Tour Stop One:  327 St. Paul Ave. SE

Atlanta Preservation Center

In December 2001, the Atlanta Preservation Center (APC) purchased the antebellum home of Grant Park’s namesake, Lemuel Pratt Grant and his first wife, Laura Loomis Williams Grant. It is also the birthplace of golf legend Robert “Bobby” Tyre Jones Jr., and was once saved from demolition by Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell, author of Gone with the Wind. The house is now home to APC’s offices.

Built on 600 acres of land and designed by Calvin Fey, construction on the three-story Italianate structure began in 1854 and was completed two years later. In 1863, this house was where L.P. Grant designed the 33-mile-long fortifications to defend Atlanta during the Civil War. It is in the National Historic Landmark District of Grant Park, but when the National Register nomination for this District was submitted in 1977, the neglected mansion was in grave peril of being lost, and the nomination stated that, “The house has now deteriorated to a point where its future is in doubt.”

Originally, the house had two stories, with a heavy cornice featuring paired brackets that supported the building's moderate-sized eaves. The roof was hipped and contained two gable dormers near the center front and single dormers on each side facade. Deep porches supported by four fluted, square Doric columns on each side of the house appear in a 1938 photograph from the Atlanta Historical Society.

In 2006, APC completed stabilization of the historic walls, and in 2008, APC reinstalled the floor and roof of the exposed east and west wings and repaired the historic windows. The restoration of this significant home continues with the incorporation of original materials throughout the building. This year, APC started drafting a conservation easement of the 1883 lot that will permanently protect the historical context and open space of the historic L.P. Grant Mansion property. The APC continues to steward this house as it also serves its mission.

SAINT PAUL UMC     |     TOUR STOP TWO