Mercer house
“John S. Norris was an innovator but also a classicist of his time.” – Gerald Cowart
Gerry Cowart’s love affair with the Mercer House started in graduate school while working on his master’s thesis. When he studied the building, he realized that John Norris’s “unique high style made him an innovator but also a classicist of his time.” However, Gerry gained a deeper appreciation for Norris’ work while painting a watercolor of the house sometime later.
A jealous lover, a murder, and the Civil War—what sounds like a description of a romance novel could also be used to describe one of Savannah, Georgia’s most unique buildings, The Mercer House. If the name sounds familiar, it should. It’s the centerpiece for the movie and book, “Midnight in the Garden of good and Evil”. Although its history is unique, it stands alone as what Gerry calls a “beauty on its own.”
The Mercer House was Designed by John S. Norris, originally being commissioned by General Hugh Mercer, great-grandfather of the songwriter Johnny Mercer. Construction of the house began in 1860 but was interrupted by the Civil War. “The building materials were all scavenged for the war effort. If you look at the front of the house, you’ll see these lentils over the windows. They were melted down for cannonballs,” making it a literal piece of the Civil War.
The building was finally completed in 1868 by John R. Wilder, but ironically, no one in the Mercer family ever lived in the house. “The bricks were imported from England,” and Wilder sent the lintels “back to Italy, to have the iron re-casted, then went to re-build the house based on the original design.”
The Mercer House has a symmetrically shaped interior, accented with 15-foot ceilings and large floor-length windows that stretch the length of the building. Inside, there are 15-foot ceilings, floor-length windows, glass panels above the exterior doors, and a large central dome. The dome lets in a drapery of sunlight, making the space look bigger. Large Corinthian columns frame the sizable double doors.
The front of the house is balanced with five large arched windows, two on the ground floor either side of the doorway, and three across the façade of the second floor. All but the central window open out onto wrought-iron balconies. Topping everything off is view over the square and of the walled garden at the back of the property.
Norris did a number of buildings around Savannah that Gerry admires. “He designed the customs house on Bay Street and the big Greek revival granite building. It was the first fireproof building in Savannah.”. These structures “were all steel and stone”, he had a real talent for blending the two materials. “This was a style of his time, no different than us doing the style of his time, but doing it as a virtuoso.”
Although the architecture of the Mercer House is stunning, the history has become just as well- known. The house rose to international notoriety in 1981 when Danny Hansford was shot by his employer and lover Jim Williams in the Study. Jim claimed it was in self-defense and was eventually acquitted in a murder trial. As a prominent Savannah restorationist, Jim bought and restored over 30 buildings in Savannah.
He bought The Mercer house for $50,000 and restored it to be his personal residence filled with his collection of art and antiques. At the age of 59, Jim died of pneumonia in the very same room the shooting took place a few years later. After Jim’s death, his mother and sister turned the home into a museum that still gives tours and preserves the history of one of Savannah’s most notorious buildings.
The Mercer house is an integral part of Savannah but when asked if knowing the history accentuate how much Gerry appreciated the building he said “No, it’s beautiful on its own, I searched the history after I saw how beautiful it was.”