Hay House
Macon, GA · Middle Georgia
Macon's Italian Renaissance Revival mansion, built between 1855 and 1859 and nicknamed the Palace of the South, climbs four stories to a three-story cupola over 24 rooms and roughly 18,000 square feet. The Johnston-Felton-Hay House was decades ahead of its time, with indoor plumbing, a speaker-tube intercom and a walk-in safe, and a tour walks you past stained glass, trompe l'oeil ceilings and the original 1850s plasterwork. It is a National Historic Landmark run by the Georgia Trust, and the splayed stone steps and bowed front terrace alone are worth the stop.




