The Castle

The Castle. . Fort Peace, known to Atlantans as “The Castle” because of its granite pediment, was completed around 1910 by Ferdinand McMillan, a Civil War veteran and inventor., Featuring numerous unusual elements of his design, including the Uncle Remus Spring, a tribute to neighbor and friend Joel Chandler Harris, and eight remarkable plaster state seals from the 1895 Cotton States and International Exposition in Piedmont Park, it was one of the first mansions in then rural Ansley Park, and conceived as a “country house in the city” with sprawling, terraced gardens extending down 15th Street., After World War II it was owned for decades by Hazel Roy Butler who attended the Christian Science church across Peachtree Street and rented out rooms to members of the Bohemian arts community around the High Museum, such as the writer Pat Conroy. Saved from demolition by Atlanta's nascent historic preservation community, it was stabilized by AT&T as an arts venue for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and maintained thereafter by Norfolk Southern., In 2010 Arts Corporation embarked on the winding process of bringing it into public use, with aid from city councilman Kwanza Hall and generous major funding from the Latham Foundation of Bethel, NC, JGG Holding of Dallas, TX, and Alexander Shunnarah and Associates, LLP., The Castle is a City of Atlanta Historic Building, a State of Georgia Historic Place, and was placed on the National Register of Historic Landmarks in 2014.