Buy the first house built in Marietta after the Civil War

Some of you might have figured out by now that I have a thing for southern houses. Maybe it was all those years I spent living in New Orleans among the Creole cottages and shotguns. They just seemed a heck of a lot more interesting to me than the midwestern subdivision architecture I grew up with. No idea. All I know is that I drooled on my cubicle a little bit when a reader emailed me a photo of this historic  southern home. The McDonald-Lawrence house was built in 1870 and—get this—was the very first house built in Marietta, Georgia after Sherman decimated the city during the Civil War.

According to Johnny Sinclair, a local Realtor and historian, the place was built in 1870 by R. deTreville Lawrence, a Confederate general whose wife was the daughter of Georgia Governor Charles McDonald. General Lawrence built this place on the site of a home that was destroyed by Federal troops. And the original pre-Civil War kitchen, with its original fireplace, brickwork and cooking tools, is still located beneath the back of the house. "Two weeks ago we were doing some stabilization work on the second floor and pulled up some floorboards where we found a perfectly preserved Confederate soldier's water canteen," says Sinclair. "We assume  it's been there since 1870." Now Sinclair is looking for someone to restore the old house, which needs new electrical and plumbing systems, as well as a new roof. The house, located just 15 minutes from Atlanta, is a bargain at $449,000. For more information, call Johnny Sinclair at 770-605-4755, or email him at Johnny.Sinclair@HarryNorman.com