Hay House

The Hay House is the finest antebellum mansion in Macon and one of the best examples of Italian Renaissance Revival architecture in the American South. Built between 1855 and 1859 by merchant William Butler Johnston, the house has 24 rooms and is extraordinary for the period: it had running water, central heating, a speaking tube communication system, and skylit interior spaces that are still impressively bright today.

The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation manages the property and offers guided tours. The interior has been carefully restored with period furniture and the original decorative plasterwork — elaborate ceiling medallions, cornices, and friezes that took Italian craftsmen years to complete. The cupola at the top of the house offers views over the city. Johnston himself was a strong Confederate sympathiser, and the house's history during and after the Civil War is part of every tour. Located at 934 Georgia Avenue.

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A story
When the house was built between 1855 and 1859, it included running water, central heating, and a speaking tube system connecting the rooms — technology so advanced that the house was called "the Palace of the South." The speaking tubes still work. During the Civil War, Confederate gold was allegedly hidden somewhere on the premises, though the owners denied this under Union interrogation, and the gold, if it existed, has never been found.