Road Trip: Hay House Macon, GA

The first week of June, I went on a business trip to Macon, GA where the group was given a tour of the Hay House.



In 1859, William Butler Johnston finished building this Italian Renaissance Revival home after traveling through Europe on honeymoon with his wife Anne Clark Tracy who was 20 years his junior.



The house was built with Hot and Cold running water as well as a heating and venting system. It also had a speaker (tube) system (remember the old airplane headphones--tubes) and indoor bathrooms.

The day we went, all the windows were closed not allowing the venting system to work and it was at least 115 degrees.



Johnson's daughter Mary Ellen and her husband William H. Felton lived in the house starting in 1986. They added electricity and updated some of the plumbing. And as any daughter would do...redecorated what her parents had done.



(front porch. Is porch the correct term for a house this grand)

In 1926, the house was sold to Parks Lee Hay by the Felton heirs. Hay was the founder of the Banker's Health & Life Insurance Company. Oh course Hay......redecorated. On the inside I could really point out the 20's hand cast subway tile in the fireplaces that had been updated as well as in the bathroom. The bathroom fixtures were very 1920's as well as top of the line of the time. The Hay's also painted over much of the wood work. EEEK....

(front door detail)

( I am a sucker for S-Scrolls)






This detail was the tile on the back patio area.



Front porch floor detail. Marble. The center section was alabaster and light would shine from below.








The basement/ground level was the kitchen, a huge hanging pantry(shelves did not touch the floor), the office, a tacky gift shop and a display area which was once as Felton's office. The wind tunnel which kept the home cool was also in this area.

The main floor was a parlor, a ballroom, a main hall, a dining room, a sitting room and a bedroom that was closed. The dining room was under restoration and I wanted to ask the restorers a hundred questions, but in 120 degree heat.... I didn't.

The second floor housed the bedrooms and bathrooms for the family. What I found most interesting on this level were the floors, a narrow heart pine had been nailed on top of the wide board original floors. You could see every nail.




The third floor or fourth floor depends on how you are counting was where the guest bedroom were located. All the windows were these little circle windows, and the ceilings were lower. Most of this was used as storage and needed a good bit of work. It was 125 degrees on this floor.




A few of us climbed the cupola all the way to the top. I had on heels.




but it was worth it



Even if inside the cupola it was 130 degrees.

We could not take pictures inside the home. But you can see a few here.
We also had a very un-energetic tour guide. She did not want to be there. You had to pry information out of her. She did not understand why I ask about the shallow closets that were built for the interior shutters. Which was beyond cool detail, I may add.

I understand not wanting to open the windows and not installing AC in this National Landmark House. However if you are charging $20 a person for the tour......and it is an unusually hot June in middle Georgia...... The ceilings on the first floor were very high. In the ballroom, they were 30'H with windows at the top. Think of all the heat that would exit those windows. Just saying.

Sunday Walk: Places

A walk from the little town of West Point, GA,

where there are a couple of buildings that have nice detail.

This guy is kinda scary.

Terracotta .

Have a wonderful Sunday.

Sunday Walk: Places

Today... I will share with you some pics from our trip Thanksgiving week.



We crossed the Alabama River via the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge into Selma.




Downtown Selma is almost perfectly preserved.




Most all of the old signs, buildings and architectural details still intact.




If one were to take away the cars and modern traffic lights,these streets would look the same
as they did years and years ago.




Oh........how I love a Kress building...
Everyone that I have seen has such great detail.
This one screams DECO...

Does anyone know the deal with the details on Kress buildings? I could google it, I guess.

Well that's about all the shots that came out clear while zooming through this beautiful town on the way to my sisters.

Have a great Sunday.

The Gulf Coast is on my Mind.....

Two years ago I flew into Gulfport, MS for work.

I had just enough time before my flight home for a little exploring.

Under these great old Live Oaks once stood beautiful homes. Row after row of historic homes destroyed by Katrina.

I haven't been there again since the fall of '06. Maybe you have.

However, the area is currently in my prayers.

Sunday Walk: Newnan

Well.....It wasn't exactly Sunday when I took this walk around the historic Newnan town square.
It was Thursday of last week. A day the interstate home was too crowded, I decided to take the two lane home from Atlanta.


The city of Newnan has done a wonderful job keeping the historic buildings intact, re-used and preserved. Much different than the tear it down town we live in.

Andrew Carnegie built over 2500 libraries. Find out more here.




Wedding cake swags on buildings... So Robert Adam.

Delightful pressed tin.




This one was nice until they replaced the old windows with nasty metal windows with those press on mullions. I hate press on mullions!



At least the old wavy glass wooden windows are still in the courthouse.


Clock tower atop the courthouse. In the center of town square




Ohhhh Look... Egg and Dart details.





More on the houses of Newnan in another post.

State Capitol

I had to look up to see if it was the State Capitol or Capital. I thought it is was the "o" version and the "a" version was the city, but I wasn't 100% sure and I didn't want to look dumb. ( I didn't have to tell you that I looked it up, but I figure I am not the only one who hasn't used this bit of knowledge in 20 something years and someone else may need a little refresher.)



This is the Capitol building in Atlanta, complete with the gold dome. Made from gold found in the Dahlonega area. "Gold in them thar hills." is said to originate from the first U.S. gold rush in Georgia not from the later gold rush in California.






It was built over an old a rail road site that was destroyed by fire. You know the one, the fire from US history and a movie. (This is just an old picture of mid 1800's Atlanta that I found on line somewhere. Sorry I don't have the link.)



I use to pass this bridge going to work sometimes. The office where I had a meeting on Monday was next door. The bridge goes no where on both sides. It must have some sort of historic significance for it to be still standing.




These shots are from another building near the capitol. So very Deco. I am sure that is Georgia marble.




Ya know.......Georgia marble would make good counter tops.