Civil War Atlanta

The historical site that I chose to visit was the Swan House, located in Atlanta, Georgia. Built in 1928, the Swan House was home to Edward and Emily Inman. The Swan House is located right behind the Atlanta History Center and is open Monday-Saturday 11:00am-4:00pm and Sunday 1:00-4:00pm. The Atlanta History Center is 33 acres of exhibits, grounds, and gardens including The Swan House, The Margaret Mitchell House, The Smith Family Farm and so much more. They offer general admission tickets, which allow you access to the whole museum, and also a behind the scenes ticket for a 45-minute tour of the Swan House including general admission.

The Swan House was built in the 1920s and was owned by Mr. and Mrs. Inman. Mr. Inman was the son of Hugh Inman who was a very wealthy man due to a large fortune that he received working as a cotton broker. Their previous home in Ansley Park had burned down so they decided to establish a fresh start and a new home to reclaim their wealth and to help rebuild the post civil war Atlanta. Mr. Inman was very active in the community and in the political scene. He played the role of an Atlanta City Councilman, and Fulton City Commissioner. Mrs. Inman and her mother were suffragists and fought for women’s right to vote.

Philip Trammell Shutze designed the Swan House along with the partnership of Hentz, Reid, and Adler, an architectural firm. He fully began working on the design of the house after the death of Reid. He is well known for his civil landmarks such as The Academy of Medicine, The Temple, and of course The Swan House, which are all located in Atlanta, Georgia, close to where he grew up. This classical house was influenced by Italian and English styles and had much of Mr. Inman’s input and ideas. Mr. Inman chose the swan, one of his favorite birds, to be the motif of this house, hence why it is called the swan house. Philip incorporated the swan motif into the designs and it is found all throughout the house.

Mr. Inman passed away only three years after the house was built in 1931 leaving his wife, Emily, there to take care of it. They both originally did not want kids in the house in order to keep it clean and for it not to become worn. However, after Mr. Inman’s passing, Mrs. Inman allowed their grandchildren to live with her. Her grandchildren ended up growing up in the house.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this site to a friend or family member because it was very interesting and it was different than most of the other historical sites that I have visited. If someone only had a short time to spend at this site I would suggest that they spend their time focusing on the outside architecture of the house because it was remarkable, especially the front of the house where there is a stone fountain in between two staircases which give the front of the house a symmetrical look. What really intrigued me to visit The Swan House was because parts of the popular movie series The Hunger Games were filed there. The Swan House acted as president snows home in Catching Fire, the second movie in the series.

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