Large Mansion and Estate was Given to Historical Society in GA

Swan House - Atlanta Historical Society, Atlanta Georgia

Date added: September 17, 2024

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Mansion

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Designed by Atlanta architect Philip Trammell Schutze in 1928 and decorated by Ruby Ross Wood of New York, Swan House stands today as the home of the Atlanta Historical Society, the third most well-endowed institution of its kind in the United States.

Built by Edward H. Inman, "one of Atlanta's best citizens and a member of a noted local family," Swan House served as the home of the Inman family for nearly forty years. Upon the death of Mrs. Inman in 1965, the house and estate, valued at some $8,000,000, went to the Atlanta Historical Society. Located on prestigious Andrews Drive, N.W., Swan House was not the house that the Inman's had originally intended to build on what was soon to be their new twenty-five acre estate. A red brick Georgian style house was initially proposed for the site by famed Atlanta architect Neel Reid then of Hentz, Reid and Adler. Larger than was desired by the Inman's at the time, the plans by Reid were laid aside for some time and following "Mr. Reid's long illness, from which he died on Feb. 14^th, 1926 at the age of 41 … Mr. Schutze, Mr. Reid's 1927 successor in the firm, designed" the present Swan House. Why Mrs. Inman chose the name of Swan House is not precisely known. However, not unlike the "mad" King Ludwig II of Bavaria in his Neuschwanstein Castle of 1876, Mrs. Inman used the swan motif throughout her house. A swan can be seen silhouetted in the fanlight above the main entrance door and in the Dining Room can also be found a pair of "rare and handsome" swan tables made by the well-known London designer and carver Thomas Johnson.

Swan House is extremely well-appointed in a manner consistent with the tastes and refinements of the era in which it was built. Friends have quoted Mrs. Inman as saying that three legacies she received all went into this house and its furnishings. Representative of the care and selection that went into both the architectural detailing and the decoration of the house includes such items as the bronze staircase railing, the six-panel Coromandel screens in the entrance hall, the formal gardens on both the north and south, the library with its mantel from the school of Grinling Gibbons, and the watermelon pink Chinese wall paper in the "Swan" dining room. The Atlanta Journal and Constitution Magazine reported in 1967 that "If Atlanta residential architecture had a golden age, it probably was in the 1920's and this magnificent house could well have been the high point of that gracious gilded era." They went on to say that "if every house had its own personality, Swan House derives its character today from two very striking sources. The first is the sheer exhilaration of Mr. Schutze's architectural design. The second is the thoughtful taste and attention Mrs. Inman devoted to her home … ". Regardless of how and why it came about, Swan House is an Atlanta landmark and as a home for the "Atlanta Historical Society, is a Memorial to an Atlanta era that has now become history itself."

Building Description

Swan House as seen from Andrews Drive is set on a rising slope and presents to the approaching visitor an Italian Mannerist facade complete with double stairs descending on either side of a cascade that falls to the slopes below. The entrance drive to the house divides just inside of the Andrews Drive gates to the estate. The right branch is a false drive that stops just short of the first terrace of the front lawn; the left branch of the driveway, however, curves upwards through a tree-shaded area of pines, oaks, hickories and tulip poplars. This drive once led to the principal entrance to the house the tall-columned east facade, but vehicular access at this point is now discouraged, and the drive serves primarily to give access to parking. These parking areas are installed between Swan House and the Swan Coach House (a much renovated and enlarged gift shop-restaurant that was once the servant's quarters of the estate) and in a small area somewhat hidden in a clump of trees between Swan House and the drive itself, just below the north garden. With the parking well-hidden however, the overall impression that one has from Andrews Drive is that a double approach surrounds the house, enclosing a Baroque inspired garden-like lawn. In addition to the cascades, other Renaissance elements on the grounds include numerous stone retaining walls (one with recessed arches that runs across the back of the forecourt), two stone obelisks on the first terrace, and two stone fountains in the forecourt itself.

Swan House has two facades of primary interest: the west facade facing Andrews Drive, that is actually the rear of the house, and the east facade, which serves as the entrance facade. Of the two, the west facade of Swan House is the most impressive being strictly Italian in derivation, although not imitative of any one architectural monument of the past. Symmetrical in every way, the facade has a central doorway at the top of a double winding staircase. Heavily framed, the' door is topped by a segmented pediment supported on scroll brackets and has a sculptural decoration at its apex. Framing this entrance are two niches on the first floor and two heavily framed 6/6 windows on the second floor. The Andrews Drive facade has three bays: the two end-bays each contain two 6/6 windows in heavy dog-eared frames on the second floor and two 9/9 windows on the ground floor. The central entrance, bay is separated by a slight indention in the facade on either side, and in each recess is found a single window on each floor consistent with the, other windows of the facade. Above the cornice of the house, classical in inspiration and with dentil molding, is a small parapet wall that runs completely around the house. Set above this wall is the typical Italian attic extension of the front facade. Consisting of a circular attic window on center flanked by two pilasters, each pilaster on the wall sports a scroll bracket which in turn supports a broken entablature and pediment. This attic wall is terminated on each end bay by curving down in the Baroque manner to small piers topped with stone globes. Two wide, brick chimneys are also seen on the facade on either side of the broad-hipped roof.

The east facade which is actually the entrance to the house, faces what most people would consider the rear of the property. This facade is English Palladian in origin and with its four-columned portico reflects the characteristic severity of the main entrances to this style of house. The pedimented portico, which protects the entrance doors, extends out from a slightly projecting center bay of the facade and occupies a full two stories. Four Tuscan columns support the heavy entablature and cornice; the frieze is somewhat overly heavy on the portico while the architrave is practically non-existent. The centrally located door is set under a semicircular pediment that almost appears to float above the rusticated stucco which surrounds the entrance. Flanking the entrance are two niches occupied by sculptural urns and set under bracket-supported pediments. On this facade, the windows are found heavily framed with three 6/6 windows on the second floor and three 9/9 windows on the ground floor per bay, with the exception of the central bay where the door and niches are located. Other glazed openings on this facade include the four French dormers which are located just above the roof parapet wall; here two dormers are found on each side of the portico.

The east facade of Swan House faces a motor court which has as a backdrop a large retaining wall with three sculptural niches. On either side of this wall curving stairs rise to give access to a seating area above and heavily ivied wooded areas beyond. The south facade of the house is a screened loge or porch that gives access to a formal garden. Developed against a backdrop of columns with broken pediments framing a spread eagle, this garden centers around an above-ground fountain that is surrounded by boxwoods.

The interior of Swan House is as elaborate as the exterior and features five rooms of note: the entrance vestibule, the entrance hall, the library, the Morning Room, and the Dining Room. Other rooms once included four bedroom areas, a sitting room, a full basement, and an apartment in the attic.

The oval Entrance Vestibule features coupled Ionic columns, a black and white marble floor and a chandelier of cut-glass. The floor, one of the most well-crafted features of the room, accentuates the oval shape of the hall, and has marble pieces so neatly fitted together that the grouting is hardly visible.

From the oval vestibule, one enters the main Entrance Hall which has richly carved doorways surmounted by broken pediments and a highly ornamented, free-standing staircase that sweeps down from the floor fifteen feet above in an elegant curve. The staircase has treads of walnut and a balustrade of hand-wrought iron.

The library of Swan House reflects the spirit of a great English interior of the seventeenth century with carved swags and fruit flowers over the room's mantelpiece, wall paneling of white pine and door surrounds that have swan-neck pediments. The mantelpiece, c. 1750, is English in origin and has above it "splendid and intricately carved swags of fruit and flowers … Such magnificent naturalistic carvings of limewood are frequently associated with the name of the famous late 17^th Century English carver and sculptor, Grinling Gibbons … (but) this particular overmantel was made about 1690 by an unidentified craftsman" of that school. The wall paneling, door surrounds, and swan-necked pediments in the room were executed by Mr. Millard, and are carried out in a manner consistent with the late seventeenth-century decor.

The Morning Room was given its unusual name by the original owners and is actually a well-proportioned room that was used as a Sitting room. A carved cornice surrounds the interior which has simple classical moldings and tall fluted columns that flank the room's fireplace. The architect's creative touch is seen in this room in the capitals of the fireplace columns where lilies and delicate little swans are found. The windows of this room are heavily draped and the walls and room are decorated with several types of portraits and works of art.

The chinoiserie wallpaper of the Dining Room, made in England in the 1920s, sets the tone for this room and is reminiscent of the attraction the East held to Western eyes in the 18^th Century. The room, together with its bright wallpaper, its picturesque "swan" console tables made in the 1700's, and other details faithfully carries out the English approach to interior design that accentuates the oriental.