Ashantilly (Photo by Barbara Stevenson)
Description
Ashantilly was the mainland home of Thomas Spalding, who revived the use of tabby in the early 1800s. Today the restored home is a non-profit educational center located close to Darien GA.
History
Thomas Spalding (1774-1851) built this tabby home in 1820 and named it “Ashantilly” after his family’s ancestral home in County Perth, Scotland. Spalding was a Georgia legislator and planter, who owned Sapelo Island. He was also a well-known agriculturalist who developed procedures of crop rotation & diversification and who revived the use of tabby (New Georgia Encyclopedia).Tabby was previously used for fortifications, but Spalding expanded its use for plantations, mills, and other agricultural buildings.
After the house burned in 1937, Ashantilly owner and printer William G. Haynes, Jr., rebuilt the home upon the tabby foundations that survived the fire (the oyster shell concrete foundations cannot be seen). Haynes founded the Ashantilly Press and Ashantilly Center. Today the center hosts cultural events and workshops (see ashantilly.org).
Location
GPS: N 31°22.877 and W 81°24.844
Address: From Darien, turn on Highway 99 going east toward the coast. After about 1.5 miles, turn right onto either St. Andrews Cemetery Rd. or Ashantilly Rd. to get to the Center.
Accessibility: Ashantilly is open for events. For more information, visit ashantilly.org.
Description
Ashantilly was the mainland home of Thomas Spalding, who revived the use of tabby in the early 1800s. Today the restored home is a non-profit educational center located close to Darien GA.
History
Thomas Spalding (1774-1851) built this tabby home in 1820 and named it “Ashantilly” after his family’s ancestral home in County Perth, Scotland. Spalding was a Georgia legislator and planter, who owned Sapelo Island. He was also a well-known agriculturalist who developed procedures of crop rotation & diversification and who revived the use of tabby (New Georgia Encyclopedia).Tabby was previously used for fortifications, but Spalding expanded its use for plantations, mills, and other agricultural buildings.
After the house burned in 1937, Ashantilly owner and printer William G. Haynes, Jr., rebuilt the home upon the tabby foundations that survived the fire (the oyster shell concrete foundations cannot be seen). Haynes founded the Ashantilly Press and Ashantilly Center. Today the center hosts cultural events and workshops (see ashantilly.org).
Location
GPS: N 31°22.877 and W 81°24.844
Address: From Darien, turn on Highway 99 going east toward the coast. After about 1.5 miles, turn right onto either St. Andrews Cemetery Rd. or Ashantilly Rd. to get to the Center.
Accessibility: Ashantilly is open for events. For more information, visit ashantilly.org.
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