House 8 - 1149 Austin Avenue

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Homeowner: Elizabeth Manley

First owner J. Moreland Speer, Treasurer of the State of Georgia and builder of this house in 1896, and current owner Elizabeth Manley have one thing in common; each has owned the house at two separate times. However, Speer is the only one whose initials are etched in the front door glass, and Elizabeth is the only one who has had a heart transplant. She describes October 12, 1999 as her "new birthday."

The story-and-a-half Queen Anne-style cottage was designed by Willis Franklin Denny II and built at a cost of $2400 by C. H. Bowen. As you stand in the foyer, the parlor with its bay window is on the left. An old catalogue found during renovation lists the parlor chandelier at $3 and the reception hall mantel at $6. Elizabeth's restoration preserved the original ornate mantels, heart pine floors, 14-foot ceilings, pocket doors, woodwork, and brass hardware. In the dining room are a magnificent antique English sideboard and buffet, and Elizabeth's collection of Flow Blue china. Pictures of her ancestors, dating back to the Revolutionary War, are displayed throughout the house.

In the renovated kitchen, notice the new pressed tin ceiling produced from turn-of-the- century molds. A tin roof shelters the comfortable screened porch.

Upstairs, attic space became the master bedroom with a fourteen-foot vaulted ceiling. A "sky-lighted' bathroom features an antique tub rescued from a house that stood on 10th Street. Downstairs, the original master suite has been remodeled into "Elizabeth's Cottage," a Bed and Breakfast accommodation. With fireplaces in both the sitting room and bedroom, a bathroom with an original claw foot tub, and antique furniture, Elizabeth has created a space that is as comfortable and delightful as the rest of her own much-loved home.

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