Preservation Successes in Athens
Athens, GA is a city that is known for its history and its historic buildings, and the students and faculty of the University of Georgia’s Master of Historic Preservation program play a pivotal role in documenting and preserving this history. All of the MHP faculty are directly involved in local preservation efforts—from serving on the Board of the Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation (ACHF) to spearheading movements to preserve and restore historic buildings like the Franklin House and the T.R.R. Cobb House—and students have the opportunity to participate in public outreach through such service projects as creating Historic Structure Reports for the Building Materials Conservation class and GIS mapping and survey projects for current and potential historic neighborhoods.
Often working in partnership with the ACHF, as well as other local, state and national preservation and planning organizations, the students and faculty of the MHP program provide a valuable source of expertise for preserving historic resources in Athens and surrounding areas. The following historic buildings are examples of preservation successes in Athens, and most of them owe their continued existence to the efforts of MHP faculty and students.
The Church-Waddel-Brumby House, 280 E Dougherty St (1820) - The Athens Welcome Center is located in the historic Church-Waddel-Brumby House. Saved from demolition by local citizens and the fledgling Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation in 1967, Athens’ oldest residence was moved to its current location during the madness of a UGA home football game and has served as the city’s Welcome Center since 1973. 2005 marked the beginning of an ongoing interior restoration project by the ACHF, aimed at returning the house to its former Federal style grandeur.
The Cheney House, 490 N Milledge Avenue (1893) — Built for Francis Cheney in 1893, this Queen Anne style house features an asymmetrical form with projections, porches with spindlework detailing, a tower, and an oriel window. It was the first house in Athens to have indoor plumbing, and was occupied by members of the Cheney family until the late 1960s. In the 1970s , the Cheney House was placed on the market for commercial development. ACHF secured a purchase option, which ultimately saved the house. Only afterwards was it learned that the property had been of interest to a fast-food franchise. Today, the house has been adapted for use by law offices.
The Franklin House, 464-480 E Broad Street (1845) — Originally built with commercial space on the ground floor and a hotel on the upper floors, the Federal/Greek Revival style building was built over three phases from 1845 to 1860 and hosted such guests as Georgia Governor Howell Cobb and Alexander H. Stephens (later Vice President of the Confederacy). From 1865 to 1972 it served as home to the Athens Hardware Company, and in 1973 it was slated for demolition. However, thanks to another campaign spearheaded by local preservationists and the Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation (a campaign that hung on a shoe string and a series of option contracts for almost a decade), the building was saved. Through the use of a National Park Service grant and various other public and private funding sources, the building was stabilized and rehabilitated, and, in 1983, it won an award from the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation for outstanding restoration and adaptive use. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and designated as a Local Historic Landmark in 1990, and it is recognized as the oldest commercial building in downtown Athens.
The Lucy Cobb Institute, 201 N Milledge Avenue (1858) — Built as a “College for Girls” and named for Lucy Cobb (daughter of T.R.R. Cobb) who died of Scarlet Fever at 13, the Lucy Cobb Institute served as a school for girls for over 70 years. From the 1930s to the 1980s it served various UGA and government functions, as it slowly fell into disrepair. It was rescued in 1984, when it received Congressionally allocated funds that helped finance a stabilization and rehabilitation program that was completed in 1991. Today it houses UGA’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government.
The Seney-Stovall Chapel, 201 N. Milledge Avenue (1885) — Named for Nellie Stovall (who solicited the funds for the chapel) and George Seney (who provided the funds and a pipe organ), the building was constructed as a chapel and meeting space for the Lucy Cobb Institute. It holds 280 people and remains today the only Elizabethan style theatre in Georgia. Following years of vacancy and neglect, the Chapel received a $2.5 million restoration that was completed in 1997.
The T.R.R. Cobb House, 175 Hill St (1834, 1852) — Originally built as Plantation Plain house in the 1830s, Cobb received this house as a wedding gift in 1844 and added the Octagon style wings and the Greek Revival portico in the 1850s. From the 1870s to the 1980s, it served as everything from a rental/boarding house to a fraternity house to meeting space for the Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta. Facing demolition in 1985, it was moved to Stone Mountain, GA to be part of Stone Mountain Park; however, restoration never commenced, and, for 19 years, it sat in a state of neglect. But thanks to the efforts of Athens preservationists (spearheaded by John Waters and the Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation), the Watson-Brown Foundation and the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, the house was moved back to Athens in 2005. After undergoing a multi-million dollar restoration, it opened as Athens’ fourth house museum in the fall of 2007; interior restoration projects are ongoing. For more information, visit the website.
1073 S Milledge Ave (1913) — Designed by Athens architect Fred Orr, this Colonial Revival style house is a wonderful example of the unique stylistic interpretations that Orr brought to his designs. The door surround is one of a kind, and the departure from the traditional 2-story, rectangular-box form employed by most Colonial Revival houses is also indicative of Orr’s originality. Occupied by its original owner for nearly 60 years, the house went through a series of ownerships and uses for the last 40 years. After sitting vacant and for sale for nearly three years, it was purchased in early 2008 and, after an extensive rehabilitation, was opened as Hawthorne House Antiques and Interiors in the fall of 2008. This historic house faced many challenges, but, ultimately, became an example of an Athens preservation success.
