- Collection:
- Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation Presentation Slide Collection, 1968-2000
- Title:
- Goetchius House
- Creator:
- Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation
- Contributor to Resource:
- Goetchius, Richard Rose, 1814-1875
Wellborn, Marshall
Wellborn, Mary McKinley Goetchius
McKinley, Guy
Woodruff, Jim
Blanchard, Mercer, 1887-1976
Blanchard, Mercer Carter, 1917-1984
Lapides, Matthew
Martoni, Renata - Date of Original:
- 1971-04
- Subject:
- Architecture
Historic sites--Georgia--Muscogee County
Historic buildings--Georgia--Muscogee County
Architecture, Domestic--Georgia--Muscogee County
Italianization
Cultural property--Protection
Historic preservation--Georgia
Historic buildings--Conservation and restoration - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Muscogee County, Columbus, 32.46098, -84.98771
- Medium:
- color slides
italianate (architectural style)
historic preservation
historic buildings - Type:
- Still Image
- Format:
- image/jp2
- Description:
- From the National Register of Historic Places nomination form prepared by Janice P. Biggers, Executive Vice-President, Historic Columbus Foundation, Inc. in 1969The Goetchius-Wellborn House is designed and built in the Italianate style to invoke the style of Garden District homes in New Orleans. The wide veranda across the front once had wrought-iron lacework forming the balustrade and an overhanging canopy of the same black iron lace. It was replaced with wooden columns and banisters. However, the house retains excellent detailing. It has a wide front hall with stained glass surrounding the front door, high ceilings, and carved cornices. Of special interest is the carving over the arch breaking the center hall. This carving also appears over the double doors facing each other leading into the two parlors. There are ornamental medallions, in an intricate scroll design, on the ceilings in the entrance hall and in the two parlors. This house received a number one rating in the 1967 Historic Columbus Building Inventory. This home, built by Richard Rose Goetchius, was started in 1839. Goetchius came to Columbus directly from New York City, the member of an old New York Dutch family. He soon established himself in business as a very successful architect and builder. He married the locally prominent Miss Mary Anne Bennett. They were married on September 11, 1839. All six of their children--five sons and one daughter--were born in the house. The two eldest sons were killed in the Civil War, one son died in early childhood which left Mr. Henry R, Goetchius, a prominent Columbus lawyer, Dr. George Goetchius, a Presbyterian minister, and their only sister, Mary Goetchius. The two brothers, Henry and George, decided that Mary should own the family home, so they gave it to her. She married Mr. Guy McKinley of Milledgeville, Georgia and died giving birth to her daughter, Mary, who married Marshall Wellborn. Mary McKinley Wellborn inherited the house, and at her death in 1955, S. M. Wellborn, being an only child inherited it. The house remained in the same family for approximately 125 years. From 1919 to 1969, the house was occupied by father and son pediatricians (Dr. Mercer Blanchard, Sr. and Dr. Mercer Blanchard, Jr.) who were beloved in the community. After the Blanchards, the house was disassembled into 7 pieces and was relocated from 204 11th St. to 405 Broadway in 1969 by John Woodruff Jr., a founding member of the Columbus Historic Society. The building retains hand carved cornices, plaster crown moldings, chandeliers and historic stained glass. A grand courtyard behind the house contains a historic fountain and a view of the Chattahoochee River. During its operation from 1969 until roughly 2010, it continuously hosted countless weddings, proms, graduations, birthdays, corporate events, and other special occasions for a span over four decades until it laid silent for a dozen years. Matthew Lapides and Renata Martoni are the fifth owners of the property since 1839; they performed a full historic rehabilitation, and have operated the Goetchius House Restaurant in Columbus since 2023. Variant names include: Goetchius House, Goetchius-Wellborn House. See ref # 69000047 (Goetchius-Wellborn House), https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/national-register-listed-20240710.xlsx
- External Identifiers:
- Metadata URL:
- https://dlg.usg.edu/record/gthp_gthp-slides_349
- Digital Object URL:
- https://dlg.usg.edu/record/gthp_gthp-slides_349#item
- IIIF manifest:
- https://dlg.usg.edu/record/gthp_gthp-slides_349/presentation/manifest.json
- Language:
- eng
- Additional Rights Information:
- Please contact holding institution for information regarding use and copyright status.
- Holding Institution:
- Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation
- Rights:
-
