Greek Revival Style Mansion in GA

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Glen Mary, built in 1848, near Sparta, Georgia, is an exceptional Greek Revival mansion as a version of the raised cottage style. It was built by a prosperous Southern planter, Theophilus Jackson Smith before the Civil War, but after the War it was sold to General Ethan Allen Hitchcock in whose family the house still remains.

Architecturally, Glen Mary is a "one-of-a-kind" High Greek Revival style house in Georgia. In terms of structural form, it is a raised cottage that has a prominent first floor or "basement" area with the main living area on the second level. Stylistically, however, Glen Mary is not a "cottage" but a formal, High Greek Revival style structure with a symmetrical four-room central hall plan, an Ionic portico above a square columned colonnade on both the rear and front facades and a full dentilled entablature. Outstanding interior features include solid walnut second floor doors with curly maple panels, cranberry etched glass around the front doorway and cornices in the parlors that have been represented in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's American wing. These cornices are signed by the craftsman, Francis McDermott of Savannah.

Through the years Glen Mary has only been owned by two families. Theophilus Jackson Smith built the house in 1848 and named it for his wife, Mary, but due to losses accrued during the Civil War, he was forced to sell the house and its 840 surrounding acres for $10,500 to General Ethan Allen Hitchcock. Hitchcock, the Vermont-born grandson of the Revolutionary patriot, Ethan Allen, came to Sparta as a result of family connections in Warren County, Georgia. General Hitchcock, perhaps Glen Mary's most famous resident, was both a student and instructor at West Point Military Academy. He served in the military for most of the first half of the nineteenth century. Hitchcock bought Glen Mary, but only lived there for three years before his death. Glen Mary has remained in this family and presently the owners are in the process of restoring it with the help of the Albany, Georgia architect, Edward V. Jones, who has done outstanding restoration work in Washington, DC, including the White House.

Building Description

Prominently placed on a knoll seven miles south of Sparta, on the Linton Road, is the 1848 raised Greek Revival style house, Glen Mary.

Originally 55 feet square in plan, Glen Mary was a four-room central hall, 5x4 bay structure with porticos on the front and rear facades. Being a raised house, the lower level is a stuccoed, full daylight dining room-bedroom area. The second, weatherboarded floor, has two formal parlors and two bedrooms. Completing the structure at the roof edge is a full Tuscan entablature with dentils that surround the entire structure. On the front facade is a double portico with six fluted, Doric columns supporting the upper portico and corresponding massive, square columns on the "basement" level below. On the five bay front facade there are four six-over-nine lighted, floor-length windows detailed with framing pilasters that support high entablatures. In the center is a, pilaster framed, trabeated doorway with transom and side lights of cranberry etched glass on the upper level. The same design format occurs on the lower level; however,there are only side lights around the doorway and smaller six-over-six light windows.

The interior features of Glen Mary include the exceptional grape and leaf stucco relief cornices (the same design motif used in the etched glass on the front entrance way). These cornices are found in the upstairs hallway and the two connecting parlors. All of the mantels on the lower floor are original to the house and have simple projecting mantel shelves supported by a frieze and pilasters. The only original mantel upstairs is the front bedroom one which is of simple design in black Tennessee marble. The original parlor mantels have been replaced by slate ones brought by the owners from Washington, D.C. in 1964-1965.

Several structural changes have been made during the course of Glen Mary's restoration by Edward V. Jones. An addition to the rear, consisting of closets and bathrooms, has been made. According to the owners, all of the columns and details for the rear portico have been saved and will be restored in the due course of restoration as will the front entrance steps.

(1973)

(1973)

(1973)