Woodlands at Barnsley Gardens
This week we are featuring a different sort of house - the house is in ruins! Yet, it is still beautiful. In fact, I would say that its bones, the brick architecture of the house, are more beautiful than the house was when it was whole. Located an hour from Atlanta in Adairsville, Georgia, the house has quite an interesting story to tell. Take a look at the house before it sank into disrepair..
An Italianate structure built by Godfrey Barnsley in the 1850's for his wife Julia and their children, the house's roof was torn off by a tornado in 1906 and it has not been occupied since. The story is below:
Looking from the parterre gardens toward the house. The house and gardens were inspired by the work of Andrew Jackson Downing, a landscape designer and proponent of Italianate and Gothic revival architecture.
The family lived in the kitchen structure to the right above, after the roof was ripped off of the main house by a tornado in 1906.
Click here to read more about the history of the Barnsley Estate.
Tomorrow we'll have photos of the interior - so stay tuned!
all photos by whitehaven
How fascinating! It's wonderful and amazing that the house wasn't torn down at some point in the past century.
ReplyDeleteHow sad and fascinating at the same time. Beautiful bones and gorgeous landscapes...look forward to seeing more pictures. Curious...why it hasn't been raised? Is someone planning on bringing it back to life? Wouldnt' that be wonderful!
ReplyDeleteThe family couldn't afford to restore it after the roof came off in 1906. They held on to the land, selling off portions when they needed money. After the death of Addie Saylor in 1942(Godfrey's granddaughter)the house and property were sold to W Earl McCleskey and it was used for farming. In 1988 Price Hubertus Fugger of Germany bought the property and began to restore the gardens. In 1991 Barnsley Gardens opened to the public as a historic garden and museum. It is now a luxury resort where you can stay in one of the English cottages on site and play golf or pamper yourself at the spa.
ReplyDeleteHelen, This is gorgeous! What a shame. Hopefully, someone will restore it someday.
ReplyDeleteIt's great as it is. Our southern woodframes nearly all burned. Wonderful place.
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing... next time I'm anywhere near by I'm visiting.
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