Savannah in the Springtime is something to behold. After a glorious weekend of perfect beach weather Savannah is enjoying some much needed rain to keep our Courtyard Gardens lush and vibrant....
History
GORDON ROW: The Gordon Row was built in two phases between 1852 and 1854. In the first phase, the 3 or 4 houses on each end of the block were built and in the second phase the middle portion was built. There are a total 15 houses in the row.
The houses were built in the Federalist (US) or Regency Style (UK). This style went out of fashion about 1810. Each house is four stories high and contains about 3,300 square feet. The Federalist Style emphasizes square boxiness, plain decorations and duality or mirror image rooms.
The Row was speculatively built; meaning that the homes were built as a lot then sold rather than individually designed for the owners. As a result, each of the 15 houses was nearly identical.
When built originally, the cost per house was between $3,500 and $4,000. The market was country planters, or farmers, who wanted a house in town for their visits to Savannah.
When originally built, the kitchens were on the ground level. The house was only two rooms deep with matching, or mirroring, windows facing the front and the back porch.
It was after the War Between the States, also known as the War of Northern Aggression, the first floor was made into a separate apartment and the kitchen moved to its present location.
Documentation of ownership for the 117 house first appears in 1867 in the name of a Jewish lady. This neighborhood was popular with Jews as the synagogues were near. Judging by the names on the deeds, it seems that for the balance of the 19th century, the house was owned by various women in the same Jewish family.
It was right around 1900, that a local doctor purchased the house and it became his home and office. It was at that time that he purchased the adjacent building, 119, and had it attached to give room for his growing family.
In the 1950′s, the 117 house was owned by Jim Williams of the Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, book fame. The house was then owned by a gay couple who made the house into a Soho Style warehouse loft removing the residential architectural features.
