Tag Archives: Milledgeville Federal Style Architecture

An Architecture All its Own: The Milledgeville Federal Style

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The Homestead, Circa 1818.

Milledgeville is a great city to walk around, largely due to the architectural relics that populate its historic district. A standout is a local style considered so significant it was given its own name: Milledgeville Federal. This is meant to be a starting point for exploration and research.

Referring to The Homestead [above], architectural historian John Linley defined the style: [it] may well be the first house in America to utilize a narrow colossal-type portico with only two columns. Though never widely used, the style became so popular in the Milledgeville area that it is frequently referred to as the Milledgeville-Federal type of architecture. Also emblematic are cantilevered spiral staircases, side-gabled roofs and fanlight ornamentation. There are variations but these are central to the style, which is strongly rooted in Federal and Greek Revival architecture.

Blount-Parks-Mara-Williams House, 1818

The man most associated with Milledgeville Federal style architecture is John Marlor. Born in England, he came to Milledgeville by way of Charleston and was active from circa 1815 until his death in 1835. Daniel Pratt and Elam Alexander both apprenticed or collaborated with Marlor.

Dr. Charles Paine House, 1820

In Milledgeville, Georgia’s Antebellum Capital (Athens, UGA Press. 1978), James C. Bonner notes that most of Marlor’s construction labor was performed by seven enslaved men who were trained carpenters. This would have been common practice at the time. Most large houses built in the antebellum era can be attributed to slave labor.

Orme-Sallee House, Circa 1822

The Orme-Salle House is one of the finest illustrations of the style, due as much to its Palladian doors as anything else.

The Cedars, Circa 1822

The Cedars is a beautifully executed example of the Milledgeville Federal style. It serves as the Phi Mu sorority house today.

Brown-Stetson-Sanford House, Circa 1825

This structure once served as the Beecher-Brown Hotel and later the States’ Rights Hotel, hosting legislators when the body was in session. It has one of the most stylized porticoes of all the Milledgeville Federal style houses.

DeLauney House, Circa 1825

The DeLauney house is slightly less refined than other examples, but is definitely a work of the Milledgeville Federal school.

Isaac Newell House, Circa 1825

The portico on the Newell House is more Greek Revival than Milledgeville Federal, but it’s definitely an example of the style.

John Marlor House, 1830

This was the home of the architect himself. John Marlor built it as a gift for his second wife.

Masonic Temple, 1834

The only non-residential building of Marlor’s that survives is the Masonic Temple. It’s considered his finest work and, architecturally, of national importance.

The Milledgeville Federal style influenced other houses in the area, including notable examples: Rockwell [circa 1838], near Hardwick, and the Daniel Pratt-attributed Jones-Ross House [circa 1826] in Old Clinton, in Jones County.

Milledgeville Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

John Marlor House, 1830, Milledgeville

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An Englishman who came to Milledgeville via Charleston, John Marlor (1789-1835) developed the Milledgeville Federal style of architecture, of which this house he built for his wife Ann Carlton Marlor (1797-1845) in 1830 is a perfect example. These would have been among the most prominent homes in the capital when they were built and are still the pinnacle of domestic architecture in the city.

The house, now known as the John Marlor Arts Center, is one of four buildings which make up the Milledgeville-Baldwin County Allied Arts Center.

Milledgeville Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Blount-Parks-Mara-Williams House, 1818, Milledgeville

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This landmark example of the Milledgeville Federal Style was completed circa 1818 and has been moved four times throughout its history. It originally stood at the northeast corner of Clarke and Greene Streets, was then moved to the northwest corner, then turned to face Greene Street again in 1901. In 1991, it was moved to its present location facing South Clarke Street.

Milledgeville Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

DeLauney House, Circa 1825, Milledgeville

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Thanks to the good folks at the Milledgville-Baldwin County Convention & Visitors Bureau for finally filling in some of the blanks on this house. They note that it originally faced Jefferson Street. Though it isn’t quite as “refined” as other examples of the Milledgeville-Federal Style houses for which the city is known, likely due to alterations after it was moved, it definitely falls into that category. Hollye Hodges McDonel notes that her grandparents, the Robersons, lived here for many years. Other earlier owners were the Scott, Joseph, Malpass, Simmerson, and Hobbs families.

Milledgeville Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Rockwell, Circa 1838, Milledgeville

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This house is perhaps the most enigmatic in Milledgeville, due largely to its present derelict appearance. [It’s apparently more stable than the grounds would suggest]. Built by Joseph Lane for Samuel Rockwell (1788-1842), the house has also been known over time as Beauvoir and the Governor Johnson House. Rockwell, a native of Albany, New York, first practiced law in Savannah before establishing a practice in Milledgeville around 1828. He served as Inspector of the 3rd Division during the Creek Indian War of 1836.

Closely related, stylistically, to the Milledgeville Federal houses, Rockwell is more highly realized in form.

Among numerous owners throughout the history of the property, Governor Herschel Vespasian Johnson was perhaps its best known resident. As the commemorative slab of Georgia granite placed by the WPA and the UDC in 1936 notes, it was his summer home. Governor Johnson was notably the state’s most vocal opponent to secession but eventually came around, as borne out by the acquiescent quote, no doubt chosen by the UDC: “To Georgia, in my judgement, I owe primary allegiance.”

The house was documented by photographer L. D. Andrew for the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) in 1936, owned by the Ennis family at the time. Photo courtesy Library of Congress.

The house has been restored and painted in its original yellow.

Thanks to Michael Massey for bringing Rockwell to my attention.

National Register of Historic Places

Brown-Stetson-Sanford House, Circa 1825, Milledgeville

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Built on North Wilkinson Street for George T. Brown by John Marlor, this structure first served as the U.S. Hotel and then the Beecher-Brown Hotel. Daniel B. Stetson bought the house in 1857.  His daughter Elizabeth was married to Judge Daniel B. Sanford, Clerk of the Secession Convention.  During the 1950s and 1960s it served as the Sanford House Tea Room. The family donated it to the Old Capital Historical Society who moved it to West Hancock Street in 1966. It’s open to the public on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays through Milledgeville Trolley Tours and is available for events. Admission is charged.

Milledgeville Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

 

 

Orme-Sallee House, Circa 1822, Milledgeville

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Attributed to Daniel Pratt, this iconic home is perhaps the best example of the Milledgeville Federal Style. Though built by John Williams, it has come to be known as the Orme-Sallee House. Richard McAlister Orme was a land and slave owner and editor of Milledgeville’s Southern Recorder. Though initially opposed to secession, Orme became an ardent supporter upon his sons’ entrance into the war. During the Sherman’s March to the Sea, Mrs. Orme, who was from Massachusetts, hid her Confederate son-in-law in the attic of this house during its occupation by Union forces.

Double chimneys on both sides of the house and attic fanlight are nice features. The south side fanlight, seen below, has been lost to a modern replacement.

The front door, with ornamental fanlight and sidelights, is my favorite feature.

Milledgeville Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

 

The Homestead, 1818, Milledgeville

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Built for Peter J. Williams, the Homestead was owned for many generations by his descendants, including his great-granddaughters “Miss Sue” Jones, Mrs. David Ferguson, and Betty Ferguson. Frances Lewis is also listed by architectural historian John Linley as an owner of this grand home.

In The Architecture of Middle Georgia: The Oconee Area, John Linley shares some fascinating anecdotes about the Homestead: It…has a ghost, who appears as a little old lady dressed in brown and usually seen in the garden about dusk. She…has followed the family from Wales to New England, and thence to Georgia. She also attends to her ghostly duties, though in a rather lackadaisical way. She has been known to appear to members of the family just before they died, or before there were deaths in the family. Mostly, however, she just putters about the garden.“

But please don’t come here looking for the ghost or for an invitation into the garden. Be respectful that the house is private property.

More importantly, Linley continues: The Homestead may well be the first house in America to utilize a narrow colossal-type portico with only two columns. Though never widely used, the style became so popular in the Milledgeville area that it is frequently referred to as the Milledgeville-Federal type of architecture.

Adjacent to the Homestead is this structure, the brick lower floor of which was originally the kitchen for the estate. It’s likely contemporary to the 1818 date of the main house. The second floor was a later addition which I assume may have housed servants.

Milledgeville Historic District, National Register of Historic Place

 

Dr. Charles Paine House, 1820, Milledgeville

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Originally attributed to Daniel Pratt, recent scholarship suggests it was likely the work of John Marlor. It features a rear wing not original to the structure but tastefully integrated. Other owners have been the Rockwell and Jones families.

Milledgeville Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

The Cedars, Circa 1822, Milledgeville

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Now in use as a sorority house, this is an exemplar of the Milledgeville Federal Style. The Cedars originally fronted Clarke Street and a cedar-lined circular drive marked its entrance, hence the name. Charles W. Howard was the first owner and Daniel Pratt is thought to have been the architect. Formal gardens at the original location were designed by Irish landscape gardener Patrick Crane. Other owners have included the Jarrett, Scott, Prosser, Moran, Tigner, Smith, and Garrard families, among others.

Milledgeville Historic District, National Register of Historic Places