Majestically seated at 330 Abercorn Street and overlooking the beautiful Lafayette Square is the exquisite Hamilton-Turner House. 

Amid the many magnificent mansions and historical gems Savannah has to offer, The Hamilton-Turner House fashions a unique splendor all its own. With its ornamental Second Empire architecture, the four-story chateau is one-of-a-kind among the brick-paved streets and handsomely manicured squares of Savannah’s historic district.

Mentioned in almost every Savannah tour, this Georgian treasure attracts many passers-by getting its daily share of oohs and aahs from those who stop to admire “her” beauty. After all, The Hamilton-Turner House is also known as “Savannah’s Grand Victorian Lady.”

I recently had the privilege of being one of the Grand Lady’s guests during my recent Savannah stay. And let me tell you, she sure did not disappoint!

From the moment you step inside the stately foyer of the grand Hamilton-Turner House, you are immersed into Savannah history, with each of the seventeen rooms and suites titled after some of the city’s most pivotal Savannahians.

My four-night stay was in The Mary Telfair Room.

Mary Telfair, the last survivor of the prominent Telfair family, inherited the family’s fortune and, in return, gave back to her city in many ways. Miss Telfair funded Hodgson’s Hall for the Georgia Historical Society, established The Savannah Widow’s Society and founded The Mary Telfair Hospital for Women. Upon her death, Mary willed her home, furnishings, and substantial art collection establishing The Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences, the first public art museum in the South.

Upon entering, I was in awe of the evening elegance The Mary Telfair Room displayed. The Inn’s turn-down service had already taken place. The heavy brocade drapes were drawn, giving way to the soft glow of the bedside lamps which illuminated the linens of the inviting four-poster bed that seemed to lure me into a very comfortable late-night slumber. 

With its twelve-foot-ceiling, crystal beaded chandelier, and picturesque bay window views of moss-draped live oaks and magnolias, the Telfair guest room presented the refined atmosphere of an extravagant stay in a nineteenth-century mansion.

A typical stay at the Hamilton-Turner Inn starts early with morning coffee and tea service located in the Inn’s regal parlor.

Breakfast is across the foyer in the formal dining room where a chef-prepared meal is served each morning.

On the self-service marbled buffet is a variety of fresh fruits, greek yogurt, granola, and a specialty breakfast Bundt cake. Among my favorites were the chef’s strawberry shortcake french toast with cream topping and scrambled eggs and sausage on the side, and the avocado toast piled high with a poached egg, bacon, and fresh red and yellow cherry tomatoes.

While Savannah is known as the “Hostess City of the South,” The Hamilton-Turner Inn certainly follows suit with its southern hospitality reputation, and then some-adding extra touches along the way.

Common to nineteenth-century tradition, the Inn’s parlor still serves as the social gathering site for guests to mingle and get to know one another in true Savannah style. Afternoon refreshments such as gourmet cookies, brownies, or cupcakes along with infused water are available midafternoon.

Promptly from five to six in the evening, hors d’ oeuvres are served. A wide variety of specialty cheeses, fruits, vegetables and spreads such as baked brie with maple praline sauce, and other appetizers like asparagus and brie pastries, are all complemented by your choice of wines- either a Cabernet Sauvignon or a Chardonnay.

Upon returning to The Hamilton-Turner Inn after an evening walk along the beautiful squares or the mesmerizing riverfront, the parlor will have a late-night Port and cookies waiting for you.

What does it take to run such a remarkable establishment?

Innkeeper Susie Ridder took a few minutes out of her busy day to tell me.

“The Inn has seventeen rooms, and I have almost seventeen employees!” 

Ridder, who has been in the hotel hospitality business since she was sixteen and has managed properties all over the US, has served as The Hamilton-Turner’s part-owner and Innkeeper for the past six years.

When the property was purchased in 2013, Susie worked with contractors to renovate and redesign all the Inn’s seventeen guestrooms and baths.

I was particularly curious about the dining room and parlor, complimenting the pulchritudinous walls in both.

Susie explained that the beautifully patterned walls she had installed in the dining room are a product called Lincrusta, a deeply embossed wallcovering that was developed in the mid -1800’s. Often found in royal homes in the Victorian era, the product was also installed in six of the staterooms on the Titanic, as well as The White House. 

The breathtaking mural in the parlor was hand-painted by a local artist. Susie said she had shown the artist a similar wall covering and he went from there, adding his originality and transforming the room into a masterpiece.

Speaking of walls… If only these walls could talk! Oh, the stories this jewel would tell…

The History

The Hamilton-Turner House was constructed in 1873 by architect J.D. Hall for Samuel Pugh Hamilton; a former Naval Officer turned successful Savannah businessman and politician.

Mr. Hamilton opened “Hamilton’s Fine Watches and Jewelry” in 1862, right around the time of his first wife Emma Sprigg’s death. Hamilton remarried his deceased brother’s wife Sarah four years later. He served as an alderman with involvement in the Savannah Railroads, the Cotton Mills, and the Tybee Beach Company along with also practicing as an optician. Mr. Hamilton’s stature soon earned him the informal title as “The Lord of Lafayette Square.”

Mr. Hamilton spared no expense when building The Hamilton House; Savannah Greys, (a still sought-after brick made from a rare grey-colored clay), were used along with a smooth stucco finish and accenting corner quoins. Its distinct decorative iron balconies and mansard roof made the Second Empire home most impressive.

The Hamilton House quickly became a mainstage where many social gatherings were hosted.

When Mr. Hamilton began working with The Brush Electric Light and Power Company, The Hamilton House produced a new source of captivation. Only four years after Edison invented the light bulb, the mansion was the first residence in Savannah to receive electricity. Evening spectators would gather in the square nightly to watch as the mansion’s parlor would illuminate to life. Waiting with a watchful eye, many would anticipate that the house might explode.

While thankfully the mansion didn’t combust into an electrical explosion as many had feared, it did fall within the path of a fire in 1898 that destroyed the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. Had it not been for the dwelling’s tin roof protection, the house would have been engulfed in flames.

In 1915 Dr. Francis Turner purchased the home from the Hamilton estate where the Turner family lived until 1926. The Turners then moved, opening up the mansion as a boarding house where it later became an establishment for the Marine Hospital nurses. Dr. Turner and his family moved back into the house in the 1940s where it doubled as an office for Dr. Turner’s practice.

Rumor has it that a well-known young artist once stayed in The Hamilton-Turner House. This artist was often seen sitting on a park bench in Lafayette Square facing the house and doodling on a sketch pad.

That artist in question? Walt Disney.

It’s been said that Walt’s stay in The Hamilton-Turner gave him the inspiration for his Haunted Mansion Attraction and that Harper Goff ‘s original sketches had a striking resemblance to the house before being modified in the final design.

In 1965, The Hamilton-Turner House changed hands once again- this time to the neighboring Cathedral of St. John the Baptist whose intention was only to demolish the quintessential mansion and build a playground for the nearby school. The Historic Savannah Foundation dove in and, after years of negotiations, rescued the mansion from its dooming fate.

The Hamilton-Turner House had many different owners over the next few decades from serving as a residence to converting back to boarding house apartments. The major renovation that transformed the house from apartments into luxury suites occurred in 1997.

One-hundred and forty-six-years ago this princely mansion was designed and built for a paramount Savannah dignitary. A home ahead of its time; where the square out front once laid host to an audience of spectators that were wowed by its wonder. A house that still entertains guests through the same open doors that once catered to many elite galas. Surviving the perils of fire, destruction, and brief abandonment, The Hamilton-Turner House is an iconic residence that still harbors the remnants of its many people and history.

This is the stuff novels are made of,

New York Times Bestselling novels that is…

And speaking of novels… John Berendt’s “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” portrays the story of the beautiful, captivating, and mysterious Savannah Georgia and what happened after shots rang out from one of its imperial manor homes in the wee hours of a May morning in 1981. 

When reading these gripping and page-turning chapters, one might believe it to be that of an elaborately fabricated fictitious novel, but in fact it’s non-fiction. 

Savannah socialite Jim Williams was indeed tried four times for the murder of Danny Hansford, William’s employee who assisted him in his antique business.

Being one of my top favorite reads, with few books I consider worthy of being read more than once, I tend to indulge myself in the sultry, southern playground of “Midnight’s” Savannah at some point every summer. 

The book contains quite a colorful cast of characters that are based on true Savannahians, some of which even appear in Clint Eastwood’s film adaptation. My favorite is that of the spirited Joe Odom, who just so happens to share a connection to The Hamilton-Turner’s history.

Joe and The Hamilton-Turner House

The charismatic and debonair piano-playing tax attorney and real estate broker was known to charm just about everyone he encountered; including but not limited to those court-appearing recipients of his numerous bad checks. But even on that particular day in court, there were no hard feelings between the multiple plaintiffs and Joe. In fact, Joe, acting as his own attorney, greeted each and every one with pleasantries as they all, in a sheepishly apologetic type manner, greeted him back. The verdict worked in Joe’s favor, which everyone seemed to be happy about. One of the plaintiffs, an antique dealer, even met Joe shortly afterward with a pair of sconces Joe had admired in his shop on an earlier occasion. Joe asked if he’d take a check for the pair which he gladly accepted. This all, of course, is according to “The Book” as many Savannahians call it.

At one time, Mr. Odom did live in and manage The Hamilton-Turner House when it was a boarding facility. 

Knowing full well that The Hamilton-Turner House was one of the most eye-catching homes in historic Savannah, Joe worked this to his advantage. Shortly after moving in, he began setting up what he called the only private residence tour in historic Savannah. At the time, there were a few other historic homes open for tours, but these were museum houses operating on a nonprofit basis.

The Hamilton-Turner, having been sectioned off into different apartments throughout the floors, made only the parlor level, Joe’s floor, available for touring. Joe had accomplished the act of adorning the parlor floor with antiques and artwork, all of which were also for sale. 

Joe would often add to the experience of his tours by playing and singing a few tunes on his grand piano. 

Ms. Ridder stated she recently ran into a fellow the other day out walking his dog. She said once he learned that she was The Hamilton-Turner’s Innkeeper, he shared a story about meeting a guy in a restaurant shortly after moving to Savannah some thirty years ago.

“He said, ‘This guy comes over to me in a restaurant, and I tell him that I just moved here, and he says, ‘I have a house over here where I do private home tours. Wanna come see my house?'”

After agreeing to the house tour and grabbing his wife, the man met them at The Hamilton-Turner House and said admission for the tour would be five dollars apiece. After taking them into the parlor and dining room, he said, ‘That’s it, the tour’s up!’

Susie also shared with me a story from a man she met who moved here from California and rented a room around that same time. He told her of having rented one of the main level rooms on Joe’s floor, and how he would get a wake-up knock that would occur every morning shortly before 10:00 am.

“He told me, ‘Here I was, nineteen years old, staying up late and partying, and come around a few minutes ’til ten in the morning, there would be a beating on my door saying, ‘Get up! The tours are getting ready to start! Get up!’ He said he’d be shoving clothes under the bed in a hurry!”

The Hamilton-Turner wasn’t the only private residence that would pop up on Joe’s tours. Word had it, that if Joe happened to learn that you were going away for a few weeks at a time, that he just might add your home to his tour map- moving in temporarily, along with his grand piano in tow. But don’t worry, he (and the grand piano) would be out of your house before you arrived back home.

Some called him a “conman,” others a “house squatter.” Sounds like, to me, Joe Odom might have just been a fun-loving and very astute businessman. I’d like to have met him. Joe spent the last of his days in The Hamilton-Turner House, passing away there in November 1991.

The Haunts

As if The Hamilton-Turner needs any additional stories...

But, as with any old mansion, there’s bound to be a ghost story or two floating around.

Two of the most popular stories associated with The Hamilton-Turner House are that of the man with a rifle often seen standing on the roof, and that of the rolling billiard balls.

The first story dates back to the home’s original owner, Samuel Hamilton.

Mr. Hamilton was a lover of art and had quite the collection that he proudly displayed in the parlor. As I mentioned earlier, The Hamilton House was the first home in Savannah to have electricity, and every night, Mr. Hamilton would illuminate those parlor lights until morning. Not only would he be illuminating the parlor, but he would also be illuminating those very expensive pieces of art.

Well, Mr. Hamilton often went on lengthy business trips and vacations with his family, but never-the-less he would still have his servants turn on those parlor lights and lock up the house until returning the next morning. It was on one such occasion that a pair of cat burglars made their way into the house after the crowds had dissipated from the square. They made off with a couple of those expensive paintings only to try and sell them down by the river.

The thieves were caught, and the paintings returned, but Mr. Hamilton was unsettled about the situation and was determined not to let it happen again. As a result, he hired a gentleman by the name of Dennis Edwards, who was far from “gentle” at all. In fact, he had quite a reputation in town. Dennis was known as the town bully. He was actually demoted from the police department as he once bludgeoned a man in a holding cell just because he didn’t like him.

Dennis Edwards was also a fantastic marksman and was a dead shot every time, even when he was black-out drunk. Adding up all these fine qualities, Mr. Hamilton figured that if Dennis stood guard atop his roof every night, no one would ever mess with his paintings again.

Every morning, the servants would have a hot cup of coffee waiting for Dennis after he came down from the roof to leave before returning the next evening. One morning Dennis didn’t come down. A servant went up on the roof to check on him and found Dennis’s body down below in a pool of his own blood; a bullet lodged in the back right of his skull. His assassin was never found.

Having trouble replacing Dennis’s position, it’s been said that Mr. Hamilton himself stood guard on the roof after the incident. 

It’s rumored that inside The Hamilton-Turner House, Dennis likes to displace things, scatter books off shelves and there’s been one rumored account that Dennis has shown himself, by the light of one of his cheap cigars.

And who is the dark figure that some still see standing guard atop of The Hamilton-Turner House? Dennis the sharp-shooter, or Mr. Hamilton himself?

The second tale is that of the rolling billiard balls that’s linked to the second owner, Dr. Turner.

Dr. Turner was also known to throw some lavish parties in The Hamilton-Turner House, and it was during one of these parties where this next story occurred. It was said that there was a billiard room on the second floor and while the adults were downstairs at these parties, the kiddies were confined to the second-floor billiard room. 

Legend has it that some friends of the Turner’s had brought their little girl to one of these parties and that she became bored in the billiard room. Coming up with the ingenious idea of rolling the billiard balls down the stairs, only to be forced to go down and retrieve them, was a way to spy on the adults and see what they were up to. The little girl did this several times that night with complete success until her last attempt. Unfortunately, the youngster tripped on the hem of her dress, fell down the stairs and sadly broke her neck.

There have been reports of some people seeing this little girl at both the top and bottom of the steps and hearing the rolling billiard balls falling down the staircase. Others have claimed they have seen a pool ball rolling across the floor before it vanishes into thin air.

Now, while both of these tales are quite entertaining, I decided to ask Susie what instances, if any, have occurred in her six years at The Hamilton-Turner House.

“If you came here to see a ghost, you’re probably not gonna see a ghost.”

Susie stated that she has stayed in the house many times, often by herself and has not experienced anything. 

Some of her guests? Not so much.

“I have heard ghost stories, and I’ll tell ya something that happened recently that I found pretty entertaining.

“I had just walked in the door one morning, and this guy comes up to me and says, ‘So, what happened?!’ And I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’

“I had just walked in the door and still had my bag on my shoulder, and he goes, ‘Oh my gosh! Last night? What happened?’ And I was like, ‘Just give me a minute to read the night log.’ And so I looked at the log, and there was nothing there. So, I told him, ‘There’s nothing in last night’s log, so YOU tell ME what happened.’

“And he says, ‘Well last night there must have been a knock-down-drag-out brawl in the room beside us! It sounded like furniture was flying! It was loud! And really, really bad!’

“And I thought, Oh my gosh, there’s nothing in the log, the night guy didn’t say anything-nothing!

“Now, the couple that was staying in that room had come down for breakfast, and so I sent the housekeeper up to check the room and see what was broke. And I’m thinking; maybe they had a fight? But they were just sitting there drinking coffee like nothing was wrong. 

“The housekeeper comes back down and says there was nothing, and that everything was fine. So I’m thinking, I don’t know what that guy heard, but… everything’s ok!

“There was another couple staying in the room across the hall from the room in question, and later that same morning, I saw them sitting in the parlor. So I was talking to them, and they were telling me about the kids they heard last night. I was like, ‘Kids? What kids?’ And they said, ‘There were these kids this morning pounding on the door of the room across from us saying ‘Daddy! Daddy! Let us in! Daddy! Let us in!’ They must have been out there pounding on the door and yelling for like fifteen minutes!’

“Now, this was the same room where the other guy said that the big fight had happened. There were no kids in that room or in any of the rooms of the house that night! I was like, wait ’til I see that guy again and tell him about this!” Susie says with a laugh.

“Another time, a couple was staying under the parlor and the lady came up here one morning and was mad because there was a party going on at 4 am in the parlor. There was no party going on in the parlor at 4 am! I asked her husband if he had heard the party, and he replied, ‘She never wakes me up for nothing!’ Susie chuckled.

“There was also a lady that stayed here that wanted to hear a ghost, so she left the recorder on her phone recording all night in the room. She heard some kids giggling and then there was (the tune of) a jack-in-the-box recorded. She brought the recording down to another Hamilton-Turner staff member allowing him to hear it too. She was pretty entertained by it.”

Susie adds, “Mostly what I hear, if people say they heard something, generally it’s kids, or it’s a party, and generally there’s a lot of laughter going on. I figure if they’re laughing and giggling, then it’s all ok!” She smiles.

With all this history and all these tales, one has to wonder: Was it just The Hamilton-Turner’s outward splendor that might have inspired Mr. Disney to conjure up his Haunted Mansion? Or could it have been the “spirited” inside?

Ready to be pampered like a 19th century Savannah aristocrat? Or experience a southern romantic getaway? Maybe even catch a glimpse of the mysterious man on the cupola?

Reserve your stay at the award-winning Hamilton-Turner Inn

Voted #1 in USA Today’s 10 Best Reader’s Choice Romantic Hotels 2019!

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