1859 Mansion Survived the Civil War Untouched!

"GOOD CONTENT"#architecture #castle
Step inside one of the most architecturally significant houses in Georgia: the Johnston-Felton-Hay House in Macon.

Built between 1855 and 1859, this extraordinary 18,000-square-foot mansion was designed in the Italian Renaissance Revival style, a dramatic departure from the Greek Revival houses that dominated the antebellum South. Its arches, curves, strict symmetry, and soaring two-story cupola gave Macon a house unlike anything else being constructed in the region.

Hay House was also astonishingly advanced for its time. When completed, it featured hot and cold running water, central heat, gas lighting, an indoor kitchen, a speaker-tube system, and an elaborate ventilation system. The cupola was more than an architectural crown. It functioned as part of the house’s ventilation, drawing hot air upward and out of the building.

Inside, we explore the architecture, decorative finishes, furnishings, and ongoing restoration of this National Historic Landmark. The collection represents generations of the Johnston-Felton and Hay families, including the Eastlake-style dining room suite and Ruth Gleaning, an important 1857 marble sculpture by American expatriate artist Randolph Rogers.

Outside, surviving 19th-century ginkgo trees, magnolias, and cedars offer a glimpse of the original 3.8-acre estate. Later additions by the Hay family, including the driveway, brick gateposts, lower garden, and fish pond, reveal how the property continued to evolve through the 20th century.

Join us for a complete tour of a house where architecture, engineering, art, and preservation come together to tell more than a century of Georgia history.