Best Walking Tour of Savannah’s Historic Homes (2025 Guide for Architecture Lovers)
Explore Savannah’s stunning historic homes on this curated walking tour through the Historic District. Stops include the Mercer-Williams House, Owens-Thomas House, Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace, the newly rebuilt Granite Hall, the lavish Kessler Mansion, and more. Perfect for architecture lovers, history buffs, and slow-travel enthusiasts.
Why a Self-Guided Walking Tour?
Savannah’s Historic District is tailor-made for foot travel. With its grid of shady squares, 18th- and 19th-century architecture, and stories tucked into every wrought-iron fence and weathered shutter, walking is the best way to soak it all in.
Whether you’re tracing the city’s antebellum grandeur or chasing modern restoration stories, this route gives you a chronological and architectural journey through some of the most iconic homes in Savannah — with nearby eateries and coffee shops along the way in case you’d like to stop.
Walking Tour Route: 9 Must-See Historic Homes in Savannah (In Order)
Here’s your optimized walking path — starting in the northeast and winding south, with minimal backtracking.
1. The Owens-Thomas House & Slave Quarters
📍 124 Abercorn St | Built 1816–1819
Style: Regency
Architect: William Jay
No walking tour of Savannah’s historic homes is complete without a stop at the Owens-Thomas House & Slave Quarters. It’s one of the city’s most visited landmarks — not just for its beauty, but for the stark contrasts it reveals. While its sweeping staircases, rounded dining room, and Regency architecture speak to early 19th-century luxury, the real weight of this home lies in the stories of the enslaved people who lived and labored here.
Originally built for a wealthy merchant and slave trader, the home changed hands several times — including a stint as a boarding house that once hosted the Marquis de Lafayette — before being purchased by Mayor George Welshman Owens in 1830. At that time, he moved in with his family and 15 enslaved individuals, part of a much larger enslaved workforce spread across his plantations.
The garden path between the main house and the two-story slave quarters is where the estate’s story shifts. Inside those cramped brick rooms, men, women, and children endured brutal living conditions while keeping up the illusion of refinement inside the mansion. The luxury on display — silver, velvet, and hand-carved moldings — required relentless labor to maintain.
The preservation of both the grand and the grim is what makes this house unique. It’s not just a snapshot of Savannah’s wealth; it’s a mirror held up to the past, inviting us to confront the uncomfortable truths behind the city’s most iconic facades.
The gardens in the back of the house make for beautiful photos.
4-minute walk to Stop #2
Nearby coffee/snacks: Belen de la Cruz (excellent empanadas and decadent handmade desserts), Mirabelle Savannah (coffee, paninis)
2. Hamilton-Turner Inn
📍 330 Abercorn St | Built 1873
Style: Second Empire
Architect: J.D. Hall
Known today as a luxury inn, the Hamilton-Turner House is more than just a pretty façade on Lafayette Square — it’s one of Savannah’s most storied mansions. Once the home of Samuel Pugh Hamilton, nicknamed “The Lord of Lafayette Square,” this was Savannah’s first residence to feature electricity, thanks to Hamilton’s ties to the city’s power company. Partygoers in the 1880s would marvel at the glowing lights during his legendary gatherings.
But the lore goes deeper. The house narrowly survived Savannah’s great fire of 1898 and has cycled through roles as a private residence, boarding house, and hospital housing before being rescued from demolition in the 1960s. It later became part of the inspiration for Disney’s Haunted Mansion, and gained pop-culture immortality in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, where it served as the backdrop for the eccentric soirées of Joe Odom.
Today, the inn feels equal parts opulent and otherworldly — a place where the past lingers, and no story ever really ends.
This mansion is spectacular at Christmas, dressed to the hilt perhaps more than any other building in the historic district. Can you see the similarities to Disney World’s Haunted Mansion?
2- to 3- Minute Walk to Stop #3
Nearby eats: Clary’s Café (old-school breakfast diner featured in Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil)
3. Granite Hall
📍 126 East Gaston St | Built 1881
Style: Italianate
Architect: Gottfried L. Norrman
Granite Hall has seen more than its share of reinvention — and heartbreak. Built in 1881 for Fred Hull, this Italianate mansion has long stood as a quiet sentinel near the northeast corner of Forsyth Park. It’s steeped in Savannah lore: once the backdrop for a scene in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, it was later owned by Jim Williams himself before becoming a guest house and then SCAD property.
In 2022, SCAD’s president and founder, Paula Wallace, began an extensive renovation to make it her permanent home. But in a surreal twist of timing, just weeks before move-in, lightning struck the house in July 2024, igniting a fire that took hours to locate as it spread within the walls. The interior was gutted.
We saw it unfold in real time — fresh off a flight from Rome, we were just blocks away when the smoke rose over Gaston Street and fire trucks poured in. As of 2025, reconstruction is ongoing, and Wallace still plans to move in once it’s complete.
Though not open to the public, the double-entry granite staircase remains iconic — and the house, even in its wounded state, is still one of the most arresting façades on the block.
I wish I had a photo or video of the deluge of water pouring out of the front doors and into the street. The damage was extensive.
2-minute walk to Stop #4
Nearby coffee/snacks: Collins Quarter Forsyth Park. Modern brunch in the middle of the park. No reservations.
4. Kessler Armstrong Mansion
📍 447 Bull St | Built 1919
Style: Italian Renaissance Revival
Architect: Henrik Wallin
Just a block from our rentals, I pass this showstopper every day on my afternoon run — and it never fails to stun. Built between 1917 and 1919 for shipping magnate George Ferguson Armstrong, the mansion is one of Savannah’s only true Italian Renaissance Revival homes and a registered National Landmark. Its Beaux-Arts architect, Henrik Wallin, designed it with all the grandeur you’d expect: bronze entry doors, sweeping granite terraces, a porte-cochère, and commanding views of Forsyth Park.
The home later served as Armstrong Junior College, then a law office — but in 2019, Savannah hotelier Richard C. Kessler purchased and fully restored it, transforming the building back into a private residence. That said, it's far from quiet. Now used for lavish events, art showcases, and black-tie galas, the mansion glows with life once again. Check out the fabulous outdoor sculptures.
Its cinematic beauty and prime location also made it a natural fit for Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil — eagle-eyed fans may recognize it from exterior shots in the film.
At Christmastime, the lights go up as early as mid-November, and the entire façade is wrapped in elegance. (In fact, the hero image at the top of this very page was taken right here during the holidays.)
Though not open for casual tours, it’s worth lingering on the sidewalk to take in the details — and appreciate the craftsmanship of one of the city’s most architecturally unique homes.
The front of the home gets all of the love, which is why I took this photo from Gaston St., peeking into the pool/grassy area where many events are held.
1- to 2-Minute Walk to Stops #5 and #6
5. Mercer-Williams House
📍 429 Bull St | Built 1860–1868
Style: Italianate
Architect: John S. Norris (with Muller & Bruyn)
Perched on the southwest edge of Monterey Square, the Mercer-Williams House is arguably Savannah’s most famous — and most infamous — historic home. Originally designed for Confederate General Hugh W. Mercer (Johnny Mercer’s great-grandfather), construction was halted by the Civil War and finished nearly a decade later by a new owner, cotton merchant John Wilder. Strangely, no Mercer ever lived there.
In 1969, restorationist Jim Williams purchased the vacant house and spent two years bringing it back to grandeur. His passion for antiques and Old World interiors turned the space into something between a museum and a private palace — filled with Fabergé eggs, Flemish tapestries, and ornate furnishings. It became the epicenter of Savannah society, especially during his famously selective Christmas parties.
The home gained international fame through Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which recounts the 1981 shooting of Williams’ assistant, Danny Hansford, inside the study. But long before that, the house had a reputation for tragedy: in 1913, a previous occupant fell over the second-floor banister and died mysteriously three days later — a grim reminder that most of Savannah’s historic railings still fall well below modern safety codes.
Today, you can take a guided tour of the Mercer-Williams House — but don’t expect to hear much (if anything) about the deaths that occurred there. The official narrative is carefully curated, focusing on décor and architecture rather than the darker moments that made the house famous. Still, standing on the edge of Monterey Square, looking up at those iron balconies, it’s hard not to feel the weight of everything that’s happened behind those red brick walls.
It’s one of those historic homes that literally feels troubled ….as if your physical body can sense the tragedy that has unfolded there.
6. Noble Hardee Mansion
📍 3 West Gordon St | Built 1860–1869
Style: Italianate with later adaptations
Architect: Unknown (original); redesigned in the 1880s
Before Ralston College purchased it, I had the rare chance to walk through the Noble Hardee Mansion — and I’ll never forget it. The structure itself still radiated elegance, but the interior was frozen somewhere between decay and grandeur: dust-covered antiques slumped beneath random layers of vintage wallpaper, as if the whole house had exhaled and never quite inhaled again. Its original splendor was still there, but barely — it was hanging by a thread.
Built for cotton magnate Noble Andrew Hardee in 1860, the home’s construction was delayed by the Civil War and completed in 1869 — tragically, two years after Hardee’s death. Like so many of Savannah’s grand homes, it was originally designed as a single-family residence but was later reworked into a double house before being re-converted in the 1880s.
This Italianate mansion stands at the southwest corner of Monterey Square and is impossible to miss — with its stately presence, 3.5 stories, and fifteen fireplaces. It’s appeared in films (Something to Talk About, with Julia Roberts), served as a storefront for Alex Raskin Antiques, and even hosted Armstrong Junior College back in the 1940s. More recently, it was sold (somewhat controversially) by Ralston College to a private buyer in early 2025, but not before a donor stepped in to fund its full restoration.
Though it’s currently closed to the public, the mansion is a testament to Savannah’s architectural resilience — the way beauty can linger in broken plaster and cracked ceilings, just waiting for someone to bring it back to life.
The architecture is truly extraordinary, and I feel fortunate to be able to capture a photo of its “worn” state before its full-rehab that will begin soon.
3- to 4-Minute Walk to Stops #7 and #8
Nearby coffee/snacks (You will walk past stops 7 and 8 in route to these eateries): Art’s (coffee served from a double-decker bus) and Gryphon Tea Room (Coffee, tea, and lunch menu)
7. Green–Meldrim House
📍 14 W Macon St | Built 1853
Style: Gothic Revival
Architect: John S. Norris
I pass this one nearly every day, and while it’s technically one of Savannah’s most significant landmarks, I’ll admit — it’s not one of the more spectacular stops in my book. Still, the home’s ironwork, crenellated roofline, and dramatic Gothic façade are impressive.
Built for cotton merchant Charles Green, the house took on national importance when General Sherman used it as his headquarters after capturing Savannah in 1864. It was from here that he famously offered the city to President Lincoln as a “Christmas gift” — along with 150 heavy guns and 25,000 bales of cotton. The fact that Sherman didn’t burn Savannah, unlike much of Georgia, is one of the main reasons we can walk through this city today and still see so much 19th-century architecture intact. Strategic smarts, political optics, and a peaceful surrender all played a role.
Today, the house belongs to the adjacent St. John’s Episcopal Church, which uses it for receptions and offers daytime tours. If you're into Civil War history or Gothic architecture, it's worth the stop — just don't expect the opulence of some of the other homes on this tour.
The intriguing part for me in seeing this house is knowing that Savannah’s historic district is intact today because of what transpired inside.
8. Sorrel–Weed House
📍 6 W Harris St | Built 1835–1840
Style: Greek Revival with Regency influences
Architect: Charles Cluskey
This is one of those homes that’s both over-the-top and utterly Savannah. I’ve passed it countless times, but recently, some relatives from New Orleans were actually inside for a wedding — which is incredibly rare. Turns out the groom was a verified descendant of the Sorrel family, and the house made an exception to host the ceremony. That’s the kind of Savannah story you just can’t make up.
Designed by architect Charles Cluskey, the Sorrel–Weed House is a massive 16,000-square-foot mansion with Greek Revival bones and Regency flair. It’s one of Savannah’s most architecturally significant buildings — and was one of the first two homes in Georgia to be named a State Landmark. Its interior includes classic center-hall symmetry, clever columned transitions between public and private spaces, and a stairwell that’s a nod to the one at the Owens-Thomas House.
But architecture is only part of the story. The house is said to be deeply haunted — the kind of place where ghost tours sell out nightly. There are long-circulated (and widely disputed) legends about tragic deaths and secret burials, but verified history tells us that General Robert E. Lee visited the home and that it later appeared in the opening rooftop shot of Forrest Gump. Between its Civil War ties, ghost-hunting fame, and pure architectural presence, this place earns its spot on the list.
Note the pineapple ornamental finial, a common motif in Savannah architecture whose symbolism means “welcome.”
4- to 6-Minute Walk to Stop #9
Nearby lunch/coffee/snacks: The Public Kitchen and Bar (great food in an amazing location), Franklin’s Coffee (French style coffee shop with food), Gallery Espresso (cool, cozy atmosphere with great seating), and Collins Quarter (yummy food for dinner or lunch in a lively atmosphere)
9. Wayne-Gordon House (Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace)
📍 10 E Oglethorpe Ave | Built 1818–1821
Style: Regency (with later Victorian additions)
Architect: Unknown; 1885 renovation by Detlef Lienau
I wasn’t a Girl Scout, and neither were my daughters — which I’ve come to realize puts us in the minority here. At any given time, you’ll see clusters of green-sashed girls and troop leaders walking through downtown, all on a pilgrimage to visit the birthplace of their founder, Juliette Gordon Low.
Originally built for Mayor James Moore Wayne, this Regency-style home became the lifelong anchor for Juliette “Daisy” Gordon Low, who grew up here and even got married here. In 1885, her father commissioned New York architect Detlef Lienau to add a full third floor, open up the parlor walls, and reinforce the roof — which he cleverly layered with cement to protect against fire from nearby homes. That third floor had a rough go in recent decades, with water damage, termites, and sagging beams, but it's since been painstakingly restored (including a hidden steel reinforcement system).
The Girl Scouts of America bought the house in 1953, and it was designated Savannah’s first National Historic Landmark in 1965. Whether you were ever a Scout or not, this stop is worth it — not just for the history, but for the way the city still rallies around Daisy’s legacy.
Just around the corner on the left is a cute little gift shop.
Let’s Answer a Few Questions Before You Walk!
Not sure what to bring, where to stop, or which houses you can go inside? I’ve got you covered. These are the questions I get most from friends visiting Savannah — and exactly how I’d answer them.
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Several of the historic homes on the walking tour are open for interior tours — but not all.
Owens-Thomas House, Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace, Green-Meldrim House, and Mercer-Williams House all offer guided or self-guided tours of the interior.
The Sorrel–Weed House offers ghost and history tours daily.
Others, like Granite Hall and the Kessler Mansion, are private residences or event spaces and can only be viewed from the outside.
The Hamilton Turner Inn is a hotel, so you can certainly peek inside.
The Noble Hardee Mansion is in disarray and about to be restored (we hope!)
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As someone who lives downtown, Savannah is beautiful — but humid. Here’s what I always recommend bringing:
A refillable water bottle
Comfortable walking shoes (you’ll be on cobblestone). I see some women in super high heels and I feel for their feet
Bug spray and sunscreen if it’s summer
A compact umbrella (Savannah’s weather can turn fast)
A small shoulder bag — perfect if you pick up a souvenir or stop into a shop along the way
Light sweater or jacket if you plan to stop at a restaurant
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Yes! This tour is part of our growing self-guided walking series on TheTripThread and Be Our Gaston. We're building out thematic routes for everything from ghost stories to Savannah’s best porches, as well as food-focused walks and holiday routes.
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That totally depends on your pace and whether you’re going inside the homes.
If you’re just walking and pausing to admire exteriors, plan for 60–90 minutes.
If you tour multiple interiors or stop for lunch and coffee, give yourself 2–3 hours to enjoy it fully — or break it up over a day.
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I have two go-to spots I always recommend:
Collins Quarter (either in Forsyth Park or on Bull Street) — amazing brunch, great coffee, and a stylish spot to rest your feet.
The Gallery Espresso — Savannah’s original indie coffeehouse. It’s quirky, cozy, and a favorite for locals and artists.