The Richest Man in Atlanta

         This Atlanta mansion originated as a farm, owned by the son of one of the most successful Atlanta business men in history. The owner moved to the 42 acre farm in 1910, and managed the agricultural ongoings there, including supplying milk to Fort Gordon during World War I.

The front of the mansion, with clouds overhead

          From 1920-1922, the Mansion was built by C.E.F with assistance from D.B. with a Georgian Revival Exterior. The biggest room in the mansion is a 1,700 square foot music room, now renamed, which stretches 3 stories tall with a vaulted Tudor interior.

The 1,700 square foot music room

          Adjacent is the dining room which seats up to 75 people, with a carved white European marble fireplace and carved ceilings. Connected to the luxurious dining room is a massive kitchen that can house commercial restaurant equipment. The basement features a walk in safe, and the mansion also has an enclosed courtyard.

The rear of the mansion

          His home wasn’t just the mansion however, his estate in total consisted of the mansion, servants quarters, tennis courts, stables, greenhouses, laundry, zoo buildings, golf course, and community pool. The pool out front of the mansion was accessible to the public, and sodas were on sale there of course, in case they got thirsty during their swim.  The owner also had his own personal zoo, but later donated the animals to the Atlanta Zoo after complaints from the neighbors. In addition, in 1925 he bought at $94,000 88 rank, 187 stop Aeolian organ, supposedly to out-do his father and brother, who had Aeolian organs of their own.

The solarium, used to house plants

In 1948 the owner sold his estate to the Federal Government, who had plans for a Veterans hospital that was never realized. After that, the property was sold to the state in 1953. Then, the Southern Clinic was opened for alcohol rehab, and was later renamed.

The grand entranceway, deterioration from mold and decay

The property was bought by a psychiatric center in 1962, with additional buildings completed by 1964. The center operated from 1965-1997 and had 141 beds and a $24.5 million dollar budget when closed. The main building was perfectly symmetrical with harsh window gratings for security. Besides that, there were 8 cottages all connected to the main building by underground tunnels that could be used to transport patients.

One of the eight cottages

Taking a break from wandering the tunnels

Lastly, a local university purchased the property in 1998 for $2.9 million, following a history of extensive collaboration with the psychiatric center. They have used the cottages for storage, and run continuing education classes and other services out of the main building.

A room in one of the many cottages

The campus was completely closed in the summer of 2014, and now the only part of the campus utilized is the parking lot, where a university shuttle stop is located. There are rumored plans of demolition.

Note that all names of persons and organizations have been changed or removed to protect the property from vandals

Thats all folk's! Till next week -- Bloody and Turtl