This large Resort Hotel in GA was Demolished in July 2024

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Between the 1920s and the 1950s, the New Perry Hotel was a regional tourist destination along Highway 41, becoming a popular stop for Florida vacationers along the busy route between Chattanooga, Tennessee and Jacksonville, Florida. Since its construction in 1925, the hotel served as a focal point for social interaction in the community and as a landmark for the tourist industry in Perry. The hotel is most readily associated with prominent local business and civic leaders Joe Yates Green and Nannette Green, a husband and wife team who owned and operated the New Perry Hotel from 1944 to 1997. During the 1940s and early 1950s, the Greens expanded and modernized the New Perry Hotel and promoted the city of Perry and its tourist industry. Rochelle Cheves Skellie built the hotel in 1925 and operated it until 1929. The boarding house and hotel industry represents one of the few industries in which women could excel in Georgia in the early 20^th century. Unlike traditional jobs for women, such as teachers, secretaries, and textile workers, the boarding house and hotel industry allowed women to work independently and develop entrepreneurial skills, sometimes competing with businesses owned by men.

In the 1920s and 1930s, downtown hotels with a lobby, dining room, and two or more floors of guest rooms were located in many county seats, especially along well-traveled routes. The 1925 Neoclassical Revival-style hotel is typical of these hotels with large public spaces on the first floor and small guest rooms in the two floors above. Other hotels built in rural Georgia in the first decades of the 20^th Century include the Bon Aire Hotel in Bainbridge and the Glennwanis Hotel in Glennville. In 1955, the owners of the New Perry Hotel built a Colonial Revival-style motel court at the rear of the hotel. Motel courts reflect the post-World War II transition from hotels and guesthouses to less formal accommodations that catered to automobile travelers. The motel in Perry allowed guests to park outside their rooms. The architectural style of the motel illustrates the continued popularity of the Colonial Revival style in Georgia.

In 1925, Rochelle Cheves Skellie hired Davenport Guerry to landscape the property, which was designed to attract Northern tourists en route to Florida. The current landscape was established between 1947 and 1959 and was also designed to attract Northern tourists. The hotel landscape includes tall masonry gate posts, brick sidewalks and footwalls, and landscaped parking areas with planted beds and grounds. Manicured boxwoods line the walk to the main entrance and other foundation plantings, including hollies, are located at the rear of the hotel. An azalea garden is located in the northwest corner of the property. Oak trees provide a canopy that shades the hotel. Hollies, pines, and a cedar of Lebanon are located on the property.

In 1833, shortly after Perry was established as the seat of Houston County, a hotel known as the Perry Hotel was built on the south side of Courthouse Square at the intersection of two major stagecoach routes. In 1870, a larger two-story hotel with a wide front veranda and twenty guest rooms was built on the site. In 1924, the owner of the hotel, Mrs. Rochelle Cheves Skellie, demolished the 1870 building and built a larger hotel, known as the New Perry Hotel, the third hotel on the site. Mrs. Skellie believed that her new hotel, described in an advertisement as "Perry's newest and most modern hotel," would attract northern tourists on their way to Florida. In the 1930s, the hotel's dining room, which became known for "good food and Southern hospitality," became the meeting place for local civic groups, such as the Civitan Club and Kiwanis. In 1944, Yates and Nannette Green purchased the hotel, which they operated for over fifty years. In 1947, the Greens added a new kitchen, expanded the dining room, and added a rear lobby and banquet room. Increasing demand for rooms led the Greens in 1955 to build a motel court at the rear of the property. By 1959, the New Perry Motel, as it was called, was increased in size from eight rooms to seventeen rooms. The Greens also built a pool and cabana. In 2000, the Greens sold the hotel to group of local investors with plans to restore the hotel to its mid-20^th Century appearance.

Houston County was formed in 1821 and its county seat, Perry, was incorporated in 1824. As early as 1833 a hotel has occupied the Main Street property south of the courthouse square. Deed Book E, Houston County, Georgia 1831-1834, indicates that Phenias Oliver sold The Tavery, also known as The Perry Hotel, to Benjamin Fudge in 1833. In addition to its proximity to the courthouse, the location of the hotel property was also ideal as it was located at a crossroads of the major north-south and east-west stagecoach routes.

According to a local history of Houston County compiled in 1934, another hotel, most likely the second building, was built on the property in 1870. An 1893 photograph of this building, called the "Perry Hotel," gives an idea of how this building appeared. The book, entitled A Stroll Through Perry Sixty Years Ago, gives a description of the hotel:

Other descriptions of the second hotel come from local newspapers. An 1883 news article in the Houston Home Journal reported "Perry Hotel Improved. Twenty well furnished rooms available for use of guests. Mr. and Mrs. James N. Tuttle managers."

Local accounts maintain that the dining room was becoming well known throughout the area for its good food. Like many small-town hotels, the Perry Hotel became a place not only for travelers to stay, but also a gathering place for the local population. According to accounts of the period, hotel patrons and townspeople were "called to meals by the old bell ringer who walked down Main Street clanging his dinner bell.". Shopkeepers would close up their businesses and court would take a recess for lunch. Guests would sit at long tables and were served family style.

After the Tuttles, the Perry Hotel was operated by a succession of owners: Mrs. Clifford Burnham Davis, Major Milt Cooper, Tom Anderson, and Rochelle Cheves Skellie.

In the early 1920s, mass production of the automobile and the paving of state and federal highways, particularly Highway 41 from Tennessee to Florida, created a new clientele, the automobile traveler and tourist. Mrs. Skellie realized the opportunity to expand her business and resolved to build a new, grander hotel on the site. The 1870 building was demolished in 1924 and the New Perry Hotel was completed the following year. Mrs. Perry hired Davenport Guerry to landscape the property, which was designed to attract Northern tourists en route to Florida.

The formal opening of the New Perry Hotel was celebrated on June 17^th, 1925 with an opening dance held at 9 p.m., that evening. A full-page advertisement announcing the hotel's formal opening celebration appeared in that morning's edition of the Houston Home Journal. The ad featured a drawing of the facade of the hotel and the caption "Perry's newest and most modern hotel." The ad proclaimed that the hotel was "established more than 100 years ago" and offered the following description of the new facility:

In 1929, Mrs. Skellie sold the New Perry Hotel to J. J. "Jimpy" Rooney, who refurbished the hotel and added air cooling and floodlights. It was during Rooney's tenure that the New Perry Hotel began to enjoy a more regional reputation. During the 1930s, Rooney began advertising on billboards between Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Jacksonville, Florida in an effort to attract guests traveling the highways to and from vacation destinations in Florida. The hotel's growing reputation for "good food and southern hospitality" was rewarded through recommendations from Duncan Hines and the Automobile Association of America (AAA). It was also during this time that the hotel became a meeting place for local civic groups. Beginning in the early 1930s, the Civitan Club began to hold its meetings at the New Perry Hotel every Thursday night. In 1938, the local chapter of the Kiwanis Club was organized at the New Perry Hotel where they continue to hold their regularly scheduled meetings. The Rooneys continued to run the New Perry Hotel until they sold it to Yates and Nannette Green in 1944.

Yates and Nannete met in c.1935 while working at the Baldwin Hotel in Milledgeville, which was part of the Stiles Hotel Chain. Yates was employed as a hotel clerk and Nannete was a dining room hostess. After their marriage in 1937, the Greens continued to work for the Stiles Hotel Chain, which was established by John Stiles, Yates' uncle. Between 1937-1941, the Greens were sent to DeFuniak Springs, Florida as co-managers of the Walton Hotel and later to Fair Forest Hotel in Union, South Carolina. In 1941, Yates was inducted into the army at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. After Yates' discharge from the army, the Greens worked at the Georgian Hotel in Athens, Georgia. In January 1944, while traveling to Americus, Georgia to begin new positions at the Windsor Hotel, the Greens stopped at the New Perry Hotel. With assistance from Yates Green's parents and uncle Stiles, Yates and Nannette purchased the New Perry Hotel in April 1944. Working as a team, Yates managed the desk and made business decisions while Nannette operated the kitchen and dining room.

In the spring 1944 with World War II underway, keeping the dining room operating was a challenge. Rationing for the war effort meant that sugar was often hard to come by and items like chocolate and coffee were often unavailable. Most of the vegetables were fresh, bought from local farmers or from the Victory Garden that Mr. Rooney had planted at the back of the property. During these years chickens and turkeys were kept in a coop where the cabana is now located and were slaughtered as needed. Cooking was done on wood stoves but because most of the men were serving in the military it was difficult to maintain a sufficient supply of wood.

In 1947, the Greens made several major additions to the hotel. The existing one-story brick veneer wings replaced the columned, one-story porticoes originally located on each end of the hotel (depicted in the June 18^th, 1925 edition of the Houston Home Journal). The east wing primarily consisted of a one-bedroom apartment for the Greens while the west wing contained a new kitchen. The rear lobby (now the motel office), banquet room, and storage/receiving room were added to the rear of the building and the dining room was expanded.

On April 9^th, 1947, shortly after these additions were completed, a fire destroyed the upper floor of the hotel. The following is an account of the event and its aftermath given by Nannette Green:

After the fire and during the restoration of the hotel, the community rallied behind the Greens, expressing their support and appreciation for their continued service to the community. An editorial in the April 24^th edition of the Houston Home Journal captured the essence of public sentiment toward the New Perry Hotel:

The hotel was officially re-opened on Sunday, November 23^rd, 1947. Several businesses ran ads in the Houston Home Journal the week following the re-opening to offer their congratulations. The November 20^th edition of the Home Journal saluted the Greens, declaring that "Perry is fortunate to have a couple of high character and community interest in charge of the New Perry Hotel. They have all the good wishes and congratulations of all the people of the community."

With the end of World War II and gas rationing, people could afford the luxury of travel and vacations. Florida vacationers traveling on Highway 41 brought people in record numbers through Perry and the tourist industry flourished. In order to meet the increasing demand for rooms, the Greens contracted with the Macon architectural firm of Dennis and Dennis to build a motel court on the back of the property where Mr. Rooney's Victory Garden was located. Called the New Perry Motel, the motel court began with eight rooms and was gradually expanded to include seventeen rooms by 1959. In addition to the motel court, a pool and cabana were added in 1959.

Throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, the Greens were tireless promoters of tourism in Perry and the region, for which they were considered the town's "unofficial publicity chairmen." Lead by Yates Green, Perry and the New Perry Hotel became the "unofficial headquarters of the U.S. Highway 41 Association," a highway promotion group with "members from Miami to Copper Harbor, Michigan." During the 1950s and 1960s Perry was a frequent host of the group's annual meeting. Both of the Greens were later recognized for their service to the community. In 1968, the Perry Business Women's Club elected Nannette "Woman of the Year" for her work in the beautification of Perry. In 1969, the Perry Kiwanis Club named Yates "Man of the Year" for his leadership in promoting Perry through the American Automobile Association and the Highway 41 Association Club. The Houston Home Journal later honored the couple by dubbing them "Mr. And Mrs. Perry."

The Greens' ownership and operation of the New Perry Hotel remained a family affair. In 1957, Yates' brother Harold, a long-time hotel manager with the Stiles Hotel Chain, came to work with Yates and Nannette. In 1981, the Green's niece, Marsha, joined the staff of the hotel, eventually becoming part of the management team. In addition to family, several members of the hotel staff had worked at the New Perry Hotel for several decades, some as many as 40 years. In the early 1990s, Yates Green died. In 1994, the New Perry Hotel celebrated 50 years of Green family ownership. Congratulations were extended to the Green Family from several state and national figures. Georgia Governor Zell Miller wrote in a personal letter of congratulations that 'the New Perry Hotel has provided a brand of hospitality second to none, to strangers and homebodies alike, and has served some of the best food available south of the Mason-Dixon Line. My sincere wish is that the hotel never changes its style, that the recipes never vary." U.S. Senator Sam Nunn, a Perry native, commented that "the Green family has kept the hotel one of the last public bastions of gracious Southern hospitality and the best traditional Southern food, and made us all feel like family." In 2000, the Green family sold the property to a group of local investors who planned to restore the hotel, maintaining its mid-20th-century character and traditions.

Residents rally to save historic New Perry Hotel from demolition

Despite efforts by the community to save the nearly 100-year-old landmark, the New Perry Hotel has been reduced to rubble.

Site Description

The New Perry Hotel is located on the south side of the courthouse square in downtown Perry, the seat of Houston County. The New Perry Hotel is a complex that includes a three-story hotel, built 1925, a one-story motel, built in 1955 and enlarged in 1959, a pool and cabana, and a historic landscape that includes brick walks and walls, gate posts, and paved drives. Built in 1925, the hotel is a three-story, masonry building designed in the Neoclassical Revival style. Its three-part facade is distinguished by a two-story classical portico and a low-pitched hip roof. The first floor features a central lobby with the dining room on the west side and guest rooms to the east. In 1947, a kitchen and banquet hall were built across the rear. The two upper floors feature guest rooms on each side of a double-loaded corridor. In 1955, an eight-room Colonial Revival-style motel was built at the rear of the property. Guest parking is available in front of the rooms, which open directly to the parking area. By 1959, a pool and cabana were built and nine rooms were added to the motel. The hotel's mid-20^th Century landscape includes oak, pines, magnolia, and cedar of Lebanon trees. Landscape structures, such as brick walks and walls, gate posts, and paved drives, survive intact.

The hotel is a tile-block, three-story, hip-roof building with a stucco exterior dominated by a monumental, full-height portico. A shed-roofed dormer vent is located in the center of the rear elevation. The upper floors feature four-over-four-light windows and paired six-over-six-light windows while the central, first-floor facade (lobby and dining room areas) features fanlights over French doors that lead out to a concrete terrace. The terrace features stuccoed masonry piers with cast-iron railings.

Original interior features include hardwood floors, plaster walls and ceilings, molded door and window frames, baseboards, and two-panel doors. The stairwell features wainscoting and plain, wood newel posts and square balusters. The first-floor plan consists of a central lobby flanked by the dining room on the west and a wing of rooms (six rooms) on the east. The lobby area and dining room feature square Tuscan columns while the hall separating the guest rooms on the east side of the building features round Tuscan columns at the entrance. All public spaces on the first floor feature a plain baseboard, chair rail, and molded cornice. The second- and third-floor plans are essentially the same, each with 17 rooms flanked by a central east-west hallway. All guest rooms feature a transom over the doorway.

Several major additions were made to the hotel in 1947. The existing one-story, side-gable, brick-veneer wings replaced the columned, one-story wood porticoes originally located on each end of the hotel. The east wing was primarily built as an apartment for the proprietors while the west wing contained a new kitchen. Both additions appear to be of balloon frame construction featuring gable-end returns, triangular wood vents, and six-over-six-light windows (although the west wing also features metal casement windows indicative of its function as a commercial kitchen). Also during this period, the rear lobby (now the motel office), banquet room, and storage/receiving room were added to the rear and west side of the building, while the dining room was expanded. This addition is characterized as a one-story, flat-roof, brick-veneer ell and wing section featuring metal casement windows and plain cornice. The addition displays International stylistic elements such as smooth, unadorned wall surface and banks of windows meeting at corners. Shortly after the additions were completed, a fire gutted the third floor of the building. As a result, the hotel was completely remodeled and updated (except for the new construction, which was not damaged in the blaze). A new roof was installed, walls and ceilings were re-plastered (particularly the third floor), and a new heating system was installed. Private bathrooms and telephones were also added in each room. Bathrooms feature ceramic tile floors, tile half walls, and porcelain basins and commodes. The addition of bathrooms in each room reduced the size of each room.

Between 1955 and 1959, the rear lobby was converted into the motel office and the card room was built above it. In 1965, the original full-height portico on the facade was altered to its existing condition. The portico originally featured a pedimented gable, plain entablature, and round, full-height Tuscan columns. The round Tuscan columns were replaced with the square Tuscan columns and a masonry foyer base. The main hotel entrance is located in the base of the foyer and features Neoclassical Revival-style door surrounds with elliptical fanlights and thin sidelights. A second-floor balcony with cast-iron railing is located on the foyer roof, which is accessed through a doorway that includes a broken pediment surround.

During the 1990s, the Green's apartment in the east wing was converted into two additional rooms. During the early 2000s, the former kitchen, sitting room, and living rooms of the apartment were converted into the Tavery Bar and Grill, while the remaining rooms on the east side of the first floor were converted for use as offices.

The motel was constructed at the rear of the hotel in 1955. It began as a linear building with eight rooms. Four more units were added in 1957 with an additional five added in 1959, giving the motel a total of 17 rooms and an overall U shape. The one-story brick-veneer building features Colonial Revival-style elements such as a centered, pedimented portico with square Tuscan columns, decorative cast-iron ornament in the gable ends, and a cupola with a pyramidal roof and a metal weathervane. Each pair of rooms shares a common foyer. All rooms feature sheetrock interior walls and ceilings and ceramic tile in the bathrooms. The pool and cabana were added in 1959. The cabana features brick piers with brick screen walls and a concave, pyramidal-shaped roof covered with standing-seam sheet metal and topped with an elaborate cupola.

The hotel landscape has evolved from the original circular drive flanked by tall masonry gate posts to include brick sidewalks and footwalls and landscaped parking areas with planted beds and grounds. The original formal drive featured a grass, semi-circular lawn area. By the 1940s, this grassy area was paved for use as a circular parking lot as indicated in photos from the 1940s. A circular sidewalk replaced the driveway and the main automobile entrance was established through the center of the masonry gates. Most of the existing landscape scheme was established between 1947 and 1959, when the hotel was remodeled and the motel court and pool was established. Brick footwalls along the sidewalks on the side streets were probably added in 1947 at the same time the side wings of the hotel were added. The layout of the motel and pool at the rear of the property was established in the late 1950s.

Site Plan (2003)

First Floor Plan (2003)

Second Floor Plan (2003)

Third Floor Plan (2003)

Hotel and grounds (2003)

Main facade (2003)

Main facade (2003)

Detail of main entrance (2003)

Detail of main entrance (2003)

Azalea garden (2003)

West side of hotel (2003)

West side of hotel (2003)

Rear of hotel with cabana (right) (2003)

Pool and cabana with hotel (rear) (2003)

Pool from inside cabana (2003)

Rear of hotel with motel registration entrance (2003)