Owens-Thomas House

Completed in 1819, for Richard Richardson (1765-1833), Cotton Trader and Banker. Situated on the northeast corner of Oglethorpe Square, it was designed by William Jay of Bath and is built with highly prized English Bath stone first made famous with the construction of Prior Park. The Owens-Thomas House is considered to be the finest example of English Regency architecture in the United States and it was here on the wrought iron verandah in 1825 that the Marquis de Lafayette famously addressed the people of Savannah. In 1830, it was purchased by George Welshman Owens and it remained in his family until 1951 when his grand-daughter, Margaret Owens Thomas, bequeathed it to the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences. Open to the public today as a house museum, it also possesses the best preserved slave quarters in the country.