Tag Archives: Georgia Victorian Architecture

Queen Anne Farmhouse, Elbert County

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This was a very common style of farmhouse at one time, essentially a working man’s interpretation of the higher Victorian styles popular in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Most of the fancier details would have been part of the porch, which has been removed at some point in its history. This example was once the center of an historic working farm and I can imagine the comfort it brought to the family who lived here. An old barn near the house has recently collapsed but as you can tell, the place is still getting the love it needs to survive another hundred-plus years. A new roof means someone cares, and I’d bet it’s someone with connection to the history of the house.

Seney Hall, 1881, Oxford

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In Cornerstone and Grove, Erik Blackburn Oliver notes: “Seney Hall is the most recognized and celebrated building on the Oxford campus, arguably among the most marvelous edifices ever built by Emory College or the University.” The Victorian landmark was designed by the firm of William H. Parkins and Andrew Bruce, the most prominent practitioners in Atlanta at the time.

A beloved symbol of the college to this day, Seney Hall was built to be the most prominent building on campus, replacing Old Main, which originally served that purpose and had been razed in 1872. Its namesake was a Brooklyn banker, George I. Seney. Seney had been so inspired by a sermon by Emory College president Atticus Haygood, urging sectional and racial reconciliation, that he gifted the school with over $130,000 in 1880. It has stood the test of time and now houses administrative offices.

An aside: Like its neighbor, Johnson Hall, Seney Hall also makes an appearance in the opening sequence of the television show, The Dukes of Hazzard.

Oxford Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Queen Anne Cottage, Valdosta

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This house has been repainted since I made this photograph, and I think some restoration work has been done. There are several Victorian residences in this neighborhood and at least a few of them are based on Barber pattern book designs. I’m not familiar enough with those works to know if this is a Barber, but I wouldn’t be surprised. The octagonal turret really adds to the character of this fine home.

William Miller House, 1886, Thomasville

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I made this photograph several years ago and, since that time, it has been repainted and completely restored, to my understanding. It’s quite difficult to photograph because of the asymmetry, the way it rambles in different sections, but it’s a great example of an “exotic” Queen Anne and one of the most unique Victorian homes in Thomasville.


Dawson Street Residential Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Margaret Mitchell House, 1860s, Thomasville

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This exquisite cottage may have begun as a simpler structure, with the Queen Anne decorative elements being added later, but no matter the history, the effect is one of near perfection. The house is not associated with the famous Margaret Mitchell, who wrote Gone With the Wind. I couldn’t locate anyone with that name in Thomasville. Perhaps she owned and preserved the house at some point during its history. It has had numerous owners over the years.

Dawson Street Residential Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Queen Anne Cottage, Cuthbert

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Like most prosperous communities at the turn of the last century, Cuthbert boasts a number of Queen Anne cottages. A popular local feature with many of these homes is the addition of a dormer, which likely accommodated a half-story or attic room.

Cuthbert Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Shelly-Brazeal House, Circa 1886, Cuthbert

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This home was built for Dr. Thomas W. Shelly circa 1886. Its Victorian porch posts and railings are typical of the finer homes of the era and, in this case, have been beautifully maintained. It represents a link between the plainer forms of the early Victorian period and the more intricate ornamentation associated with the popular Queen Anne style. James F. Sealy purchased the house in 1906 and his family lived here until the late 1970s.

Cuthbert Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Toombs-Jackson House, Circa 1854, Cuthbert

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This fine Victorian cottage was built circa 1854. A quick review of local cemeteries has led me to believe it was built by Dr. Robert Ezekiel Toombs (1825-1894), since he was the only Toombs in Cuthbert I could locate who would have been old enough to have owned a house at the time. Julia Toombs was the last member of the family to live here, in the 1970s.

It’s likely that the house started out as a simpler central hallway form, with the Carpenter Gothic porch posts, and front gable and dormer, being later stylistic amendments. That’s simply a guess as I have no further information on the house, other than the fact that it retains its original polished floorboards.

Cuthbert Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Sharpe House, 1920, Baconton

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Real estate listings date this house to 1920, but its Queen Anne influences make me wonder if it’s not a bit earlier. Perhaps it was one of the first houses in the Walton Street-Church Street Historic District. The Neoclassical porch design is of another architectural era than the main part of the house.

Walton Street-Church Street Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

George W. Jackson House, 1898, Baconton

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George Washington Jackson came with his family to Dougherty County from Wilkinson County as a young boy. At the age of ten he moved with his widowed mother and brother and sister to the Mount Enon community, several miles from Baconton. He served as a lieutenant in the Confederate army and later as a county commissioner. He had farming operations all over what is today northern Mitchell County; he built this home in 1898 to replace a log farmhouse at this location. He and his wife, Eulelia Peacock Jackson, had nine children. Numerous other families lived here throughout the 20th century.

The city of Baconton saved this important historic home and transformed it into their city hall. It’s a great example of thinking outside the box. Perhaps it will serve as inspiration for other communities to pursue non-traditional avenues of preservation.

National Register of Historic Places