Hay House and Magnolia Tour
Start by selecting one or more filters from the Your options list below. Your route will automatically update based on your selections.
When you’re ready to start your tour, press the first item under Your route to view more information about that destination (including walking directions).
Enjoy your tour!
Your options.
Neighborhoods
Architectural Styles
Your route.
18 stops
Your route is empty. Select one or more filters (above) (to the left) to populate your route.
Italian Renaissance Revival style
c. 1855-60
The Johnston Felton Hay House is one of two National Historic Landmarks in Macon. Designed by New York City architect T. Thomas, it was built for William B. Johnston who was Depositary of the Treasury during the Civil War. He filled the 16,000 square foot residence with many fine furnishings and art work. Notice the Corinthian-columned piazza topped by a cast iron serpentine balustrade, the opposing symmetrical wings with clerestory windows, the ocular windows accented by decorative iron grilles and the three-level octagonal cupola.The Johnston heirs sold the property in the 1920s to P. L. Hay, who also added to the collection of antique furniture and porcelains.The Hay heirs donated the property in the 1970s to the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation which now operates it as a house museum.
Open next ↓
Italianate style
c. 1882
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.
Open next ↓
Folk Victorian style
c. 1887
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.
Open next ↓
Folk Victorian style
c. 1875
Although the front façade has been modified, the residence still retains its front porch with decorative Victorian details. By the end of the nineteenth century this property was owned by Clyde Hoke, manager of the Macon Electric Company. The porch features cut-work columns, brackets and balustrade.
Open next ↓
Greek Revival style
c. 1872
This is one of several Greek Revival cottages that are important to the character of Magnolia Street. Many of the houses were originally owned by Macon’s early downtown entrepreneurs who worked in wholesale groceries, drugstores and dry goods stores. This cottage, owned in 1872 by George Wright, a haberdasher, who worked for a wholesale grocer, remained in his family until c. 1947. It still retains its simple symmetrical plan with Greek Revival doorway and decorative Victorian details on the front porch.
Open next ↓
Greek Revival style
c. 1875
This property was one of the lots sold by B. F. Ross, an early mayor of Macon to A. R. Tinsley as a “parcel of land” in 1873. It was owned for many years by the Stephens family and has retained its simple Greek Revival entry. The porch detailing was originally similar to the cottage at 972 Magnolia Street.
Open next ↓
Queen Anne style
c. 1897
A one-story house was originally constructed on this lot and was replaced by the present residence c. 1897 when it was owned by Frank Chambers, an attorney with offices on Third Street in downtown Macon. His family lived here until c. 1916. The house features an expansive front porch, fine balustrade and shingle-work in the front-facing gable.
Open next ↓
Folk Victorian style
c. 1878
This property was once part of a larger tract purchased by the Ellis family in 1877. Although there may have been an earlier house on this property, the first reference in the Macon city directories to a resident at this location was in 1878 when Wesley deHaven, who was employed by J. W. Burke & Co., publishers and printers, lived here. Like many of the houses on Magnolia Street this residence was built on parts of two smaller lots which were narrower than those shown today. Notice the fine detailing on the porch with flat-cut columns, delicate spandrels and cut-work balustrade.
Open next ↓
Folk Victorian style
c. 1878
This property is part of a larger tract purchased by the Ellis family in 1877. Notice the finely detailed front porch balanced by an angular bay window to right of the entry.
Open next ↓
Queen Anne style
c. 1889
This simple Queen Anne-style residence has well-detailed bracketed porch columns and balustrade and a diamond-shaped vent in the front-facing gable. One of the first owners was Zacariah Culver, who clerked for a cotton broker. In 1895 the house was advertised for rent for $9.00 per month as having comfortable rooms for a small family.
Open next ↓
American 19th Century Industrial style
c. 1883
This brick structure was built to house the engines that pumped water from the nearby springs in Washington Park to a 90-foot tall water tower that was located in a park on Orange Street near the head of High Street. The new system allowed the houses on College Hill to receive city water for which residents were charged $20.00 per year. Three cisterns located behind the engine house, which had been constructed prior to 1880, held 150,000 gallons of water. The springs in the park supplied water for both downtown and the residences on the hill. This structure is now a private residence.
Open next ↓
Folk Victorian style
c. 1885
The flat-cut porch columns and spandrels give this charming cottage a picturesque quality. Notice the front-facing gable with a modern stained glass window and the well-detailed front door. Like many of the lots on Magnolia Street, this property originally extended to Washington Avenue.
Open next ↓
Craftsman style
c. 1915
Originally this property was part of the Tracy property which extended down Magnolia Street from the corner of Orange Street. When the property was subdivided this house was built in the American foursquare style with a tall, two and one-half story boxy shape, low-pitched roof and Craftsman-style exposed rafter ends. Other decorative elements include the paired columns on masonry piers, well-detailed upper windows sashes and front door with transom and sidelights.
Open next ↓
Craftsman style
c. 1912
In the nineteenth century this lot was part of the Tracy property which extended down Magnolia Street from Orange Street. In 1912 the rear portion of that property was subdivided into four lots on Magnolia Street. The American Foursquare style was popular from the late nineteenth century until World War II and was a reaction to the ornate Victorian style. It often incorporated Craftsman-style features as seen here, including exposed rafter ends, dormer windows, columns set on masonry or stone piers and paired or triple windows with diamond-shaped muntins in the upper sashes.
Open next ↓
Craftsman style
c. 1908
Wide overhangs at the roofline with exposed rafters, triple windows, shallow arched openings on the front porch and strong horizontal lines typify the Craftsman style. The use of natural materials such as wood and stucco with little ornamentation was a reaction to the excesses of the Victorian period. One of the first owners of this house was W. B. Chapman, a tax collector.
Open next ↓
Craftsman style
c. 1915
Note the wide eave overhangs and front facing gable giving shade to the front porch and second story windows. This house is similar in style and age to the residence at left and may have been constructed by the same builder.
Open next ↓
Queen Anne style
c. 1893
The fine detailing and textures on this house are typical of the Queen Anne style. The stamped metal roof, shingle work and vent in the front-facing gable, large windows and a full front porch with balustrade all give this house a picturesque quality.
Open next ↓
Folk Victorian style
c. 1895
This cottage sits on a high foundation faced with rusticated stone blocks, forerunner of today’s concrete blocks. The half-story with Palladian-style window opening and shallow-pitched roof may have been added later. One of the first owners was George T. Beeland, a jeweler, who had a store at Second Street and Cotton Avenue.
Open next ↓
End of route
Enjoying the Tour?
We’d love to hear your feedback. If you have a moment, please visit our Contact page and let us know how it went. Thanks!