Famous Homes: The Mercer-Williams House

Nestled at the southwest corner of Monterey Square in historic Savannah, Georgia, the Mercer-Williams House is one of the city’s most iconic and intriguing residences. Known equally for its grand Italianate architecture and its shadowy past, the home has captured the imagination of visitors for decades—especially since becoming central to the bestselling book and film "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil."

Construction on the Mercer-Williams House began in 1860, commissioned by General Hugh W. Mercer, the great-grandfather of famed songwriter Johnny Mercer. The design was crafted by New York architect John S. Norris, whose influence is seen in many of Savannah’s prominent buildings. However, the Civil War interrupted its progress, and the home remained unfinished for years. It wasn’t completed until 1868—ironically, not for General Mercer, but for a new owner who purchased the property after the war.

The result was a striking 7,000-square-foot red brick mansion, complete with arched windows, a wrought-iron balcony, and a lush courtyard—making it a quintessential example of 19th-century Southern elegance.

Fast forward to the 1960s, when Savannah preservationist and antiques dealer Jim Williams purchased the home and spent two years restoring it, and filling it with 18th and 19th century Regency and Empire furniture, 18th and 19th century portraiture by Gilbert Stuart and Thomas Hudson, and a wide collection of Chinese export porcelain. Williams became a key figure in the city’s preservation movement, but his legacy took a darker turn in 1981.

In that year, Williams was arrested for the shooting death of Danny Hansford, a local employee and lover. The incident occurred inside the Mercer-Williams House, setting off a sensational legal saga. Williams was tried four times for Hansford's murder--an almost unheard-of number of trials for a single case in the U.S.--and was ultimately acquitted in 1989.

The murder and the complex character of Jim Williams became the heart of John Berendt’s 1994 nonfiction novel MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL. The book was a massive success, painting a vivid portrait of Savannah’s eccentric charm and shadowy secrets. In 1997, Clint Eastwood directed the film adaptation, which starred Kevin Spacey as Williams and brought the Mercer-Williams House--as well as Savannah and The Lady Chablis--to an international audience. Though filming was restricted to exterior shots and the carriage house, the home's façade became instantly recognizable to fans of the story.

Today, the Mercer-Williams House is open for guided tours, though not all rooms are accessible to the public. Visitors can view the opulent furnishings, historic artifacts, and the lavish interior restoration completed by Williams himself. The home remains privately owned by Williams’s niece and the greater Williams family. You can find more information about visiting the house at the Mercer-Williams Museum website.

Several years ago, I had the pleasure of staying in the Wedding Cake Mansion on Monterey Square in Savannah, just across from the Mercer-Williams house. I was excited to tour the home but was disappointed to discover that photos are forbidden. These pictures below are from the Mercer-Williams Museum website.

Happy designing!

History of Furniture: Charles Eastlake

For this installment of The History of Furniture, we are going to look at a specific sub-genre of the  larger Victorian style category. We have previously looked at what is known as a Victorian style sofa here, as part of the Know Your Sofas series. Strictly speaking, the term "Victorian" really only applies to a style in architecture, art, clothing, and interiors in Great Britain and not the United States, since Victoria's reign, from 1837 to 1901, only covered that realm. People use the term for a certain style of architecture here in the United States for homes that are actually more aptly termed "Italianate" but that is for another post.

During Victoria's reign--which was quite long (a record broken by the current Queen Elizabeth II)--several styles came and went. Interestingly, nearly all were revivals of some sort. The decades of her rule saw a Rococo Revival, a Gothic Revival, a Renaissance Revival, a Jacobean Revival, and digressions into styles known as Orientalism (look for a future post about Olana, one of the most famous Orientalist homes in the United States, coming soon) and an Egyptian Revival.

The Victorian style's hallmark is massive, heavy, phenomenally complex and ornately carved pieces of furniture but the sub-genre we are going to look at today deliberately eschewed this heavy ornamentation for a sense that was more aligned with the cleaner lines of William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement.

Originally a proponent of Jacobean and Gothic Revival, Charles Locke Eastlake was an English architect and furniture designer (1836 - 1906) who believed that furniture and decor in people's homes should be made by hand or by machine-workers who took personal pride in their work.

The Eastlake style is derived from a book he published in 1868 called HINTS ON HOUSEHOLD TASTE IN FURNITURE, UPHOLSTERY, AND OTHER DETAILS. In it, he outlined his ideas for the reformation of the typical heavy, detail-laden tastes of the Victorians in favor of a lighter, more organic approach. He used incised wood, and geometric shapes as detail.

You can see how he avoided the scrolls and curlicues of Victorian Rococo in favor of straighter lines. There is a much more rectilinear sense to the pieces themselves in addition to the details they sport. Orbs, bobbin shapes, and bead shapes rest alongside minimally incised designs of leaves, vines, and simple rosettes. In this way, the Eastlake Style can certainly be seen as an important stepping stone toward Arts and Crafts, or American Craftsman in the United States along with its distant cousin, Mission Style.

Many years ago, I had the honor of refurbishing and reupholstering an heirloom Eastlake-style chair for a client. I think the traditional Victorian crimson makes the chair look like it must have in 1898.

Happy designing!