Which house tour?

If you could only do one house tour-which would you do?

Which house tour?

We did the Andrew Low, Juliette Gordon Low, and Davenport houses. Out of those, we enjoyed the Juliette Gordon Low house the most with the Andrew Low house a close second.

Which house tour?

Owens Thomas - but that is said having no experience w/ either of the Low properties.

I%26#39;d ';do'; the William Scarborough House which houses the Ships of the Sea Museum. This is William Jay architecture at its finest and most lovingly restored (as only Mr. Lane could do it!) and you get the ships aspect and the wonderful garden thrown in. It%26#39;s on MLK Blvd. near the intersection of Broughton St.

The Williams Scarbrough House, aka Ships of the Sea Museum is not furnished, but you%26#39;ll see the architectural aspects in a good way. The rooms are filled with nautical art, ships models, etc. Closed Mondays.

Owens-Thomas House is the finest example of Regency architecture in the US. Outstanding interiors, etc.

Off the beaten track, over on Orleans Square on Barnard St. is the Harper-Fowlkes House, aka the Champion-McAlpin House, now owned by the Ga. Society of the Cincinatti. This mansion rivals the O-T House in size %26amp; scale, but the period is of the 1840s, not Regency. Call for hours. The tour is well-done.

Brochures on the Harper-Fowlkes House plus all the other house museums are free, inside the Visitors Center on MLK Blvd.

One to avoid at all costs: the Mercer House. A rip-off of astronomic proportions. This house is marketed to gullible tourists who go there seeking the scoop on Jim Wllliams%26#39; murdering his boyfriend as told in the book ';Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil';. Willimas%26#39; sister Dr. Dorothy Kingery has let the place run down into disrepair. Paying guests are allowed to see only 3 downstairs rooms because she lives upstairs (not the fire code baloney they tll everyone). She doesn%26#39;t want to show the whole house but charges more than the REAL mueums do.

Thank you for all your input. I am going to stick to the furnished house/s when I make my choice. My goal is to show my 14 year old daughter an example of the difference between then and now. And also throw in some thoughts on architecture. Thank you for the warning on the Mercer House. I was considering it because I thought it would be fully furnished and accessible.

Mercer House has furnishings, artwork and antiques but very little of it belonged to Jim Williams. When his sister Dr. Kingery inherited the house upon their mother%26#39;s death, she contracted with Christies or Sotheby%26#39;s (I can%26#39;t recall which auction house in NYC) to rid the house of her late brother%26#39;s collections. 4 moving fans hauled Jim Williams%26#39; belongings to NYC.

In real life, Jim Williams detested his sister and excluded her from his will. So this is where Sis got her revenge, by having a high-end auction in NYC. Even the Oriental rug upon which poor Danny Hansford bled to death was sold, although the blood had been cleaned out. DNA was probably intact but no spots could be seen. The rug was returned when the new owner was told of its past. He got a refund.

So yes, Mercer House is furnished, but very few objects are from Jim Williams%26#39; collections. Sis put in her things when the place was cleaned out.

Your daughter would understand and appreciate the JGL Birthplace because it%26#39;s furnished with Gordon family antiques,their photos, writings, clothing and personal items that were used by Juliette and her siblings, from her early childhood to young adult years.

Thank you foggybottom-that is exactly what I am going to do. If I can sqeeze one more in I think we will visit the Owens-Thomas House.