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Taking up an entire city block, it's iron railing surrounds three sides of the home with a brick wall on the fourth side. With forty windows, eight iron balconies, and a classical portico, the Mercer Williams House is an example of classical architectural detail. Apart from these associations, it stands as Norris’s final work in Savannah, before he left the South for New York City on the eve of the Civil War. Left unfinished, the house was completed after the war under the supervision of the Savannah firm of Muller and Bruyn andJohn R. The Mercer House is similar to the Andrew Low House (8.14), another of Norris’s trust-lot mansions. Both houses are set back far from the street, with heavy cornices, semibasements that sit in moatlike wells, and double porches extending across the back.
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The nearby town house at 7 West Gordon Street (1884, Augustus Schwaab) was restored by J. T. Turner Construction as part of a “This Old House” episode in 1996. In 1969, Jim Williams, one of Savannah's earliest and most dedicated private restorationists, bought the then-vacant house and began a two-year restoration.
30 years after death of Jim Williams, his iconic Savannah home is being restored - Bluffton Today
30 years after death of Jim Williams, his iconic Savannah home is being restored.
Posted: Fri, 17 Jan 2020 08:00:00 GMT [source]
MUSEUM
This freely available resource empowers the public with authoritative knowledge that deepens their understanding and appreciation of the built environment. I live just south of Forsyth Park in Savannah's artsy Starland District, and my daughter is a recent SCAD graduate. Click here to see where this site has been featured in the press and some of the awards I've won. If you go on a tour of Mercer House, make note that the tour groups typically meet inside the carriage house.
“The Book” is not off limits on Mercer-Williams House Museum or at the Tours, but Kingery says it’s just a blip.
Williams was charged with Hansford's murder, and subsequently tried four times for the crime. The first trial ended with him receiving life in prison, though many people speculated that Williams was only convicted because he was a gay man. The judgment was later overturned upon the discovery of contradicting police reports. But, two years later, the fourth and final trial ended with Williams being found not guilty. McIntosh called Gwinnett a “scoundrel and lying rascal,” in front of the Georgia Assembly.
The two-story building spans the entire north/south width of the block, from sidewalk to sidewalk. Some speculate that little Tommy may not have been alone and that he could’ve been pushed to his death. If you look closely, you can still see a missing piece of the fence marking the spot where he died. He was playing around, as boys tend to do, when he stumbled to his death from the top level of the home. It has all of my top tips about the city neatly packaged into one handy downloadable ebook. Even though it was published in 1994, visitors still flock to Mercer House to take selfies in front of the home’s beautiful Italianate façade.
The construction of the home began in 1860, but like most things in Savannah, it was interrupted by the Civil War. Construction was eventually completed in 1868, for the new owner, John Wilder. It's a shame that no member of the Mercer family ever had the chance to live in the Mercer house. The property includes a rather large carriage house and a beautiful private courtyard. I’m going to give you a quick rundown on its history, talk about the haunted factor, and fill you in on a few of the deaths the have occurred on the property (Hansford’s wasn’t the only one).
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Whenever that happens, the ghost of the windows left behind are referred to as “phantom windows”. Guests used to be able to peek into the courtyard, but the height of its brick wall was extended during the late-1900s for privacy reasons. Since Williams was known for throwing large parties, and he particularly loved his elaborate Christmas Gala, visitors sometimes report seeing ghosts celebrating the holiday season at the Mercer House during the month of December. When tour guides spin tales about the house, they claim Williams was haunted by Hansford’s ghost once he returned home to the Mercer Williams House. Make note that there are multiple missing spikes, but the one in question is on the south-facing side of the home.
So, it would make sense that Danny's soul would have stuck around over the years. Since Williams' death, those members of the staff who have worked inside of his house (in the after hours), have time and time again seen the ghost of Jim Williams. Most frequently, it is said that he appears in full apparition form, walking up and down the halls of the house. The Mercer-Williams' most famous resident is unquestionably Jim Williams. Some say he was a killer, others say he was at worst very eccentric. Williams was also known to throw wildly extravagant parties that would have surely made Daisy Buchanan swoon (although it's doubtful Williams would have been interested).
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These good times came to an end in the year 1981, after the shooting death of Williams' assistant and lover, Danny Hansford, a former prostitute with a past almost as questionable as the Mercer-Williams House itself. The Mercer-Williams is now owned by Jim Williams' sister Dorothy Kingery, who runs it as a museum. The Mercer-Williams is located at 429 Bull Street and stands on Monterey Square (also haunted) in Savannah, Georgia.
This new home nestles amongst the trees of a watershed to take advantage of smaller moments of privacy in an otherwise urban environment. Mid-century lines divide airy interior volumes anchored by a concrete garage. If you want to get the scoop, the whole story about the hauntings and the ghosts of the Mercer-Williams House, then we humbly encourage you take one of our Ghost Tours in Savannah. Even if you (like the judge) believe Jim Williams to be a guilty man, you must admit, he didn't really get away with anything after all was said and done.
Also designed by John Norris, the Andrew Low House was built in 1849. The Italian Villa-style home features Grecian architectural details, a stunning ironwork balcony and a shuttered piazza overlooking a brick-walled garden. Boasting intricately carved woodwork and plaster cornices, the edifice was once the residence of Juliette Gordon Low, the founder of Girl Scouts of the USA. Today, the Mercer Williams House is owned by Jim's sister, Dorothy Williams Kingery.
She did that to prevent people from using images of the home to promote tours and things of that nature. The home is very grand, and there are beautiful antiques, reproductions, and eclectic furnishings on display. Dr. Kingery lived in the home and made the primary rooms on the ground floor available for touring.
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