Information
Landmark: Mercer-Williams HouseCity: Savannah
Country: USA Georgia
Continent: North America
Mercer-Williams House, Savannah, USA Georgia, North America
Overview
At 429 Bull Street in Monterey Square, Savannah, the Mercer-Williams House stands as one of the city’s most treasured landmarks, its red brick walls steeped in history.This striking mid-19th-century Italianate landmark is celebrated for its graceful design, its pivotal role in Savannah’s preservation movement, and its link to the true-crime tale behind *Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil*, where wrought-iron balconies cast long shadows at dusk.First.In 1860, General Hugh W. commissioned the Mercer-Williams House, a grand design marked by tall arched windows and intricate ironwork.Mercer was a Confederate general and a well-known figure in Savannah, often seen strolling past the oak-shaded squares downtown.John S. designed it, sketching the first lines in bold black ink.Norris, a well-known New York architect, earned recognition for designing in Savannah and across other Southern cities, where his brick facades caught the afternoon sun.People knew Norris for the way he mixed classical touches with the fresh, modern trends of the day, like pairing a crisp sonata with a smoky jazz riff.The Italianate-style house has a rectangular, perfectly balanced form, its three stories and tall, slender windows drawing your eyes straight up.The house is built mainly from “Philadelphia Red” brick, a rarity in Savannah, and its walls glow with a rich, warm red that catches the afternoon light.The ceilings rise a full 15 feet, drawing the eye upward and flooding the room with daylight through tall windows.Floor-to-ceiling windows amplify the feeling, flooding the space with sunlight that warms the wooden floors.Everywhere you look, there’s something ornate-moldings with crisp edges, hand-carved doorways smooth under your fingertips, and plasterwork so intricate it almost feels delicate, all revealing the era’s remarkable craftsmanship.The entrance hall stretches a full 60 feet, its floor gleaming with original ceramic tiles brought in from Stoke-on-Trent, England, a town celebrated for craftsmanship as fine as porcelain teacups.The long hall makes a striking first impression, then draws guests toward the heart of the home, where sunlight spills across the floor.Stained-Glass Dome: Added in 1868 when the house was finished, this dome brings elegance and artistry, casting sunlight in shifting bands of ruby and gold across the room.The house still boasts its original charm, with interior shutters that let in a soft breeze while keeping prying eyes out, and wide plank wood floors that bring a warm, lived-in feel underfoot.Construction stalled during the Civil War, leaving the house unfinished until about 1868, when work finally resumed after years of dust and silence.When John R. stepped inside, the faint smell of coffee greeted him.Wilder took over the place and finished building it, adding small details-a carved oak door, for example-that gave the house its own unmistakable character.Step two’s simple-mix up your sentence lengths so the rhythm feels natural.Originally built for General Hugh W., the place still carries the weight of its history.Mercer-and the rest of the family-never truly lived in the house at all, not even to spend a single night under its roof.Over the decades, the property passed from one owner to another, like a set of old keys slipping into different hands.In 1969, Jim Williams-an antiques dealer and preservationist-bought the house, adding it to his growing collection of Savannah gems and helping keep the city’s historic streets alive.Williams helped bring countless historic buildings back to life, yet the Mercer-Williams House-his own home with its deep red brick and shaded courtyard-stood as his greatest triumph.For two years, Williams poured his energy into restoring the house, preserving every curve of its old oak banisters while filling the rooms with a vivid mix of antiques and art.Number three.Jim Williams turned the Mercer-Williams House into a place that was both his home and a showcase, filling its rooms with 18th- and 19th-century Regency and Empire furniture, like a velvet-upholstered chair polished to a deep mahogany glow.Portraits painted by celebrated artists like Gilbert Stuart and Thomas Hudson, their brushstrokes capturing the fine lines of a sitter’s face.Chinese export porcelain, a clear sign of his fascination with decorative arts from around the world, gleamed white under the light.You’ll also find artifacts from Europe, Asia, and America, each reflecting its own artistic tradition, from intricate silk embroidery to weathered stone carvings.John Berendt’s *Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil* made the house world-famous, telling the story of Williams’ gripping court fights after the 1981 shooting of Danny Hansford, a local handyman, inside its shadowed front room.Later trials, whispered acquittals, and endless gossip turned the house into a lasting emblem of Savannah’s mix of Southern grace, odd quirks, and quiet mystery, like magnolia blooms opening under the moon.Number four stood out, written in thick black ink on the page.Inside the Mercer-Williams House, every room is kept much as it was, highlighting the sweeping archways and the rich, polished wood that reflect Williams’ personal taste.Visitors can wander the ground floor, where the entrance hall, drawing rooms, and dining areas sit in perfect order, each draped with polished antiques that catch the light.Glossy ceramic tiles greet you at the entrance, drawing the eye and leading guests straight into the home’s warm center.Sunlight pours through the stained-glass dome, washing the upper hall in a scatter of ruby, gold, and deep blue.Each room holds furnishings, paintings, and decorative pieces true to the period, so you catch both the architectural style and a glimpse of Jim Williams himself-like the worn leather chair he favored by the window.The upstairs is off-limits to visitors, since Williams’ sister still owns the house and keeps it for herself.Five.Today, the Mercer-Williams House welcomes visitors as a museum, offering guided tours that highlight its rich architectural history and distinctive Italianate style, from the ornate ironwork to the sweeping arched windows.Jim Williams’ story is one of fiercely protecting Savannah’s architectural treasures, from weathered brick facades to sunlit wrought-iron balconies.The home overflows with antiques and decorative art-a carved oak chair here, a porcelain vase catching the light there.The home’s cultural mystique stems from unforgettable 1980s events-most notably the shooting and the tense courtroom trials that followed, where reporters jotted notes under flickering fluorescent lights.Most tours take you through the ground floor and up to the first, giving you a close look at Savannah’s past inside one of its most celebrated homes, where polished wood still carries the scent of history.Number six.The house sits right on Monterey Square, one of Savannah’s most beautiful historic spots, shaded by sprawling live oaks and watched over by centuries-old monuments.Visitors flock to the square for its authentic Southern charm, from brick-lined streets to weathered wooden porches steeped in history.The Mercer-Williams House isn’t just a stunning Italianate mansion-it’s a living piece of Savannah’s history, where polished wood floors and sunlit rooms keep the city’s stories alive.The building’s design shows the elegance and craftsmanship of the mid-1800s, yet its link to Jim Williams and *Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil* has wrapped it in a modern legend, like whispers carried through a warm Savannah night.The house stands as proof of the city’s layered past, linking its antebellum roots to today’s fascination with saving old buildings and uncovering true-crime stories, its faded porch boards whispering of both eras.
