Rufus M. Rose House
Encyclopedia
The Rufus M. Rose House is a late Victorian
, Queen Anne style house located in the SoNo
district of Atlanta, Georgia
. Occupying a narrow lot on Peachtree Street
, the house was built in 1901 for Rufus M. Rose. The architect was Emil Charles Seiz, who designed many residential and commercial structures in the city, including the 1924 Massellton Apartments on Ponce de Leon Avenue.
and multi-gabled
facades interspersed with numerous window shapes and sizes, and numerous fireplaces. The original slate roof and front porch have been lost.
Additionally, the property has carved, marble steps that originally ascended directly from the sidewalk on Peachtree Street up to the front porch. The home’s tiny yard is the “singular survivor from Peachtree's
residential heyday.”
Rose, who moved to Atlanta in 1867, was the founder of Four Roses Distillery, located in the Atlanta suburb of Vinings
, as well as the owner of a large real estate business known as the Rose Investment Company. The Rose family lived in this home until 1921.
From 1923, when the property was sold out of the Rose family, until the mid-1940s, the home was used as a private residence, then as a rooming house
, then as offices for the Fulton County Relief Administration, then, once again, as a private residence.
In 1945, James H. Elliot, Sr., bought the house and used it as an antique store and museum, which he named J.H. Elliot's Antiques and the Atlanta Museum. Open to the public, the museum contained furniture belonging to Margaret Mitchell
, personal items of Bobby Jones
, Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie’s
throne, a Japanese Zero
war plane and many other notable items. After more than 50 years, the store and museum closed in 1998.
From 1999 to 2001, the house served as the headquarters for the Atlanta Preservation Center until it moved into L. P. Grant’s antebellum
mansion in Atlanta’s Grant Park
neighborhood.
While the house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
(1977) and is designated as a Landmark Building Exterior (1989) by the City of Atlanta, it currently is vacant and endangered due to neglect.
According to an auctioneer with the real estate firm Williams & Williams, the house sold at auction for $295,000 in July 2011. The names of the new owners were not publicly disclosed.
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
, Queen Anne style house located in the SoNo
SoNo (Atlanta)
SoNo is an urban sub-district of Downtown Atlanta, Georgia, part of Midtown. Much of the area originally consisted of slum areas such as Buttermilk Bottom, which were razed for urban redevelopment projects in the 1960s...
district of Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
. Occupying a narrow lot on Peachtree Street
Peachtree Street
Peachtree Street is the main street of Atlanta. The city grew up around the street, and many of its historical and municipal buildings are or were located along it...
, the house was built in 1901 for Rufus M. Rose. The architect was Emil Charles Seiz, who designed many residential and commercial structures in the city, including the 1924 Massellton Apartments on Ponce de Leon Avenue.
Architecture
The house is an extremely rare example of a nineteenth-century town house built for one of Atlanta’s wealthy citizens. Its red-brick exterior consists of bayedBay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
and multi-gabled
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
facades interspersed with numerous window shapes and sizes, and numerous fireplaces. The original slate roof and front porch have been lost.
Additionally, the property has carved, marble steps that originally ascended directly from the sidewalk on Peachtree Street up to the front porch. The home’s tiny yard is the “singular survivor from Peachtree's
Peachtree Street
Peachtree Street is the main street of Atlanta. The city grew up around the street, and many of its historical and municipal buildings are or were located along it...
residential heyday.”
History
The approximately 5200 square feet (483.1 m²) home was built for Rufus M. Rose in 1901 at a cost of $9,000.Rose, who moved to Atlanta in 1867, was the founder of Four Roses Distillery, located in the Atlanta suburb of Vinings
Vinings, Georgia
Vinings is a census-designated place and an unincorporated town in Cobb County, Georgia, just across the Chattahoochee River from Atlanta. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 9,734. It is located between the affluent West Paces Ferry section of Buckhead in northwest Atlanta,...
, as well as the owner of a large real estate business known as the Rose Investment Company. The Rose family lived in this home until 1921.
From 1923, when the property was sold out of the Rose family, until the mid-1940s, the home was used as a private residence, then as a rooming house
Boarding house
A boarding house, is a house in which lodgers rent one or more rooms for one or more nights, and sometimes for extended periods of weeks, months and years. The common parts of the house are maintained, and some services, such as laundry and cleaning, may be supplied. They normally provide "bed...
, then as offices for the Fulton County Relief Administration, then, once again, as a private residence.
In 1945, James H. Elliot, Sr., bought the house and used it as an antique store and museum, which he named J.H. Elliot's Antiques and the Atlanta Museum. Open to the public, the museum contained furniture belonging to Margaret Mitchell
Margaret Mitchell
Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell was an American author and journalist. Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1937 for her epic American Civil War era novel, Gone with the Wind, which was the only novel by Mitchell published during her lifetime.-Family:Margaret Mitchell was born in Atlanta,...
, personal items of Bobby Jones
Bobby Jones (golfer)
Robert Tyre "Bobby" Jones Jr. was an American amateur golfer, and a lawyer by profession. Jones was the most successful amateur golfer ever to compete on a national and international level...
, Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie’s
Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia
Haile Selassie I , born Tafari Makonnen, was Ethiopia's regent from 1916 to 1930 and Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974...
throne, a Japanese Zero
A6M Zero
The Mitsubishi A6M Zero was a long-range fighter aircraft operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service from 1940 to 1945. The A6M was designated as the , and also designated as the Mitsubishi A6M Rei-sen and Mitsubishi Navy 12-shi Carrier Fighter. The A6M was usually referred to by the...
war plane and many other notable items. After more than 50 years, the store and museum closed in 1998.
From 1999 to 2001, the house served as the headquarters for the Atlanta Preservation Center until it moved into L. P. Grant’s antebellum
Antebellum architecture
Antebellum architecture is a term used to describe the characteristic neoclassical architectural style of the Southern United States, especially the Old South, from after the birth of the United States in the American Revolution, to the start of the American Civil War...
mansion in Atlanta’s Grant Park
Grant Park (Atlanta)
Grant Park refers to the oldest city park in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, as well as the Victorian neighborhood surrounding it.-Park:Grant Park is the fourth-largest in the city, behind Chastain Park, Freedom Park and Piedmont Park...
neighborhood.
While the house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
(1977) and is designated as a Landmark Building Exterior (1989) by the City of Atlanta, it currently is vacant and endangered due to neglect.
According to an auctioneer with the real estate firm Williams & Williams, the house sold at auction for $295,000 in July 2011. The names of the new owners were not publicly disclosed.
External links
- Exterior and interior photos of home
- Atlanta Time Machine (House listed in "Downtown" tab)
- Vanishing Georgia