Historic-House Road Trip: South and Southwest
Like your summer travels with a side of history and architecture? You’ll find both at these 8 fascinating homes
Gwendolyn Purdom
July 28, 2018
Lover of architecture, history, dogs, the Chicago Cubs, crowded bookshelves, and homes with a story. Former editor at Preservation mag and Culturess.com.
Lover of architecture, history, dogs, the Chicago Cubs, crowded bookshelves, and... More
Last month, we encouraged history- and architecture-loving readers to hit the open road and discover a wide array of historic homes along the West Coast. This time we’re setting our GPS farther south, helping you navigate from the Southwest corner of the country eastward, visiting eight intriguing historic properties as you go.
Photo by Foskett Creative
This is far from a comprehensive collection of homes worth visiting in the storied Southern parts of the country, and committing to the full trip at one time may not be feasible. But each home is steeped in the stories of the people who imagined, built and lived within its walls and experiencing each one (or just a few of your favorites) could make for an enlightening end to your summer.
Stop No. 1: Taliesin West
Scottsdale, Arizona
When Frank Lloyd Wright started building Taliesin West in the foothills of the Sonoran Desert in 1937, the idea was to create a winter retreat that was “of the desert, not on it,” says Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation communications director Jeff Goodman. “Taliesin West was built using sand and rocks from the surrounding desert and is meant to look as though the desert floor was pushed up,” he says. “In many ways, Wright teaches us here how to adapt to and live in what could be considered an inhospitable environment, but to do so in ways that embrace the climate and landscape.”
This is far from a comprehensive collection of homes worth visiting in the storied Southern parts of the country, and committing to the full trip at one time may not be feasible. But each home is steeped in the stories of the people who imagined, built and lived within its walls and experiencing each one (or just a few of your favorites) could make for an enlightening end to your summer.
Stop No. 1: Taliesin West
Scottsdale, Arizona
When Frank Lloyd Wright started building Taliesin West in the foothills of the Sonoran Desert in 1937, the idea was to create a winter retreat that was “of the desert, not on it,” says Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation communications director Jeff Goodman. “Taliesin West was built using sand and rocks from the surrounding desert and is meant to look as though the desert floor was pushed up,” he says. “In many ways, Wright teaches us here how to adapt to and live in what could be considered an inhospitable environment, but to do so in ways that embrace the climate and landscape.”
Photo by Andrew Pielage, Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation
Natural light floods the house, and visitors are encouraged to use it as the architect intended. You can sit on the furniture to see how Wright framed the view of the surrounding landscape or play the piano to test the space’s acoustics.
The house is also home to an architecture school and hosts performances and educational events throughout the year. Guided tours are available seven days a week (except summer Tuesdays and Wednesdays and certain holidays). Reservations are recommended.
12345 N. Taliesin Drive, Scottsdale, AZ 85259
Natural light floods the house, and visitors are encouraged to use it as the architect intended. You can sit on the furniture to see how Wright framed the view of the surrounding landscape or play the piano to test the space’s acoustics.
The house is also home to an architecture school and hosts performances and educational events throughout the year. Guided tours are available seven days a week (except summer Tuesdays and Wednesdays and certain holidays). Reservations are recommended.
12345 N. Taliesin Drive, Scottsdale, AZ 85259
Photo by Steven Bundy
Stop No. 2: The Blumenschein Home and Museum
Taos, New Mexico
Some of the adobe brick walls that would become the Blumenschein family home in 1919 date back to 1797, when the structure was part of the defensive outer wall of Taos Village.
Ernest and Mary Greene Blumenschein and their daughter, Helen, were all artists. Ernest had stumbled upon the city of Taos a few years earlier, after he and fellow artist Bert G. Phillips famously broke a surrey wheel on a trip from Denver to Mexico. The men were so taken with the community’s landscape and culture that they decided to relocate there and convinced artist friends to do the same, establishing Taos as a distinct arts colony.
Stop No. 2: The Blumenschein Home and Museum
Taos, New Mexico
Some of the adobe brick walls that would become the Blumenschein family home in 1919 date back to 1797, when the structure was part of the defensive outer wall of Taos Village.
Ernest and Mary Greene Blumenschein and their daughter, Helen, were all artists. Ernest had stumbled upon the city of Taos a few years earlier, after he and fellow artist Bert G. Phillips famously broke a surrey wheel on a trip from Denver to Mexico. The men were so taken with the community’s landscape and culture that they decided to relocate there and convinced artist friends to do the same, establishing Taos as a distinct arts colony.
Photo by Steven Bundy
Today, the Blumenschein Home and Museum is filled with the family’s extensive collection of art, as well as works by other famous artists from the Taos Society of Artists that Ernest co-founded. Considered one of the most important schools of American art, the TSA turned Taos into a destination for art lovers. “Western art as we know it today is a direct result of the TSA’s existence,” says Margo Beutler Gins, great-granddaughter of TSA co-founder Phillips and president of Taos Historic Museums.
The home’s notably authentic interiors also feature Mary Greene Blumenschein’s red velvet curtains, Victorian lamps and other possessions, as well as all three Blumenscheins’ studio spaces. Tours are available Friday through Tuesday throughout the year.
222 Ledoux St., Taos, NM 87571
Today, the Blumenschein Home and Museum is filled with the family’s extensive collection of art, as well as works by other famous artists from the Taos Society of Artists that Ernest co-founded. Considered one of the most important schools of American art, the TSA turned Taos into a destination for art lovers. “Western art as we know it today is a direct result of the TSA’s existence,” says Margo Beutler Gins, great-granddaughter of TSA co-founder Phillips and president of Taos Historic Museums.
The home’s notably authentic interiors also feature Mary Greene Blumenschein’s red velvet curtains, Victorian lamps and other possessions, as well as all three Blumenscheins’ studio spaces. Tours are available Friday through Tuesday throughout the year.
222 Ledoux St., Taos, NM 87571
Google
Taos >> Wallace: About a 17½-to-18½-hour drive
Suggested detours: If you’ve got a few extra days and gallons of gas to spare, check out the distinctive low-slung adobe homes of Santa Fe, New Mexico, or the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas, which tells the story of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination and legacy.
Taos >> Wallace: About a 17½-to-18½-hour drive
Suggested detours: If you’ve got a few extra days and gallons of gas to spare, check out the distinctive low-slung adobe homes of Santa Fe, New Mexico, or the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas, which tells the story of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination and legacy.
Photo by Elsa Hahne
Stop No. 3: Whitney Plantation
Wallace, Louisiana
The country’s Southern region is dotted with sprawling historic estates like the Whitney Plantation, but this restored property sets itself apart by focusing on the stories of the enslaved people who lived and worked there rather than the wealthy German immigrants who owned it. The main Creole-style house shown here was originally built in 1803, with other structures, such as a barn, slave cabins and a freedman-built church later moved to and restored at the plantation, also still standing.
Stop No. 3: Whitney Plantation
Wallace, Louisiana
The country’s Southern region is dotted with sprawling historic estates like the Whitney Plantation, but this restored property sets itself apart by focusing on the stories of the enslaved people who lived and worked there rather than the wealthy German immigrants who owned it. The main Creole-style house shown here was originally built in 1803, with other structures, such as a barn, slave cabins and a freedman-built church later moved to and restored at the plantation, also still standing.
Photo by Elsa Hahne
Though the main buildings’ French Creole architecture — built for ventilation, with the living quarters upstairs to protect from flooding — is striking, various memorials and monuments throughout the property invite visitors to primarily reflect on slavery. In addition to the slave cabin scene shown here, the plantation features a Wall of Honor inscribed with the names of the people enslaved there, a tribute to the 107,000 slaves in Louisiana from 1719 through 1820 and a Field of Angels dedicated to the 2,200 children in the local parish who died during enslavement.
Guided tours of the plantation are available every day except Tuesday.
5099 Highway 18, Wallace, LA 70049
Though the main buildings’ French Creole architecture — built for ventilation, with the living quarters upstairs to protect from flooding — is striking, various memorials and monuments throughout the property invite visitors to primarily reflect on slavery. In addition to the slave cabin scene shown here, the plantation features a Wall of Honor inscribed with the names of the people enslaved there, a tribute to the 107,000 slaves in Louisiana from 1719 through 1820 and a Field of Angels dedicated to the 2,200 children in the local parish who died during enslavement.
Guided tours of the plantation are available every day except Tuesday.
5099 Highway 18, Wallace, LA 70049
Photo by Greer Gattuso
Stop No. 4: Longue Vue House and Gardens
New Orleans
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, families of means often built garden estates just outside the city in an effort to find tranquility amid the hustle of the Industrial Revolution. Longue Vue House and Gardens was one of the last of these so-called Country Place Era properties to be constructed.
Homeowners and philanthropists Edgar and Edith Stern dreamed up the 8-acre site, working with architects William and Geoffrey Platt and landscape architect Ellen Biddle Shipman, who spent 15 years designing and implementing the couple’s elaborate network of gardens.
Stop No. 4: Longue Vue House and Gardens
New Orleans
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, families of means often built garden estates just outside the city in an effort to find tranquility amid the hustle of the Industrial Revolution. Longue Vue House and Gardens was one of the last of these so-called Country Place Era properties to be constructed.
Homeowners and philanthropists Edgar and Edith Stern dreamed up the 8-acre site, working with architects William and Geoffrey Platt and landscape architect Ellen Biddle Shipman, who spent 15 years designing and implementing the couple’s elaborate network of gardens.
Photo by Greer Gattuso
Shipman, called the Dean of American Women Landscape Architects by House and Garden magazine in 1934, created a grand retreat at Longue Vue that featured 10 “garden rooms” — the grounds now feature 16 garden areas, including a children’s Discovery Garden — and garden views from every room in the house. The estate is the only Shipman property that remains intact. Shipman was also responsible for the home’s interior design.
Longue Vue’s original furnishings — European and American furniture, Eastern European carpets, European tableware — still decorate the house. And when materials need repair, museum staff can simply visit the attic: The Sterns stashed extra bolts of wallpaper and fabric up there just in case.
Docent-led tours are available seven days a week, except on certain holidays. The home also hosts a variety of events and exhibitions throughout the year.
7 Bamboo Road, New Orleans, LA 70124
Shipman, called the Dean of American Women Landscape Architects by House and Garden magazine in 1934, created a grand retreat at Longue Vue that featured 10 “garden rooms” — the grounds now feature 16 garden areas, including a children’s Discovery Garden — and garden views from every room in the house. The estate is the only Shipman property that remains intact. Shipman was also responsible for the home’s interior design.
Longue Vue’s original furnishings — European and American furniture, Eastern European carpets, European tableware — still decorate the house. And when materials need repair, museum staff can simply visit the attic: The Sterns stashed extra bolts of wallpaper and fabric up there just in case.
Docent-led tours are available seven days a week, except on certain holidays. The home also hosts a variety of events and exhibitions throughout the year.
7 Bamboo Road, New Orleans, LA 70124
Google
New Orleans >> Asheville: About a 10-hour drive
Suggested detour: Spend an afternoon exploring the Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site in Tuskegee, Alabama. Established as a school for African American teachers in 1881, the site was a hub for innovators such as botanist George Washington Carver; Robert Taylor, the first black architect to graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and other African American visionaries. Tours are available on the grounds to see The Oaks, the Queen Anne-style red brick home of Booker T. Washington, a prominent educator and former slave who oversaw the school and became a major voice for the African American community.
You’ll also find a number of historically significant buildings in Atlanta, from the 1889 gold-domed state Capitol to the ornate 1928 Fox Theatre, which helped launch the city’s historic preservation movement in the 1970s.
New Orleans >> Asheville: About a 10-hour drive
Suggested detour: Spend an afternoon exploring the Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site in Tuskegee, Alabama. Established as a school for African American teachers in 1881, the site was a hub for innovators such as botanist George Washington Carver; Robert Taylor, the first black architect to graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and other African American visionaries. Tours are available on the grounds to see The Oaks, the Queen Anne-style red brick home of Booker T. Washington, a prominent educator and former slave who oversaw the school and became a major voice for the African American community.
You’ll also find a number of historically significant buildings in Atlanta, from the 1889 gold-domed state Capitol to the ornate 1928 Fox Theatre, which helped launch the city’s historic preservation movement in the 1970s.
Photo from The Biltmore Co.
Stop No. 5: Biltmore
Asheville, North Carolina
There are grand historic residences and then there’s Biltmore, America’s largest privately owned home. The 250-room mansion, home to George and Edith Vanderbilt of the prominent shipping and railroad family, was inspired by the 16th-century chateaux of France’s Loire Valley and completed in 1895. Among its many notable details are the Vanderbilts’ collection of fine art and 16th-century tapestries, along with the 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, 65 fireplaces, 70,000-gallon indoor pool and bowling alley.
Stop No. 5: Biltmore
Asheville, North Carolina
There are grand historic residences and then there’s Biltmore, America’s largest privately owned home. The 250-room mansion, home to George and Edith Vanderbilt of the prominent shipping and railroad family, was inspired by the 16th-century chateaux of France’s Loire Valley and completed in 1895. Among its many notable details are the Vanderbilts’ collection of fine art and 16th-century tapestries, along with the 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, 65 fireplaces, 70,000-gallon indoor pool and bowling alley.
Photo from The Biltmore Co.
George Vanderbilt was an avid reader who logged the title and author of every book he read in a diary he started keeping at age 12. By the time of his death in 1914, he had catalogued 3,159 books. His library, shown here, is lined with more than 10,000 volumes.
Outside, the grounds reflect the vision of Frederick Law Olmsted, the man behind New York’s Central Park and the country’s foremost landscape architect at the time. After Olmsted had adorned the Vanderbilts’ land with a lagoon, a shrub garden, reflecting pools and an extravagant 3-mile-long driveway, he suggested they invest in reforesting what remained of their 125,000 acres. The project brought about the beginning of scientific forestry and forest conservation in the United States and the Biltmore Forest School, the first school in the U.S. to train professional foresters.
Self-guided, audio and guided specialty tours of the house and grounds are available seven days a week throughout the year.
1 Lodge St., Asheville, NC 28803
George Vanderbilt was an avid reader who logged the title and author of every book he read in a diary he started keeping at age 12. By the time of his death in 1914, he had catalogued 3,159 books. His library, shown here, is lined with more than 10,000 volumes.
Outside, the grounds reflect the vision of Frederick Law Olmsted, the man behind New York’s Central Park and the country’s foremost landscape architect at the time. After Olmsted had adorned the Vanderbilts’ land with a lagoon, a shrub garden, reflecting pools and an extravagant 3-mile-long driveway, he suggested they invest in reforesting what remained of their 125,000 acres. The project brought about the beginning of scientific forestry and forest conservation in the United States and the Biltmore Forest School, the first school in the U.S. to train professional foresters.
Self-guided, audio and guided specialty tours of the house and grounds are available seven days a week throughout the year.
1 Lodge St., Asheville, NC 28803
Photo from Drayton Hall
Stop No. 6: Drayton Hall
Charleston, South Carolina
There is hardly any furniture inside Drayton Hall. The starkness is by design: When the property was acquired by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1974, the unusual decision was made to stabilize the site without restoring it to one particular era of its history. Instead, visitors and historians can take in and study architectural details from every period all at once, dating all the way back to 1738, when prominent Colonial property owner John Drayton started work on the Palladian-style manor.
Stop No. 6: Drayton Hall
Charleston, South Carolina
There is hardly any furniture inside Drayton Hall. The starkness is by design: When the property was acquired by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1974, the unusual decision was made to stabilize the site without restoring it to one particular era of its history. Instead, visitors and historians can take in and study architectural details from every period all at once, dating all the way back to 1738, when prominent Colonial property owner John Drayton started work on the Palladian-style manor.
Photo by Tony Sweet
In the first-floor Withdrawing Room shown here, visitors can spot an ornate, hand-carved plaster ceiling.
Elsewhere on the property, exhibits and structures highlight the lives of the enslaved African Americans who lived and worked here. You can also see a post-Civil War African American tenant house and one of the country’s oldest documented African American cemeteries.
Educational programs are held at the house throughout the year, and guided tours are available seven days a week.
3380 Ashley River Road, Charleston, SC 29414
In the first-floor Withdrawing Room shown here, visitors can spot an ornate, hand-carved plaster ceiling.
Elsewhere on the property, exhibits and structures highlight the lives of the enslaved African Americans who lived and worked here. You can also see a post-Civil War African American tenant house and one of the country’s oldest documented African American cemeteries.
Educational programs are held at the house throughout the year, and guided tours are available seven days a week.
3380 Ashley River Road, Charleston, SC 29414
Google
Charleston >> Savannah: About a two-hour drive
Trip tip: Both Charleston and Savannah are known for their rich collections of historic homes. The pastel mansions that line the Battery promenade in Charleston are the stuff of historic architecture buffs’ dreams. Downtown, a leisurely stroll along Church Street reveals gardens and old cemeteries, as well as handsome houses.
In Savannah’s Historic District, you’ll find Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil’s famous Mercer Williams House, alongside a collection of ornate homes ranging from Queen Anne to Federal to Italianate styles.
If you’ve got time, check out more!
Charleston >> Savannah: About a two-hour drive
Trip tip: Both Charleston and Savannah are known for their rich collections of historic homes. The pastel mansions that line the Battery promenade in Charleston are the stuff of historic architecture buffs’ dreams. Downtown, a leisurely stroll along Church Street reveals gardens and old cemeteries, as well as handsome houses.
In Savannah’s Historic District, you’ll find Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil’s famous Mercer Williams House, alongside a collection of ornate homes ranging from Queen Anne to Federal to Italianate styles.
If you’ve got time, check out more!
Photo from the collection of Girl Scouts of the USA
Stop No. 7: Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace
Savannah, Georgia
Though it was completed in 1821 for James Moore Wayne, who would go on to become a U.S. Supreme Court justice, the Federal-style house on what’s now Savannah’s Oglethorpe Avenue is famous for its enterprising later resident: Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts.
Low was an adventurer, socialite and artist who was inspired to start her groundbreaking organization after meeting the founder of the Boy Scouts in 1911. She called a cousin from the Savannah home in 1912, famously telling her, “I’ve got something for the girls of Savannah, and all of America, and all the world, and we’re going to start it tonight!”
The first gathering brought together 18 girls from Low’s cousin’s school. Eventually, the group would grow to include more than 60 million girls.
Stop No. 7: Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace
Savannah, Georgia
Though it was completed in 1821 for James Moore Wayne, who would go on to become a U.S. Supreme Court justice, the Federal-style house on what’s now Savannah’s Oglethorpe Avenue is famous for its enterprising later resident: Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts.
Low was an adventurer, socialite and artist who was inspired to start her groundbreaking organization after meeting the founder of the Boy Scouts in 1911. She called a cousin from the Savannah home in 1912, famously telling her, “I’ve got something for the girls of Savannah, and all of America, and all the world, and we’re going to start it tonight!”
The first gathering brought together 18 girls from Low’s cousin’s school. Eventually, the group would grow to include more than 60 million girls.
Photo from the collection of Girl Scouts of the USA
The house, which features original architectural details such as columns, moldings and Georgia heart pine floors, as well as modern interactive exhibits for visiting Girl Scouts, is a tribute to Low. Bookshelves in the museum’s Girls Writing the World exhibit date to the 1880s and appear beside a desk used by Low and the fireside bench where her father read to her as a child. In surrounding outbuildings, classrooms welcome Girl Scouts from around the country to participate in programs designed to carry on Low’s legacy of empowering and inspiring girls.
Guided tours and other educational experiences are available Mondays through Saturdays throughout the year.
10 E. Oglethorpe Ave., Savannah, GA 31401
The house, which features original architectural details such as columns, moldings and Georgia heart pine floors, as well as modern interactive exhibits for visiting Girl Scouts, is a tribute to Low. Bookshelves in the museum’s Girls Writing the World exhibit date to the 1880s and appear beside a desk used by Low and the fireside bench where her father read to her as a child. In surrounding outbuildings, classrooms welcome Girl Scouts from around the country to participate in programs designed to carry on Low’s legacy of empowering and inspiring girls.
Guided tours and other educational experiences are available Mondays through Saturdays throughout the year.
10 E. Oglethorpe Ave., Savannah, GA 31401
Photo from The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art
Stop No. 8: Ca’ d’Zan
Sarasota, Florida
Circus magnate John Ringling and his wife, Mable, loved Italy so much that they modeled their Florida mansion in the Venetian Gothic style. Construction on Ca’ d’Zan ("House of John” in the Venetian dialect) was completed in 1925.
At 36,000 square feet with five stories, a full basement and an 81-foot tower with an open-air overlook, the stucco, terra-cotta and glazed tile estate is sometimes called “the last of the Gilded Age mansions.”
Stop No. 8: Ca’ d’Zan
Sarasota, Florida
Circus magnate John Ringling and his wife, Mable, loved Italy so much that they modeled their Florida mansion in the Venetian Gothic style. Construction on Ca’ d’Zan ("House of John” in the Venetian dialect) was completed in 1925.
At 36,000 square feet with five stories, a full basement and an 81-foot tower with an open-air overlook, the stucco, terra-cotta and glazed tile estate is sometimes called “the last of the Gilded Age mansions.”
Photo from The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art
In 2002, comprehensive restoration work was completed at the property after six years and an outlay of $15 million. The Ringlings’ collection of art and original furnishings remain in the house for visitors to see. You can also visit the adjacent Circus Museum and the Ringling Museum of Art.
Docent-led tours are available daily except on holidays.
5401 Bay Shore Road, Sarasota, FL 34243
In 2002, comprehensive restoration work was completed at the property after six years and an outlay of $15 million. The Ringlings’ collection of art and original furnishings remain in the house for visitors to see. You can also visit the adjacent Circus Museum and the Ringling Museum of Art.
Docent-led tours are available daily except on holidays.
5401 Bay Shore Road, Sarasota, FL 34243
Happy road tripping!
Tell us: What’s your favorite historic home to visit in the South or Southwest? Share your suggestions in the Comments.
More: Outfit a Southern Plantation-Style Home — Paint to Porch Furnishings
Tell us: What’s your favorite historic home to visit in the South or Southwest? Share your suggestions in the Comments.
More: Outfit a Southern Plantation-Style Home — Paint to Porch Furnishings
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You passed over Jekyll Island Club and St Augustine. Two wonderfully historic spots.
Wonderful road trip!
CadZan is so much more than just a house!!! None of those other places has on premises a full blown art museum with the largest private collection of Baroque art, plus a historic opera house that provides wonderful theater performances, a Circus Arts museum, and the State Theater, Asolo Theater which provides year round entertainment. Also on premises are several dining venues and the waterfront palazzo of the house holds weekly jazz music and cocktails.