White Hall Inn makes for a good
story as well as a pretty picture. We feel we are caretakers of one of
the more interesting houses in Georgia, as well as over 150 years of
history that go with it.
In 1827, John White emigrated from Ireland to Athens, Georgia, and
built the first cotton processing and clothes-manufacturing mill south
of the Potomac River. The mill just below Athens was located in an
area called Whitehall, now part of the University of Georgia campus.
Other buildings such as company stores, mill houses, and brick factories
soon followed.
In 1848, Mr. White combined three existing mill houses into one big house,
the same house we have today minus the large front porch. Then in 1890
the Whites built a large brick home and moved this house about 300 yards
to their back yard for use as a school. There it rested until 1906, when
John Richards White responded to Zack Dillard’s petition for summer
homes to be built in order to make Dillard, Georgia, a resort area.
J. R. White was a high-ranking official with the Tallulah Falls Railway,
so he had the house disassembled, each piece numbered, and hauled by train
to the end of the line in Mountain City. From there, ox carts carried the
load the remaining miles to a pristine hillside in Dillard with a magnificent
Monte Vista…or mountain view. The parts were reassembled over a period
of three years and to this day are held together with wooden pegs.
|
 |
Bob White, the grandson of J.
R. White, shared all of these details with us. “The house just
had two columns back in Whitehall,” explained Bob. “[Here]
it’s got ten on the first-floor front porch.” Eventually
the railroad ended right in front of the house, and the family whiled
away the hours on the porch as they watched travelers leave the trains
and head off for the Highlands, NC.
We purchased the home in 1995
and made a few changes of our own, opening it as a bed and breakfast.
With William’s background in hospitality and Charlene’s passion
for entertaining, we found ourselves with the title we have always wanted:
Innkeepers.
Our recent addition of 9,000
square feet of dining space to the Inn’s
original 6,000 square feet will allow us to serve our guests more fully.
But we always keep within the spirit of the original construction. And
speaking of spirits, every old house has a ghost story. When Bob White
was little, “There was talk of a ball of fire going down the steps
and down the hill. It sounds funny, but we didn’t sleep in that
upstairs back room for years.” 
As our guests will tell you, every room sleeps fine now, and the house
has long settled down. With the passage of years, the rock wall built
across the front yard has filled in on the uphill side. The train is
long gone. And mountain lions no longer roam the front porch (on rare
occasion). Today, as Bob says, the “front porch is just the place
for the person who wants to relax. This is where we sit and think as
hard as we can about nothing.” And with eight rocking chairs, you
have your choice.
So come join us! Experience our Monte Vista!
This
lovely view from the front porch of the Inn was painted by our good
friend and talented artist Joe Strother.
|
