Swan House

Beautiful! May I move in, please?

A part of the Atlanta History Center. Never made it inside although I passed this place so many times. When you live somewhere, you somehow never end up making the time to visit the museums in area.

Fall is so beautiful in Atlanta! If you go to the Atlanta Visitor Center, they have a Souper (Super) Jenny inside. Souper Jenny is known for their soups. They have an amazing Curry Butternut Squash and Apple soup.

The T-shirt in the picture can be bought at Souper Jenny.

Didn't pay for the tour, bc no dogs allowed. Still wanted to see the glorious house. We drove around to the North side of Museum and took pictures through the gate. Beautiful landscaping and decor. I could nap on that lawn for hours.

This is the house of the original owner of the land that the Atlanta History Center sits on.

The house has a really neat history behind it which a host will tell you about when you enter the home. You are allowed to walk through the whole house, and it is filled with the original furniture, kitchen appliances, dishes, etc.

No matter how many times you visit you will always see something new here.

Highly recommend visiting. Military and veterans admission is free.

The Swan House is a beautiful, historic mansion turned museum in the heart of Buckhead and it's a well-known, popular wedding venue. We toured the 4 levels of the home including the basement filled with fine China and artifacts. The Swan House is just breathtaking. The backyard is the real showstopper and a perfect photo opp. Beautiful grounds and gardens.

I love walking around this property. It's gorgeously historic, quiet and scenic. Visiting the house was a pretty amazing experience. I would suggest a full experience of eating at Swan House and then walking the grounds.

Swan House and Hunger Games

The Swan House was built in 1928 at a cost of $106,000 in cash for the Inman family after their Atlanta home burned in 1924. The Classical/Renaissance revival home was designed by Phillip Trammel Shutze, who ironically never built a home of his own. The recurrent theme of swans, which is seen throughout the house and gardens, give the mansion its name, The Swan House. The home featured modern comforts like central heat, indoor plumbing and a private telephone room. At the time it was built, an average home would cost around $2000.

Edward Inman, who had accumulated wealth from cotton, banking and real estate, served as a city councilman, supported efforts to help the poor in the community and escaped the financial losses from the stock market crash, died three years after moving into the home at 49 from a fatal heart attack. His widow, Emily, learned to play the stock market to support herself after his death and also invited her children and grandchildren to live in the home. In fact, one year she gave the grandkids boring "papers" for Christmas. Those paper were shares of Coca-Cola. She was also a suffragette supporting women's causes. She lived at the home until she died at 84.

The home was most recently featured in the Hunger Games series. It was interesting to hear how classical rooms were transformed into futuristic scenes. For example, Katniss' bedroom was created by painting the traditional formal green living room white, then back to the light green after filming and then being repainted white and gold for a sequel. Swan House was chosen as President Snow's Presidential Palace for the classic lines of the historic mansion. The dining room with its hand painted English wallpaper is also prominently featured.

The basement holds Shutze's collection of Chinese porcelains and English and continental decorative arts.

Fun fact: Mrs. Inman would not allow her family to use the main floating staircase. She made the family use the back staircase to keep the wood looking new. The "private" telephone room had a vent which allowed you to hear the entire conversation in a room on the second floor.

The swan house was very nice to see and staff was very kind and answered our questions. The garden And house were beautiful but when going to the farm, there was no food or WATER for the sheep and chickens in this 90 degrees weather. They really need to watch out for this because it was really sad seeing a thirsty animal going to it's water empty water bowl Heartbreaking... properly care for them or have no animals there at all!!!

The Swan House is located in the Atlanta History Center in Buckhead.

Completed just before the Depression, The Swan House is nearly a century old. It gracefully stands with its own gorgeous gardens and a cascading fountain up front. In the spring and the summer, the stairs down to the fountain from the house are lined with lady bank roses over the wrought iron rails.

TSH was built during the same period as the Ca' d'Zan (1924) and while both are magnificent, I adore the Swan House. It was gorgeously restored in 2004.

Architect Philip Trammell Shutze designed this renaissance revival beauty for the cotton brokerage fortune heir, Edward H Inman. The name comes from the swan motif throughout the house and the gardens. Mr. Inman was active with the local business and politics but died in 1931. Mrs. Inman was active in women's suffrage. Inside, the spectacular curved staircase still stands and Mrs. Inman had her family use the servants' staircase to protect it.

The TSH shows period (1930s) furnishings much of them are from the Inmans but not all. TSH was habited by the Inmans until 1965 when the inheriting decedents decided not to reside there. They took their family heirlooms. Now some of the contents are from an attorney whose name escapes me (library) and a very large porcelain collection in the basement is not from the Inmans.

The gardens surrounding the house are both southern and Italian. There are sculptures including an elephant and a Lee playhouse sprinkled along different gardens. The gardens can be rentedand is popular for weddings and corporate events.

In the more recent years, TSH was in the Amazing Race and The Hunger Games as the President Snow's mansion.

The admission fee ~$22 pp includes in the Atlanta History Center and the Margret Mitchell House. For additional ~$32, 45 minutes of "behind the scenes" access to the rooms not available to the AHC admission and information from period dressed guides. Check for times at https://buytickets.atlantahistorycenter.com/WebStore/shop/ViewItems.aspx?CG=AHCCG&C=TKTCAT

Parking is free.

If you like hunger game movie series, this house has been use to film the movie. It is in the "Catching Fire" of the movie series. Some of the visitors dress like Katniss Everdeen in black with bow and arrow and take the picture in front of the building. It is cool that people post their picture with full costume of catching fire.

The Swan House is beautiful. Falling water pool with stair entrance to the main house. The house is surrounded with garden with peace and quiet. Very classic house look. The main hall has grand spiral staircase. Dining room is make for good party. Although this house was not built with electricity but it was retrofit nicely. Library or family room is comfortable. Like most of the historic house, the master bedroom and children room are up stair.

If you visit the Swan house, allow 1 hour to enjoy it.

This is a wonderful place to visit. My only complaint is that there is a Model T Ford sitting out in front of the mansion. It has a sign that says "Climb in and experience automobile history! Posing for photos inside the Model T is highly encouraged." Hence, my adult daughter got in and posed for a picture. Only to have a Museum worker come over and scold her harshly for "touching" an exhibit. TRAIN YOUR PEOPLE!!!! It put a damper on our tour. I'm posting a photo of the sign referred to.