We've Been Located in Atlanta's Oldest Home since 2001
In December 2001, the Atlanta Preservation Center purchased the antebellum home of Lemuel Pratt Grant and his first wife, Laura Loomis Williams Grant. They built it on 600 acres of land. Calvin Fey designed the three-story Italianate structure, and construction began in 1854, and completed two years later. The family would live here until the start of the Civil War. In 1863 this house was where L.P. Grant designed 33-mile fortifications during the war. Three Decades later it was the same house where Grant would donate 100 acres of land in Land Lot 43 of the Fourteenth District. This was to become Atlanta’s first city-owned public park. The deed was executed to the city on May 17, 1883, and its boundaries are Atlanta Avenue, Sydney Street, Cherokee Avenue, and Boulevard. Grant Park now hosts over 2 million visitors each year. The home is also the birthplace of golf legend Robert “Bobby” Tyre Jones Jr., and was saved from demolition by Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell.
This house is in the National Historic Landmark District of Grant Park. When the National Register nomination for this District was submitted in 1977, the house was in grave peril of being lost. The nomination explains:
“The house has now deteriorated to a point where its future is in doubt. Originally, the house was rectangular in form, terminated at each corner by giant order pilasters. A central door with sidelights and fanlight was flanked by paired floor-to-ceiling 2-by-5 windows; on the second floor were three balancing pairs of windows of the 2-by-4 type. A heavy cornice surrounded the original Grant house and was divided into ‘bays’ by means of paired brackets which supported the moderate-sized eaves of the building. The roof was hipped and contained two gable dormers with 2-by 3 windows near the center front and single dormers on each side facade. Deep porches supported by four fluted, square Doric columns appear on each side of the house in a 1938 photograph from the Atlanta Historical Society. Only the deteriorated walls and some of the detailing remain.”
The Nomination goes on to state:
“Although the Grant Park neighborhood is not a planned suburb but has developed from the work of many developers and small subdivisions, it represents a distinct urban neighborhood. The boundary for the district contains this recognizably characteristic area within reasonably clear edges along streets and the expressway. Grant Park Historic District is an architecturally and physically cohesive neighborhood with relatively few structural intrusions in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century environment. Out of approximately 1,100 standing structures, only approximately 30 are less than fifty years old. Of these, only about 15 are visually intrusive. Finally: “While the building is of paramount historical significance to the area, in its present condition it is not essential to the visual distinctness and continuity of the neighborhood.”
Decades later this nomination serves to define the work this effort requires. It substantiates the importance of why integrity and preservation are the reason we must protect our historic buildings, spaces, and structures. It is very appropriate that this home now serves as the headquarters of the oldest Historic Preservation non-profit in Atlanta. For over 160 years this house has been a part of the evolution of this city and its very walls chronicle that story every day for Atlanta. The Atlanta Preservation Center is fortunate to steward this house and its perseverance supports our craft and mission.
A Timeline of the L.P. Grant Mansion
1855Calvin Fay DesignCalvin Fay designed the three-story, Italianate mansion, built between 1854-1856 for Lemuel Pratt Grant (1817-1893).
- Lemuel Pratt Grant & Laura Loomis Williams Grant1848
Laura Loomis Williams Grant, of Decatur, Georgia. Laura married Lemuel Pratt Grant in 1843 and together they had four children: John, Myra, Lemuel Jr., and Lettie.
In a letter written to his wife Laura in the late 1840s, Grant remarked "this place [Atlanta] will become a great city. Everything indicated that Atlanta would become a railroad center. It looked like a good place to stop and we stopped."
In 1843, Grant invested in land in what is now Southeast Atlanta, paying from $.75 to $2 an acre, and built his home in the center of his 600+ acres.
- 1864George N. Barnard Photo of Civil War in Atlanta
During the American Civil War (1861-1865), the house served as a hospital.
- The City of Atlanta in 1892 / Bird's Eye View1892
Bird's eye view of Atlanta, 1892. Map by August Koch. The L.P. Grant Mansion is shown at bottom center.
- 1900L.P. Grant Mansion
The L.P. Grant Mansion, photographed circa 1900. The Italianate style home originally stood three stories tall with four porches and sat on over 600 acres of land in what is today the Grant Park neighborhood.
However, by 2000, when the Atlanta Preservation Center purchased the Mansion, the historic building had suffered decades of neglect, fire and other damage. Only the first floor remained.
- Robert Tyre 'Bobby' Jones1902
Robert Tyre 'Bobby' Jones around 1915-1920. The legendary golfer was born in Atlanta, Georgia at the L.P. Grant Mansion in 1902. He is buried in Atlanta's Oakland Cemetery.
- 1941Margaret Mitchell Sponsors Purchase — with the Intention of Creating a Museum
In 1941 Margaret Mitchell loaned money to Boyd Taylor to buy the Grant Mansion for $3,000 and turn it into an Atlanta museum in order to preserve it. Six years later she sued Taylor, who was supposed to be the caretaker of the house, for letting it deteriorate further, but lost the lawsuit.
- From Neglect to Near Demolition1975
Beginning in the 1940s, neglect, fire damage, and more took their toll on the antebellum home, destroying the second and third floors.
- An Original Mantle During a Period of Neglect and Destruction
This mantle, in its original place as photographed around the 1970s, was excavated from the yard after the Atlanta Preservation Center purchased the house in 2001 and began restoration efforts. The mantelpiece has been since returned to its original location in the west wing of the house.
- LP Grant Mansion Purchased by APC and Restoration Begins2001
- 2002Floors Restored
Phase II included the full restoration of the first floor, which included rebuilding the floor joists, the subfloor, and laying of reclaimed heart pine flooring. The Rosebud Company/Michael Purser collaborated and assisted with this phase of the restoration. The east wing/drawing room now serves as a meeting and gallery space.
- Wall Stabilization
In 2005, the Atlanta Preservation Center began the process of restoring the original brick walls. Restoration efforts included stabilizing the two-foot wide exterior walls that had no roof to protect them for decades. Exterior and interior walls were constructed with bricks and field stones. There are no studs or other supports within the walls.
- 2002Original Window Casings
Original features still remained after decades of neglect, fire, and other damage, including original heart pine window casings, as pictured above in the drawing room of the L.P. Grant Mansion.
- Restored Mantle
This mantle, original to the house, sat in the yard for nearly three decades until the Atlanta Preservation Center excavated it during restoration and returned it to its original location.
- 2021Restored Windows
In partnership with Landmark Preservation, the historic windows were restored per the National Park Service Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation.
- Original fireplace in the Bobby Jones Room
This room, the former Master Bedroom, is also the site of the 1902 birth place of legendary golfer, Bobby Jones.
Jones' parents, who lived in Canton, Georgia, were friends of one of the Grants' sons. The parents wanted to be closer to medical care in the event it was needed for Jones' birth and were offered the use of this room and its adjacent dressing room. On March 17, 1902, Robert Tyre 'Bobby' Jones was born in this southwest main floor bedroom. The Jones lived in the Grant Mansion for about a year.
The original walls are coated in plaster from the home's construction in 1856.
- 2024Our Operations Today
Since 2008 the APC has reinstalled the floor and roof of the exposed east and west wings and repaired the historic windows. In 2011 the organization replaced the front and back porches of the house. The overall house and grounds restoration and improvements are ongoing. The drawing room serves as a main event space for both public and private events. The Grant Mansion is open during the week and is free to visit for the public, both Atlanta residents and visitors alike.
