relocated two blocks to its present location and restored. It is now an award-winning house museum, operated by Cobb Landmarks.

William Root (1815-1891), a native of Philadelphia, moved to Marietta in 1839, five years after the city’s founding. He began working as an assistant in William H. Kitchens’s drug store in Augusta in 1836, then relocated to Hamburg, South Carolina, in 1837. After a brief return to Philadelphia in 1838, he came back to Augusta in 1839 and then moved to Marietta to open a new drug and grocery store for Kitchens. On 15 September 1840, he married Hannah Rhemer Simpson (1807-1886).

The business grew quickly and Root became an influential pioneer citizen of Marietta. He helped establish St. James Episcopal Church. In 1844 he purchased the business from Kitchens and built this home about a year later. The Roots had five children (one son died as a toddler), and, according to the 1860 census, four enslaved people in their service. Cobb Landmarks has identified two of the enslaved by name: Lall Burge, who was likely a butler, or house servant, and Elsay Blake, also a domestic laborer.

With Atlanta and environs in the crosshairs of the Union armies, the Root family relocated to Washington, Georgia, in June 1864. They returned to a ruined Marietta on 15 July 1865, but fared better than many others, who lost everything. They were able to reoccupy their house. According to family papers, William Root noted, “Our dwelling, though damaged, was in tolerable condition.”

In 1866 William Root opened a new store on the Marietta Square, and owned the entire block bounded by Church, Ardis, Cherokee, and Lemon streets, the block on which the Root House originally stood. Marietta quickly rebuilt after the war and by the 1870s, Root’s sons joined him in business. He sold it to John R. Winters in 1884 and retired.

National Register of Historic Places

Plantation Plain House, Manassas

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This house was a landmark in Manassas and looked to be in relatively good condition when I made this photograph in 2016. It is essentially a Plantation Plain, or I-House, and the porches are a later addition.

Plantation Plain House, Glennville

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I made this photograph in 2015, not long before this house was torn down or moved. Though it was sided with asbestos, I believe it was an older house. It was located near the intersection of Milefield Road and US Highway 301, at the site of the new roundabout. I had a snapshot photo of better quality but have been unable to locate it, so please overlook the grainy quality of this one. I mainly wanted to share it in hopes that someone might be able to help with an identification.

Dr. Beniah S. Carswell House, Circa 1850, Jeffersonville

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The History of Twiggs County, Georgia by J. Lanette O’Neal Faulk and Billy Walker Jones (Major General John Twiggs Chapter, D.A.R., Jeffersonville, 1960) notes: “This house was built by Dr. Beniah Carswell at Jeffersonville, Georgia about 1850. The original structure had five rooms and a hall downstairs with two rooms and a hall upstairs. The house was later owned by Nelson Carswell, a grandson of Dr. Carswell. In 1948 Mr. and Mrs. James Edward Beck bought the house from Nelson Carswell which they later remodeled, the timbers used in the renovation having come from Todd Hall”, later known as the Wall Place in Wilkinson County.”

A 2006 historic resources survey conducted by the state of Georgia adds that the house was remodeled circa 1948. Renovations included the replacement of the south end chimney, addition of new piers and asbestos siding, and the addition of a one-story wing on the north side of the house.

Dr. Beniah S. Carswell (1830-1895) was a native of Telfair County, the son of Alexander Carswell and Elizabeth W. Ashley Carswell. He served in Co. A, 22nd Batallion State Guard Cavalry during the Civil War. His first wife and the mother of his children was Caroline Julia Matilda “Carrie” Sears. He later married Mattie R. Harrell (1851-1914).

Note: This replaces and expands a post originally published on 31 March 2018.

I-House, Toombs County

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This appears to be an early I-House (also known as Plantation Plain, though for lack of a better identification this house is more I-house than Plantation Plain) but the chimney is obviously not original. The small second floor windows along the front facade are not unique, but I’ve only seen a few similar examples.

The height of the house suggests it may have originated as a central hallway cottage with a small second story added later. The shed rooms at the back are also an addition. I hope to learn more.

Jarrett-Hayes House, 1848, Stephens County

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According to the National Register of Historic Places, the Jarrett-Hayes House “was built by Robert Jarrett using hand-made bricks and slave labor...it also has an original ell on the rear… The house reflects the construction methods of the period with the on-premise, hand-made bricks, pegged interior woodwork, and turned balusters...The property was at one time a thriving 800 acre plantation producing corn, wheat, cotton, peas, and beans. In 1950, it was purchased by Elizabeth Turnbull Hayes, great granddaughter of Robert Jarrett. The land was used for farming until the creation of Lake Hartwell in 1958-1960.”

It is well maintained and remains an important symbol of the area’s early history.

National Register of Historic Places

Traveler’s Rest, Circa 1816-1825, Stephens County

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Traveler’s Rest was built upon land granted to Major Jesse Walton in 1785 for his service in the Revolutionary War. Walton was killed by indigenous people near this site in 1789. The Walton family sold the land to Gen. James Rutherford Wyly (1782-1855), who built the original section of the house between 1816-1825. The property was purchased by Devereaux Jarrett (1785-1852) in 1838. Jarrett expanded the original structure to ten rooms. He opened it to the public as an inn, trading post, and post office, to meet the needs of a growing population made possible by the Unicoi Turnpike, an early public road in the area. Among its early guests was G. W. Featherstonehaugh, and English scientist who served as the first geologist for the U. S. government and a surveyor of the Louisiana Purchase.

This 1934 photograph by Branan Sanders for the Historic American Buildings Survey shows Traveler’s Rest looking much as it does today, albeit a bit overgrown. Courtesy Library of Congress.

It was known as Jarrett Manor during that family’s ownership. Notably, the last owner, Mary Jarrett White (1870-1957), was the first woman in Georgia to vote. The site is open, with limited hours, as a state historic site today.

National Historic Landmark

Asa Chandler House, Elberton

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Asa Chandler House

The Asa Chandler House is one of the most historically important and endangered houses in Elberton, and an unusual resource to be so intact within an urban setting.

Kitchen, originally located north of house but later attached

Though tax digests and historic resource surveys date the house to circa 1849, it likely originated earlier as a simpler form, perhaps a dogtrot, and possibly as early as the 1820s or 1830s.

Chimney, showing original granite blocks with restored brick section

Asa Chandler (1806-1874) bought the 36-acre property in 1849. He was a preacher and yeoman farmer who may have owned several slaves. After the Civil War, Rev. Chandler continued to operate the farm while serving numerous congregations in northeast Georgia. He was known to have a peach orchard at one time. Southern Anthology, a genealogical compendium of “families on the frontier of the Old South” notes: “Rev. Asa Chandler was born on the 22d of August, 1808, in Franklin County, Georgia. He made a public profession of faith in Christ in his 14th year, and joined the Poplar Spring church, in his native county. He was ordained in his 21st year, and in 1834 accepted the pastorate of the Van’s Creek church, in Elbert county, and moved to Ruckersville. He served that church as pastor for the long period of thirty-seven years, and was its pastor when he died. Other churches also enjoyed the benefit of his ministerial services, especially the Falling Creek church, of which he was pastor for more than twenty years.“

19th century well house

In 1917, the home was purchased by postmaster and mail carrier Walter C. Jones, who added the garage and other modern barns to the property. Mr. Jones was also a small-scale farmer, who may have planted the pecan orchard behind the house.

Barn, possibly of log construction and later sided with tar paper

The property is amazingly intact but its location on the main north-south highway in Elberton makes it vulnerable to development.

Garage, 20th century

It’s important for its antebellum origins, but also for its transition into a modern farm.

View from well house to main house

I don’t know its present status but I hope it will be preserved.

Front elevation of house, showing sleeping porch (at right) added by the Jones family in the 1920s

National Register of Historic Places

Josiah Freeman Auld House, Circa 1860, Elberton

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The home of Josiah Freeman Auld is one of the most conspicuous landmarks in downtown Elberton and its origins are likely earlier than the generally given dates of 1860 and 1860 in real estate listings and tax digests. As the view from the sidewalk on McIntosh Street (above) illustrates, the house is set on a steep promontory above the surrounding neighborhood, so as not to be missed. As is evident from the photographs, the home was originally a simple Plantation Plain or I-House, with a wing, added later no doubt. The Victorian porch and its details are later additions, perhaps closer to the 1869 date, or a bit later.

A 1975 survey noted that Mrs. Fred Auld was still living in the home and had painted it red to cheer it up a bit. The surveyor wondered if the chimneys had all fallen, since none were present. He also noted: “the house has the “Elberton Doorway” (trabeated with narrow sidelights) found on some of the houses of the 1850s and perhaps later, such as the Adams, James-Kay, and Swift-Oliver Houses.”

The home is named for and associated with Josiah Freeman Auld (1832-1895) and Rachel Amanda McFall Auld (1836-1922), though many resources mistakenly identify him as Joshua Freeman Auld. Auld was a prominent citizen of Elberton and owned a successful blacksmith and carriage shop, adjacent to this house at the corner of McIntosh and Church Streets, where the old Norman Garage stands today. The area was known as Auld’s Corner in its day. I believe the home remained in the Auld family well into the 20th century.

Elberton Residential Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

John Shank House, Circa 1840, Hogansville

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I certainly hope to learn more about this extraordinary vernacular house, which has a Federal-Plantation Plain form, enhanced by a portico that would be considered somewhat uncommon in this context. 9 over 9 windows are potential hints of an early construction date, perhaps antebellum. I think the double doors are early, as well. It’s such a delightful house, from its setting to its architecture, and is obviously well-loved and cared for by its owners.

Update: Thanks to Eric Korn, I’ve learned that this was relocated here in 1947, at which time the portico, which originally ran along the entire front of the house, was reduced to its present configuration. It was originally used as a stagecoach layover/boarding house in its early days. It’s also referred to as the Shank-Strain House.