City Council approved the $1.5 million purchase of the home built by Savannah cotton grower Robert Adams Lewis. His wife, Catharine Barrington Cooke, was a niece of Roswell King, who founded the city.

City Council voted unanimously to purchase the home. Councilwoman Lee Hills said the Holly Hill home survived fires during the Civil War when local mills were burned. The previous owners Lewis and Nancy Gray purchased the home in 1984, she said, and did a complete restoration. Some of the original black marble fireplaces and pocket doors remain.

Mayor Kurt Wilson said Holly Hill will be part of an upcoming effort to put a renewed focus on Roswell’s historic assets. The plan will include making Roswell more of a destination for its history, as well as generating revenue from the newly purchased home and the historic sites at Bulloch Hall, Barrington Hall, Mimosa Hall and Smith Plantation.

“It is part of a larger goal to create a comprehensive historical assets plan and tie it to Bulloch Avenue to bring more love and connection to the historical areas in the City of Roswell,” Wilson said.

THE HISTORY
Robert Adams Lewis, a Savannah cotton broker, built this raised cottage across from Historic Town Square around 1845. Similar to other historic homes in the area, it is constructed of Georgia pine with bricks made on the property.

Mr. Lewis married Catherine Barrington Cook, a niece of Roswell King. One will find architectural details in the house such as hand-turned spindles and newel posts on the stairs, lovely oak leaf and acorn motifs above the windows and doors, and impressive black Italian marble mantles in the parlors. The home changed hands among the King, Wing, Hansell, and Sommerville families before the last residential owners, the Gray family.

The Grays carefully restored and maintained the house while being active in local history and preservation. The property received the name “Holly Hill” when the Sommerville family completed extensive renovations to the landscape, which included the planting of many hollies.