The Foundation extends special gratitude to all our Friends who have made special gifts for the Hill house restoration. These donations are making it possible for the Foundation to match the federal and state grants awarded for this project.
The contractor for the Hill house restoration project is Garbutt Construction Company, the same firm that restored the water tower at Andalusia several years ago. Work began on the Hill house at the end of February, 2012 and is expected to be completed by the end of summer.
On February 1, 2011, the National Park Service awarded the Foundation a Save America's Treasures matching grant in the amount of $120,000 to completely restore the Hill house.Read the official press release.
Click the PLAY button to watch a slide show of the project.
The E. J. Grassmann Trust donated $7,500 to the Foundation to help rescue and restore the Hill house. The Grassmann Trust has given three previous donations to the Foundation to help develop the Dr. Bernard Cline Outdoor Learning Center.
The Historic Preservation Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources awarded a 2010 Georgia Heritage Grant for $20,000 to the Foundation for the rescue and stabilization of the Hill house. The Foundation received a Georgia Heritage Grant several years ago for the restoration of the water tower at Andalusia.
We are pleased to announce that the Foundation secured the services of Lord Aeck Sargent to create the planning documents for the Hill house restoration and to supervise the construction for the project. The LAS team has been an integral part of the restoration planning and implementation at Andalusia from the beginning. They completed a total assessment of the property and a master plan for restoration activity for Andalusia in 2004, which has guided the Foundation's efforts at the farm for seven years. LAS has a significant presence in Milledgeville as the lead architectural firm for the restoration of the Old Governor's Mansion, the Old State Capitol, and several buildings on the campus of Georgia College.
Craig Amason holds Georgia Heritage Program banner with
Historic Preservation Division grants coordinator,
Carole Moore,
in front of the Hill house.
The Foundation
launched fundraising efforts in early 2010 to rescue and restore the home of Jack and
Louise Hill at Andalusia. The Hills lived in this two-story house located
just northwest of the main house with a boarder, Willie “Shot” Manson,
during the time that Flannery O’Connor lived at the farm. In fact,
O’Connor refers to these farm workers on several occasions in her
published letters, The Habit of Being. The house is most likely
the oldest extant structure on the property.
Visitors to Andalusia may
recall seeing a portrait of Louise Hill that is displayed on top of the
bookcases in Flannery O’Connor’s bedroom in the main house. The portrait
was painted by O’Connor’s good friend, Robert Hood, from St. Augustine,
Florida.
When PBS filmed an
adaptation of O’Connor’s short story “The Displaced Person” at Andalusia in
1976, the movie included interior and exterior scenes of the Hill house. It
was an essential part of the farm complex in the 1950s and 60s and still is
today. Andalusia is not just a place where O’Connor wrote her fiction – it
clearly inspired many of her stories.
Several generous Friends
have made donations for this restoration effort, which is the largest
project undertaken by the Foundation to date. We have been awarded both
federal and state grants to save the Hill house, and we are appealing to
private funding sources to help us match these gifts. Government grants require a dollar-for-dollar
match, so please consider making an extra gift this year to help us with
this very important endeavor.
Thank you for helping us as we continue our efforts to preserve one of America's national treasures -- Andalusia, the home of Flannery O'Connor.
