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| Photos courtesy of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, except where noted |
Also
known as Le Rêve (“The Dream”) and
the “Castle on Peachtree,” Rhodes Memorial Hall at 1516 Peachtree St. NW in
Atlanta realizes that “castle in the air” and “your home is your castle” living
situation that dominated many of our childhood reveries. Built in 1904 for
$50,000 as the residence of Amos Giles Rhodes, proprietor of Rhodes Furniture
in Atlanta, this robust granite mansion was designed by Willis F. Denny II in a
Romanesque Revival style inspired by the German Rhineland castles Rhodes
idolized while traveling in Europe in the late 1890s.
Its granite towers and battlements, mahogany woodwork, murals, parquet floors, tile mosaics and stained glass reflect Rhodes’ standing as one of Atlanta’s wealthiest citizens. Born in Kentucky in 1850, he opened his furniture store locally, expanded it to 35 Southeastern cities, and continued to run it until his death in 1928. The mahogany is from the West Indies, and the granite was quarried at Stone Mountain, 25 miles east of Atlanta. Fascinated by the new technology, he electrically wired his home with 300 lightbulbs, multiple call buttons for servants, and an advanced security system.
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| The arched, columned porch with coffered ceiling is an “outdoor room” in itself. |
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The porch introduces the tall,
dark and handsome reception hall with
mosaic-tiled fireplace, mirrored mahogany
mantel, picturesque
nature murals, and carved mahogany staircase. |
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Regally rising above the stair are three stained-glass window
triptyches designed by the Von Gerichten Art Glass Company,
winner
of four gold medals at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition,
a.k.a. the St. Louis World's Fair of 1904.
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The windows depict the
Confederacy’s rise and demise, from its firing
on Fort Sumter to its surrender
at Appomattox. These scenes no doubt
inspired Margaret Mitchell's background research for Gone with the
Wind in the house when it held the Georgia State Archives. |
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The Louis XV-styled parlor
is embellished with high columns, scrolled
brackets, ornate ceiling, cascading
crystal chandelier, silken damask
panels, and a bow window with fanspread
arches and paneled pilasters. |
If
you’re inclined, go up to the roof and observe how the neighborhood has changed over 111 years. Built on 114 acres of land
stretching across Tanyard Creek, Rhodes Hall was comparable to Tara from Gone with the Wind in southern
plantation elegance and expanse. Most of that land is now taken over by modern
office buildings and the Brookwood Interchange of I-75/85. As a holdout from
the period when such stately homes lined Peachtree Street before most gave way
to urban progress, Rhodes Memorial Hall memorializes an era that “is no more than a dream remembered. A civilization gone
with the wind,” as the movie’s opening titles read.
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| Photo courtesy of the Georgia Archives |
It remains because Amos Rhodes’ heirs deeded his home and an acre of his land to the state of Georgia for use for “historic purposes.”
It housed the Georgia State Archives from 1930 to 1965, then became the
Peachtree Branch of the Archives. In 1983, the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation leased
Rhodes Hall from the state, restoring it as a historic house museum and their
home.
Rhodes Memorial Hall is also a popular venue for weddings, wedding receptions and bridal showers,
particularly its “Cupid at the Castle” 15-minute weddings on Valentine’s Day,
where up to 20 pre-registered couples exchange vows for a $200 donation that
benefits the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation.
For more
information on Rhodes Memorial Hall, call 404-881-9980, or visit the Atlanta Convention
and Visitors Bureau, 233 Peachtree Street, 404-521-6600.
Thank you for visiting. I welcome your comments!
And you'll be going on your own space odyssey as you take a ride in a spaceship-like tram car, comfortably equipped with buttock-contoured bucket seats, upward through the innards of the concrete-reinforced steel arch...
