City: Savannah, GA

Category: Tours & Attractions

Address: 429 Bull St.

Description: Cited by Historic Savannah Foundation as nationally significant for its architectural style, this home was designed by John S. Norris and completed in 1871. The striking ironwork—including cast-iron window pediments, eight cast-iron balconies, and the sidewalk fence—is one of the house’s signature features. The house was named for Confederate Gen. Hugh Mercer, songwriter Johnny Mercer’s great-grandfather, but General Mercer sold the house. He never lived there nor did any member of the Mercer family. In 1970, after the house was neglected and empty for many years, Jim Williams, the antiques dealer, Savannah preservationist, and the central character in the book and film Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil finished a complete restoration of the home. Today the private home is owned by Dorothy Kingery, sister of the late Williams. She opened the home to limited public tours in 2004. Tickets are $12.50, and entrance is through the carriage house. Tickets may be purchased on their website, where you will also find hours and contact information. Looking past Mercer House, on the southwest corner of the square, you will notice row houses along Gordon Street. One of these homes—7 West Gordon Street—has also had a brush with celebrity. If you are a fan of the PBS show This Old House, you may be familiar with the renovation that took place here in 1996 at the home of Mills and Marianne Fleming. For several months, Norm Abram, Steve Thomas, and the rest of the crew from the popular series were in town helping restore the 1884 home, which made headlines when it was built for being one of the first homes in the city to have indoor plumbing. Across the square from Mercer House, on the eastern side of the square, is Temple Mickve Israel.