Andrew Low House, Savannah

The stately three-storey mansion at 329 Abercorn Street is the Andrew Low House. Completed in 1849 for the wealthy Scottish-born cotton merchant, architect John Norris combined here Greek Revival symmetry with Italianate details, including broad bracketed eaves and ornate cast-iron balconies.

Behind the low iron fence is a formal garden arranged around a central path, with two distinctive hourglass-shaped planting beds. The layout preserves the structure of the garden created in 1849. Look beyond it to the sandstone entrance steps, where two reclining cast-iron lions guard the doorway. Fluted columns and pilasters frame the heavy double doors, while the lower level sits within a narrow dry moat. The long covered balcony wrapping around the southern side is the house’s main piazza.

Do not try to enter through the grand front doors. Walk around the property and use one of the courtyard gates on East Macon Street or East Charlton Street. Continue up the brick steps to the rear entrance and museum shop.

Inside, remember to look upward as well as around you. The rooms retain elaborate plaster cornices, ceiling decorations and carved woodwork, complemented by porcelain, paintings, silver and furniture from the late 18th and 19th centuries. In the front parlor, find Andrew Low’s portrait above the mantel; the back parlor displays a portrait of his wife, Mary, dressed in blue. In the informal parlor, look against the south wall for the large breakfront secretary made in 1810 by Philadelphia cabinetmaker Joseph Barry.

The dining room contains Low family silver, while an upstairs northeast bedroom displays a rosewood writing desk believed to have been used by English novelist William Makepeace Thackeray during his stay here.

The house later became closely associated with Juliette Gordon Low, who married Andrew Low’s son William in 1886 and founded the Girl Scouts of the USA. After leaving the museum, walk west towards Drayton Street and look for the smaller carriage house at 330 Drayton Street. Standing behind the mansion, it became the organization's First Headquarters and forms part of the Juliette Gordon Low Historic District.

The museum is especially rewarding for visitors interested in historic interiors, decorative arts, and the social history of 19th-century Savannah. Personal non-flash photography is currently permitted during ordinary visits unless signs indicate otherwise, so an evening ghost tour is no longer required simply to photograph the rooms.