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HISTORIC HOUSE MUSEUM CORPORATION Post Office Box 1 Atlanta Georgia 30301 lfarch 4 1967 Honora ble Iv an _ llen Jr 'ia yor , City Ha ll Atlanta Ga Dear 1ayor Allen: Thank you for your k i nd inquiry of January 24 r e ga rding the prope rty a t 327 s t Paul venue S . Th is i s t h e LP . G~ant h ome . t t h e ti me it was built about 1850 i t was near the cen ter of 3,000 a cres owned by colonel Grant. Thi s wa s appr oximately t he same area whi ch you pr op ose to renew . - we ap olo gi ze for delaying rep ly, but we had h oped to have a personal i nterview. Si n ce t his has not been co nvenient, we send this le t ter so tha t you can move ahea d with any plans you have i n conn ection with t he renewal/ pr oject. When t he historians told you that this is an i mp ortant house in Atlanta ' s history t h ey may not have to ld you t he most i mp ortant event in the histpr y of this l andmark. This event wa s Mar garet Mit chell and her book "Gone with the Wind" . - The full st ory of Mar garet ti tchell ' s a ss ocia tion with th~s h ouse probably will not be told until I publish I?,Y "FO:bidden ?3--og:aphy of Margaret Mi tchell 11 --,hi ch cannot be published in the lifetime of Stephens Mitchell, the wr iter's brother. T e true story dep icts he r brother and her husband as rascals . They conspired wi th others and seized control of her fortune . ~She wa s frustrated in her own p l ans to r e store t he Grant House and make -z it a p ublic museum . If she had com~Jet ed her p lans Atlanta wo~ld have received a cherished mementol of t h e author provided by t he writer herself, a true memorial. Oakland c:C,eme tery, the site of Fulton Bag and of course Grant Park were once part of the l and a tta ched to t hi present h ouse. The h ouse is of brick and fieldstone, a1d struct urally sound desp ite its appea r ance. I~rgaret ~ itchell and I purchas ed t he property 27 yea rs ago to prevent it being convert ed into tenements. Our ori ginal restoration pl ans included p urchase of 14 f r ame dwell ings in t he same block, razing them and using the entire block fo r gardens and parking area. The 14 houses are on small lots and probab ly could be bought for an ave rage of $ 5,000 each. le pla ced title i n Hi sto ric HOuse IiiUseum Corporation ~hich under its charter and under Georgia l aw is t axfree . Assist ant Ctty Attorney Charles Murphy, however, very s tubbornly re quire d us to pay t axe s until we recently went into court and p ut the Tax com_~_issioner under a restraining order . This at titude on the part of the City had pre judiced us ~gainst any negoti ations with t he city, but we will not hold this a~ainst y~u . ,fo ar~ delighted to learn that a t least someone in the ?ity has inter~st in prese~ving a landmark. We had thought the only interest the Ctty had was in the possible tax revenue. (more) �r HISTORIC HOUSE MUSEUM CORPORA T ION Post Office Box 1 Atlanta Georgia 30301 ( 2) our prejudi ce a ga inst t he c±ty a lso stems fr om viayor Hartsfield ' s a dmi nistration . \ tt Harts f i e l d wanted to opera te a Grant House museum ill conne ction with Gr ant P~rk Cycfu or ~ma . ~ b i g oak_iP.:,, ~ront _of the Grant House shovvs on t he dis~a- t h ori z on in the pa1nt~1ng . owever,

Ir Hartsfield disrupte d ne gqe,iations vi.hen he hinted~ hat he would

t a ke t he pr operty by condemnation . ',/e do n ot wish to show t he interior of the h ouse until we c an remove our 10 ,000-v olume l ibr a ry an d other belon gings. We n eed 12 mon ths f or moving, but we will start i mmed i ately. ·e recent ly r ef used an offer of $40, 000 be cause t he buyers i nten ded to convert t h e h-euse into apar t ment s. We alway s ha ve held t he property for re¥>ration a n d p reservation. · e have refused to rent it for fear tenant s v ould dama ge ito The h ouse occup i es a lot 100 by 240 feet , extendi ng through t h e block fr om St Pa ul to Orl eans Street . The l ot is a bout one third of t h e block in ar ea. 1 I you care to buy the pr operty s i ght un seen and within th e next 60 d ys we woul d be will ing to: 1. ccep t $40,000. 2. Throw in s ui t able antique f urniture which we va :}.ue a t $20,000. J o Drop our cla i m for $1,600 ba ck t axe s and dismi s s t h e pre sent liti gation. rn our ef f ort s to preserve t he h ouse we ha ve pa sse d up ~75,000 i n pBs sible r ents. ny fun ds which we derive fr om sale6L'he property would be used for restorati on and preservat ion of ot~ l andma r k s. rf you wish to go into ot he r de t a ils, p l eas e write and we wi ll c a l l fdr ap yointme nt . I~ do n ot ha ve a tele phone. \;i th cordial good wishes I I STORIC HOUSE fLJSEUiVI Boyd Eugen~ yl~ cortr~::N ~{::;J" ·- �