SAVANNAH – About 15 years ago I visited Savannah for the first time and I fell in love with a giant house on Orleans Square. With enormous columns on the front, a sloping mansard roof, and taking up almost an entire city block, it was a regal place.
It was obviously vacant, and well-gated, with a small plaque that indicated it was owned by the Society of the Cincinnati. I looked that up and found out that society was for descendants of George Washington's staff, which seemed pretty elite and almost secret, and there wasn't too much information other than that. I asked around Savannah for some information but didn't get too far.
I really wanted to get inside that house. But that seemed very unlikely. So I just stopped by every time I went to Savannah, and took pictures of the ornamental iron, the arc of the front stairs and the garden gate. I honestly have taken the same pictures for the last 15 years.
The weekend before I moved to Northern Ireland in 2008, I went to Savannah. And I went to Orleans Square to see "my house." I was stunned to see a sign for tours.
Tours! And I was leaving the country in 4 days.
In this case, a dream deferred was not a dream denied. On Friday, I went up those curving stairs and into the house for the first time. And guess what I learned? The woman who bought the house in 1939 dreamed about the place for years herself. The story goes that she rode by on the bus each day as a child and plotted for the time when she could buy it. She wasn't "old money" — she was a saver. And this house at 230 Barnard St. was just one of a number that she bought and restored in Savannah.
Some of the highlights are an oculous above the staircase and a faux bois finish in the dining room. But I think I liked the marble entryway and gasoliers (very ornate chandeliers powered by gas) the most. We also really dug the picture of Robert Redford on a bedroom mantel. (Bob recently shot a movie in the house.) I have no eye for antiques, so I can't tell you anything about that, except to say, it was very tasteful.
The docent was really knowledgeable about the place, and made the tour very interesting. I just wanted to sit outside on the back porch for hours and look out over the English garden and learn more about the Society of the Cincinnati. The trustees of the State of Georgia chapter now own the house and have their meetings there. It had a room that was, in effect, a mini-museum. So really, I don't know how I could have loved this house any more.
Orleans Square stays an essential part of my visits to Savannah, and from now on I plan to see the house from the inside every time, too.
Georgia Confidential 