By Christine Fonville
Rich in history and each with their own unique story, house museums often provide a peek into the past while also giving insight into the vastly different lives of the individuals who built the structure and the people who made it a home. Many house museums, particularly in the South, possess a duality: they are both lovely, grand structures with impressive antiques and artifacts as well as physical reminders of the negative aspects of that era. Through these dwellings frozen in time and maintained with respect to their history, visitors can learn about the multiple perspectives of the people that gave these homes a legacy. BARRINGTON HALL Roswell is named after Roswell King, who moved to the area in the 1830s. His family’s influence can be seen today throughout the city and beyond—at Barrington Hall, a sprawling example of Greek Revival Architecture completed in 1842. The house, once the home for Roswell’s son, Barrington King, is fully furnished with several original family artifacts. Multiple gardens on the seven-acre property are not to be missed, representing horticultural trends from the mid-1800s to present. roswellgov.com, 770-640-3855
BULLOCH HALL
Barrington Hall 10 | Newcomer Magazine | newcomeratlanta.com
A full exhibit and tour of the Bulloch Hall house museum reveals a presidential link; it is more popularly known to locals as the home of Mittie Bulloch, mother to the 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt Jr. The house was built in 1839 by Maj. James Stephens Bulloch, one of Roswell's initial settlers. Part of the house museum tour includes an insightful look into the often-underrepresented history of those who built many of the historical homes in the area through a reconstruction of the slave quarters which stands in stark contrast to the family home. roswell.gov.com, 770-992-1731
PHOTOS: (left) Courtesy of the City of Roswell; (opposite page) top right and bottom: Courtesy of Atlanta Hisory Center; top left: Courtesy of the City of Roswell
METRO ATLANTA’S PROMINENT HOUSE MUSEUMS
