Granite Hall is an
Italianate
The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...
mansion in
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Brita ...
, United States. It is located on East Gaston Street, just to the northeast of
Forsyth Park
Forsyth Park (formerly known as the Military Parade Ground)''Charles Seton Henry Hardee's Recollections of old Savannah'', Martha Gallaudet Waring, ''The Georgia Historical Quarterly'', JSTOR (1929), p. 34 is a large city park that occupies in ...
.
[Historic Building Map: Savannah Historic District]
– Historic Preservation Department of the Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission (November 17, 2011) It is part of the
Savannah Historic District Savannah Historic District may refer to:
*Savannah Historic District (Savannah, Georgia), a National Historic Landmark district in Georgia
* Central of Georgia Railroad: Savannah Shops and Terminal Facilities, Savannah, Georgia, a historic district ...
,
[ and was built in 1881 for Fred Hull. In a survey for ]Historic Savannah Foundation
Historic Savannah Foundation (HSF) is a preservation organization founded in 1955 and based in Savannah, Georgia
Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County, Georg ...
, Mary Lane Morrison
Mary Lane Morrison (August 15, 1907 – July 16, 1994) was an American writer, historian and preservationist. She was the curator of the Georgia Historical Society, a member of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the state ...
found the building to be of significant status.
The building was used as the venue for the Married Woman's Card Club
The Married Woman's Card Club is an exclusive all-women society in Savannah, Georgia, established in 1893. It meets once a month, on Tuesdays at 4:00 PM.
The society is featured in John Berendt's novel ''Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'' a ...
visited by John Cusack
John Paul Cusack ( ; born June 28, 1966)(28 June 1996)Today's birthdays ''Santa Cruz Sentinel'', ("Actors John Cusack is 30") is an American actor. With a career spanning over four decades, he has appeared in over 80 films. He began acting in f ...
's character, John Kelso, in the 1997 movie ''Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
''Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'' is a non-fiction novel by John Berendt. The book, Berendt's first, was published on January 10, 1994, and follows the story of Jim Williams, an antiques dealer on trial for the killing of Danny Hansf ...
''. Jim Williams, upon whom both the movie and the book on which it was based was centered, purchased the house in the mid-1980s and began an extensive restoration program on it; he died before it was completed, however.[ Around that time, it was the Granite Steps guest house, so named for its double-entry staircase that ascends from the street.][''The Carolinas & the Georgia Coast'', Norman Renouf and Kathy Renouf (1999) ]
Since 2006, the property has been owned by the Savannah College of Art and Design
Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) is a private art school with locations in Savannah, Georgia; Atlanta, Georgia; and Lacoste, France. It was founded in 1978 to provide degrees in programs not yet offered in the southeast of the United ...
(SCAD).[Granite Hall]
– SCAD.edu
See also
*Buildings in Savannah Historic District
The Savannah Historic District (Savannah, Georgia), Savannah Historic District is a large urban U.S. Historic districts in the United States, historic district that roughly corresponds to the city limits of Savannah, Georgia, prior to the American ...
References
Houses in Savannah, Georgia
Houses completed in 1881
Savannah College of Art and Design buildings and structures
Savannah Historic District
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