Barrington Hall: antebellum home of Roswell's founder
Published: Jul 14, 2009
Go back in time more than 150 years with a visit to Barrington Hall, an antebellum mansion in Roswell and a testament to the pioneering spirit of a few Georgia families.
Roswell King first viewed what became the city of Roswell while it was still wilderness in the 1820s. It became Roswell King's dream to found a town there, a site with a much healthier climate than coastal Georgia, where the King family lived.
When he asked his son, Barrington, to help build a town in North Georgia, the younger King didn’t hesitate. The result was the founding of Roswell. The Kings invited well-to-do neighbors and family from coastal Georgia to join them in Roswell, and six other families took up the challenge and settled the original colony.
Settling into his 1,500-acre plantation, Barrington King chose a home site at the highest point of Roswell overlooking the creek beds of the Chattahoochee River. The site was near the other homes and structures of the colony. Most importantly, the family home was situated near the cotton and woolen mills of the Roswell Company, formed by Barrington and Roswell King.
Like many other colonial founders of that time, King chose to build his plantation home in the Greek revival style. Willis Ball, the same architect who designed Bulloch Hall in Roswell, also designed Barrington Hall. Construction on the mammoth home, which faces the town square and what's now Highway 120, was completed in 1842.
The result was a gorgeous Southern mansion, straight out of a Hollywood movie. It stayed in the family's hands until 2002. In 2005, the now seven-acre property was sold to the city of Roswell for preservation.
Today visitors can tour the well-preserved home, as well as an antebellum garden, restored smoke house, icehouse, bath and creamery. The barn has been converted into staff offices.
The home itself still contains much of the original fixtures and furniture belonging to the King family. A rocking chair in which Roswell died in the parlor is on display, as are hand-painted china and hair art. Admire the pine and walnut details of the home and look closely at a pane of glass around the front door where a grandchild’s name remains etched.
Most of the home is open to public tour, including several bedrooms, dressing rooms, a dining room, family room and parlor.
Along with Bulloch Hall and the Archibald Smith Plantation Home, Barrington Hall is part of the “Southern Trilogy,” a one-stop sight-seeing adventure for lovers of old architecture.
www.southerntrilogy.com
- by Christine Foster, Atlanta Reporter for HelloMetro
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