SSI Archives

The Ship House. Stem to stern, it was an island icon.

From pleasure and fishing crafts to sailboats and commercial ocean-going ships, vessels have always been a part of coastal Georgia living. But did you know there was once a “ship” on St. Simons Island that was designed never to set sail?

Around 1937, a family from Atlanta built a truly remarkable beachfront residence on 11th Street on East Beach that was designed to look and feel like an ocean liner. And according to news articles in The Star (St. Simons) and the Macon Telegraph in the summer of 1938, the residence was one of the “showplaces in private dwellings on the island.” The unique home was constructed in the form of a threedeck, mid-ship section of an ocean liner, complete with bridge, red, white and blue funnel and a roof-top sun deck. The news stories about the home described that the “skillful landscaping of the surrounding yard has produced the effect of two additional decks as well as the complete outline of a ship from stem to stern.” The articles also stated that the structure was lavishly furnished and included bedroom suites, a game room, a grand salon with cocktail bar and “starlight dancing on the top Lido deck.”

The stories also included the words of the original owner who said, “Everyone gets a thrill out of an ocean trip because there’s nothing like the atmosphere of a great liner.” Famed golfer Bobby Jones visited the residence in 1938 and photographed it with his new Leica camera.

With an advertising slogan that proclaimed, “Nothing like it in the World,” the site later became The Ship House – a small, oceanfront hotel with air-conditioned suites and efficiencies. The structure was subsequently demolished.

This month’s image, from the Coastal Georgia Historical Society’s archives, shows The Ship House from an early promotional postcard.

Since its founding in 1965, the Coastal Georgia Historical Society’s archival collection has grown to over 15,000 historically important artifacts, documents and photographs.

Our monthly images on this page are from the vast archives of the Coastal Georgia Historical Society. The Society’s mission includes the “administration, restoration and maintenance of historic facilities and resources … preserved as a living part of the historical and cultural foundations of our coastal community.” Society facilities include the St. Simons Lighthouse and Museum, the A.W. Jones Heritage Center, and the Maritime Center (formerly the U.S. Coast Guard Station). To learn more about the Society, its diverse programs, and the benefits of Society membership, please call (912) 638.4666, or visit www.saintsimonslighthouse.org.