Many Southerners have heard of or visited Callaway Gardens, the resort complex in Pine Mountain, Georgia, founded by Cason Callaway and his wife in 1952. However, this weekend, just 30 minutes north in LaGrange, an older Callaway property celebrates its 100th anniversary, and the stately home and gardens are well worth a visit.
The Fuller E. Calloway house in LaGrange, Georgia.
Cason Callaway’s father, textile magnate Fuller E. Callaway, built his 13,000-square-foot “Georgian-Italian” home at Hills & Dales Estate in 1916. The pristine gardens surrounding it go back even further. In fact, they may have even led Fuller to purchase the property. “Miss Sarah” Ferrell and her husband were the land’s original owners from 1841 until 1903. Miss Sarah built her dream garden—chock-full of English boxwood, magnolia, and China fir—on the crest of a hill as a place for local townsfolk to enjoy, including a young Fuller Callaway. Today, the boxwood parterres she tended still grow in the shadow of the home he built. As do calla lilies, which Fuller’s wife, Ida, introduced to the garden in 1930s.
This weekend, with the help of Hill & Dales’s on-site garden designer, floral artists from a slew of local gardening clubs will festoon each room of the home with blossoms. And, as was the wish of each owner since its founding, guests are invited to come and celebrate.
Admission is free for Troup County, Georgia, residents, and $12 for out-of-town visitors. Click here for more information.
Photo: Courtesy of Hills and Dales Estate
The main dining room as it appeared in 1916; perfectly preserved today.
Photo: Courtesy of Hills and Dales Estate
From left: The Palm Room; each room of the 13,000-square-foot house has a unique key; the vintage-1940s kitchen.
Photo: Courtesy of Hills and Dales Estate
The music room at the Callaway Home.
Photo: Courtesy of Hills and Dales Estate
The first terrace in spring, with Snapdragons in full bloom.
Photo: Courtesy of Hills and Dales Estate
A water fountain in the Sunken Garden.
Photo: Courtesy of Hills and Dales Estate
A southern view of the house.
