Free previewStop 5 of Savannah Walking Tour: City Hall to Forsyth Park
Blue Ceiling Behind the Regency Mansion
You're at the corner of Oglethorpe Square, outside the pale, elegant house at 124 Abercorn Street that Savannah calls the Owens–Thomas House. Find the cast-iron veranda on the side of the house, with its curling acanthus-leaf supports. In 1825 the Marquis de Lafayette, the French hero of the American Revolution, stood there and spoke to the people of Savannah.
The house is older than that speech. It was begun in 1816 and finished in 1819, designed by William Jay, the same young English architect behind the Telfair house you saw earlier. Jay drew the plans while he was still in England and mailed them across the ocean, so work had started before he ever saw the site. The builder was John Retan, and the museum believes his crew was likely a mix of free and enslaved men.
That's the opening. The rest plays at stop 5 of Savannah Walking Tour: City Hall to Forsyth Park (3 min in all). Unlock the tour to hear it all, or try stop 1 free first.
