Join the journey of discovery
- saving an abandoned plantation house and exploring its history
The Discovery
On June 18, 2020, I drove down a quiet dirt road in Houston County, Georgia, to look at an old house for sale. It sat beneath a canopy of towering trees, boarded up and abandoned; a relic left behind as time moved on. The yard was unkept, a tangle of overgrowth and vines hiding the home from plain sight.
Walking the grounds created an immediate pull, one that led me to sell most of my possessions in the following months to purchase the property. The house needed salvation from ruin and promised an unknown adventure in return.
This was more than a real estate transaction; it was the start of my stewardship over a historic house and a family history spanning from Indian Removal and slavery through the Civil War and into the twentieth century.
"MLS- Rare opportunity to own one of the oldest standing homes in Houston County. Antebellum home constructed with brick from local clay and hand-hewn timber from virgin pine forest. Would make a great restoration project for homestead or wedding venue."
Unknown to me, an earlier Instagram campaign had been launched to save the house by touting its architectural value.
July 2019... "This circa 1815ish Federal dog-trot is just...wow... Paneled wainscot throughout (even on the porch!), six-panel doors, wide-plank walls and ceilings... True Georgia dog-trots are a rare find, and to find one with this level of detail is practically a miracle! -and one of the few “rain porches” still extant in this part of Georgia! This is really the full package for someone looking to save an important and early house!"
Also, Brian Brown of Vanishing Georgia helped me understand the house's architectural style and origins. His 2020 article on Mulberry Grove sparked my journey into chronicling its past.
2020 photos
The wavy-glass windows distort the cotton fields today just as they did before the Civil War. Only a little imagination is needed to steal a haunting glimpse of the people now vanished into time. It's an era relegated to silence, but one that lingers most loudly beneath the surface.
A Legacy Unearthed
When the plywood came down, the rest of the story emerged—not just in the wood and brick, but in the lives that occupied them.
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The Beginning: Built in 1832 on Creek tribal land as a pioneer house, this home grew into a 1,200-acre plantation.
- A Real-Life Tara: Within these walls is a history of war and survival that reached all the way to Hollywood. Discover the connection between the Bryan family and the filming of Gone With The Wind in Nancy's Tara story.
- Evidence: Artifacts, some possibly used by the enslaved, fingerprints left in handmade bricks, and documents from the plantation.
That same 'haunting glimpse' was captured in 1916, when the family gathered to honor the memories etched into these walls.
Light of Other Days
"The Afternoon was one of remembrance. It was spent at Bryan Homestead. The family group of two generations lingered long at the spot where they first knew what life and love and home were. Many were the changes, but memory, with her tender touch, brought to mind the "light of other days" and they saw the glorified pictures of the past. By twos and threes, with gentle eyes and hushed voices, they went through the familiar haunts, here a tree there a nook, the brook where many and oft they had waded; the sacred cemetery where those dear loved ones are sleeping. All these pictures, that are painted on the hearts and can never be effaced."
Lynda Lee Bryan (The Last Bryan story)
