Atlanta History Center - Historic House Museums

Historic House Museums

• The Tullie Smith House is an antebellum farmhouse built by the Robert Smith family and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was originally a small farm in Dekalb County with 11 slaves, comprising 200 acres (0.81 km2). The house was moved to the Atlanta History Center grounds in 1969, and it currently comprises the farm house, kitchen, blacksmith shop, smokehouse, double corncrib, log cabin, and barn, and several gardens. The barn contains several animals.

• The Victorian and Lee playhouses are miniature houses. The Lee playhouse is located between the McElreath Hall and the Tullie Smith Farm. It was donated to the Atlanta History Center in 1998. The Victorian playhouse is located beside the Boxwood Garden. It was donated to the Atlanta History Center in 1980, and has gone through 6 owners.

• The Swan House, designed by Philip Trammell Shutze in the 1920s, is named for its many swan designs. It is surrounded by the Boxwood Garden, based upon Italian gardens as created in 18th century England by Lord Burlington and William Kent. The front landscape, two cloverleaf fountains and a terraced lawn, is one of the most photographed places in America.

• The historic gardens are located next to the historic houses. The Cherry Sims garden contains Asian and native south-eastern plants. The Frank A. Smith Rhododendron Garden and the Swan House Boxwood Garden feature native plants. The Quarry Garden features pre-settlement plants only. The Tullie Smith Farm Garden features plants used in 1860s gardening, and includes two parts: a field, filled with profitable vegetables, and a smaller slave's garden.

• The Atlanta History Center also owns the restored Margaret Mitchell House & Museum, home of Margaret Mitchell from 1925-1932 while she was writing the novel Gone With The Wind. The house includes the Gone With The Wind movie museum, the reconstructed apartment #1 in which Mitchell lived, changing exhibitions, and The Literary Center. This is ticketed separately and is located near the Midtown MARTA station.