Reviving the glory of the beautiful South
The Edward C. Peters House, a historic landmark in Atlanta, will become a cultural arts center after its restoration. File photo |
The Edward C. Peters House, a two-and-a-half-story red brick mansion designed by Swedish architect Gottfried L. Norrman in 1883, is Atlanta's only example of Queen Anne architecture.
"It's the oldest, most complete and single most important residence from the city's 'New South,' post-Civil War period," said Boyd Coons, executive director of the Atlanta Preservation Center, which listed the house among the city's most endangered buildings after a fire in 2001.
The house sits on 1.3 wooded hectares of prime real estate, the largest undisturbed tract in the city. The structure was almost demolished in 1971 to make room for commercial development, but was saved because preservation groups lobbied for it to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The following year, an investment group, S.D.H. Corp., bought the property and turned it into The Mansion Restaurant, renovating and doubling the space in 1980, until it closed after the fire. Although the historic designation barred the wrecking ball, the house was in danger of "demolition by neglect", said Bob Dickensheets, a preservation specialist who is working on the restoration.
Built by Edward Peters, whose family dubbed it "Ivy Hall", the house is on land given to him by his father, Richard Peters. The elder Peters was from a wealthy Philadelphia family, and he relocated to the South in 1846 to build and manage the Georgia Railroad. Realizing the young city (then called Marthasville) would become a transportation hub, Peters suggested changing the provincial name to the more sophisticated Atlanta.
The origin of the name Atlanta is subject to debate. Some maintain it is the feminine version of Atlantic. Others believe it is a variation of Martha Lumpkin's middle name, Atalanta. She was the daughter of the Georgia governor and the original Marthasville namesake. Atalanta was a fleet-footed huntress of Greek mythology.
Richard Peters acquired 162 hectares north of downtown Atlanta, and shaped much of what is now called midtown. The mansion's wooded block is within walking distance of the gleaming new towers of residential, office, restaurant and retail development along Peachtree Street.
In the past few years, developers had proposed buying the house to develop condos around the perimeter, but plans were stalled by legal disputes with the city and preservation groups. Last spring, around the time that SCAD opened its Atlanta campus, the school made a deal with S.D.H. to donate the house and 0.4 hectare to SCAD for restoration.
Developers will still build on the remaining property, with design input from SCAD to keep the scale and facades in balance with the Peters house.
The $2.2 million project will begin this spring and take as long as 18 months to complete. SCAD will restore the house true to its High Victorian Queen Anne style, replete with deep porches, tall chimneys, sharp roofs and other asymmetric angles. Interior spaces, colors and textures will be varied, as well as in the verandas and piazzas.
The house also has elements of the Shingle Style popular in the eastern US during the period. A band of shingles made of terra cotta tiles delineates the two floors and recurs throughout the house. A gazebo on the grounds is thought to have been added after the Victorian period.
Over the past decade, SCAD has renovated 3.3 million square feet of space in Savannah. Students in SCAD's historic preservation program will assist in a living lab on the restoration. SCAD has already renovated four Savannah buildings designed by architect Norrman, who was prolific in the Southeast in the late 19th century.
Plans for the cultural arts center are still being ironed out, but the focus will be on art, design, architecture and historic preservation. The centre will also focus on writing, literature and poetry, said SCAD president Paula Wallace.
The New York Times Syndicate
(China Daily 04/13/2007 page19)
