Owens-Thomas House & Museum

Owens-Thomas House & Museum Review

English architect William Jay's first Regency mansion in Savannah is widely considered the country's finest example of that architectural style. Built in 1816-19, the English house was constructed mostly with local materials. Of particular note are the curving walls of the house, Greek-inspired ornamental molding, half-moon arches, stained-glass panels, and Duncan Phyfe furniture and the hardwood "bridge" on the second floor. The carriage house includes a gift shop and rare urban slave quarters, which have retained the original furnishings and "haint-blue" paint made by the slave occupants. This house had indoor toilets before the White House and the Palace of Versailles. If you have to choose just one or two house-museums, let this be one. The house is owned by the Telfair Museum of Art.