THE HARPER-FOWLKES HOUSE

Conceived in the 1840s by “Georgia’s outstanding Greek Revival designer,” restructured in dramatic fashion in the 1890s, and connected to famous Savannah families throughout the 19th century, the H arp er-F o wlkes H o use presents a regal presence on Orleans Square.

Charles B. Cluskey was the original designer of the mansion, historian Mills Lane wrote in “Architecture of the Old South: Georgia.” The house, then two stories high, fronted by four magisterial columns, and framed by sandstone steps, was built in 1842 with Savannah grey bricks for Aaron Champion, a wealthy banker and merchant.

Born in Ireland about 1806, Cluskey studied in New York for a time, and came to Savannah in 1829. With the city still dealing with the economic aftershocks of the 1820 fire and yellow fever epidemic, he didn’t stay long, but moved on to the state’s interior. He worked in Augusta, building a hall for the Medical College, and in Milledgeville, designing the governor’s mansion; before moving back to Savannah in 1839.

He’s credited with planning other distinctive Greek Revival residences, including the one for Francis Sorrel on West Harris Street (now the Sorrel-Weed House), and another for Moses Eastman on Chippewa Square (now the PhilbrickEastman House).

In 1843, Cluskey submitted a Greek Revival design for the new U.S. Custom House, but the government went with a proposal by John Norris instead. In 1847, Cluskey moved to Washington, D.C. His work there later was praised in a letter to President Franklin Pierce: Cluskey was “surveyor and engineer in this city (Washington, D.C.), engineer of the Washington City Canal … His plan for the Extension of the Capitol was considered the best.”

Cluskey moved back to Georgia after the Civil War, designed the lighthouse on St. Simons Island, and died in North Carolina in 1871.

When Aaron Champion died some 10 years later, the Orleans Square house was left to James McAlpin, his son-inlaw, and the son of Savannah industrialist Henry McAlpin. In 1895, the property passed to the control of Isabel Wilbur McAlpin, and renovations to it soon commenced, and continued through that year and into 1896.

The most obvious change was the new mansard roof, a Second Empire touch that added a third floor and living space for Isabel’s five Irish servants.

The roof was noted in 1936 when the Champion-McAlpin House, as it was then called, was documented as part of the Historic American Buildings Survey. The overall condition of the house was listed as “fair.” The roof was slate, with a metal deck, district officer Harold Bush-Brown wrote.

In 1939, after a lengthy legal dispute concerning the estate, Alida Harper Fowlkes bought the house for $9,000 at an auction held by Citizens and Southern National Bank. An early preservationist, she formed the Society for the Preservation of Savannah Landmarks, and bought and restored a number of homes in the historic district.

When Fowlkes died in 1985, she stipulated that the property was to be held in trust to the Society of the Cincinnati in the state of Georgia. It is open for tours and can be rented for special events.

Sources: Georgia Historical Society papers and publications; “Architecture of the Old South: Georgia,” by Mills Lane; “Savannah Architectural Tours,” by Jonathan E. Stalcup; www.harperfolkeshouse.com; www.waymarking.com; thempc.org; www.loc.gov.