Little Italy in Macon Georgia...Day 18 Macon

What a lovely surprise Macon turned out to be!  Of course I knew it was the hq for the Allman Bros and Otis Redding and Lynnyrd Skynrd (sp???) but I certainly wasnt' expecting a mecca of magnificent Colonial Greek houses and certainly NOT this Italian gem...built by none other that Jefferson Davis' Treasury head, William Johnston (he did build it BEFORE the war tho on his own dime).  Johnston married a lovely young thing and took her off to Italy for 3 years of knick knack collecting before they returned to Macon and built this little shack on the hill in 1860. 24 rooms, 5 floors jammed packed with enough Italian art that the Ufizzi should worry BUT that's not the thing that jerked my chain....between Johnston's ideas and the architects balls, things are in this house that I've NEVER seen in a house of this age!  Read on below...

Have a good look at that lovely marble staircase for the entryway.  This is form and function at it's best.  Macon gets HOT and Johnston liked his wine so he built a HUGE wine cellar UNDER the front porch where it would stay cool under the marble and underground.  THEN the doors in the basement to the wine cellar could be louvered down (see below) so that the cool air from the wine cellar (and it was like a cold wind tunnel in there) would filter into the room that was the pantry.  CLEVER STUFF!! 

Have a close look at the entryway of the house.  CHECK OUT THOSE AMAZING CURVED DOORS WITH THE ETCHED GLASS.  But have a good look at the walls...they're not marble, they're painted....but whoever painted them did a truly expert job.  Common in Italy...not so common in Macon Georgia. 

And here's what really was amazing...look at this gorgeous door between the two ballrooms... it's a POCKET DOOR!!  THE LARGEST EVER MADE....EVER.  Slides perfectly into the hallway back wall after 150 years.  And (gasp) there were 4 SETS of CURVED (the wood and the glass) pocket doors!!!!

Mrs. Johnston was quite taken by the sculpture at the Uffizi so she had an artist there make her one...this is Ruth Gleaning, Carrarra marble, the most famous piece in the south.     

And this one I spotted immediately.  Charles Lefevre was a famous romantic French painter early 19th century.  Somehow Johnston managed to take this off the Met Museums hands when they were cleaning out the basement....we should all be so lucky! 

Tiffany was busy but sent the design for this magnificent CURVED glass window in the dining room and...

something else I've never seen before... bas relief wainscoting!!!  

Hitchcock would LOVE this staircase BUT it serves a very important purpose.  Not only does the house have hot and cold running water, in floor heating, an intercom and modern plumbing...before the White House did but this magnificent curving staircase is actually the air conditioner.  It forces hot air up to the cupola which opens to draw the hot air out.  

Needless to say, I had a great day in Macon and right now I'm sitting outside at the most beautiful lake surrounded by autumn foliage and way too many yappy ankle biters but hey, no complaints.  

hope you all have a great weekend....hugs from the road!!!