Sunday, April 27, 2008
Life, Travel

Barnsley Gardens

The legend lives on

By David Danzig

    Long before Margaret Mitchell spun her yarn of Rhett and Scarlett, Tara and “Gone with the Wind,” a true-life epic tale took place 70 miles north of Atlanta. The tale spans more than 100 years, and its narrative reads like a Danielle Steele novel: true love, curses, death, apparitions, war, tornadoes, murder and, eventually, rebirth, all playing prominent roles in the account. Fortunately for today’s discerning traveler, there’s a happy ending to the story, and it sits at the foot of the Appalachian Mountains in the form of the Barnsley Gardens Resort.

    Rewind to1824. Like many fortune seekers of that time, Godfrey Barnsley crossed the pond from England to the New World of the southern United States. In less than four years, Barnsley’s shipping and cotton trade ventures catapulted him to one of the 10 most affluent men in the south. Along with his new wealth, he met the love of his life, Julia Scarborough of Savannah, and in 1828 they wed.
In order to escape the stifling heat of the Georgia coast, Julia encouraged her husband to build a home for them and their six children in a climate cooler than Savannah’s. Barnsley acquired nearly 10,000 acres of higher elevation land in Bartow County (then known as Cass County) and commenced the construction of a grand, 14-room mansion replete with unheard of indoor plumbing, opulent materials from Europe as well as fine art and furnishings from around the world. A local Indian legend told of an ancient curse on the property but Barnsley disregarded it and pushed on with the project, which he would call Woodlands.

    But tragedy struck their plan and Julia died of tuberculosis shortly after construction began in 1845. After a year of mourning, Barnsley returned to the unfinished estate where he claims to have witnessed a vision of Julia’s spirit in a landscaping fountain beseeching him to complete the house for their children and future generations. 

    The Italian-style home did eventually complete as did Barnsley’s long and agonizing reversal of fortune. Over the remainder of his life, Barnsley endured losing children and loved ones to illness, war and even pirates. Barnsley ended up dying in New Orleans in 1873 while trying to regain his lost fortune. His body was returned to the property where it lies today in the family cemetery.

    But the tale does not end there: Barnsley’s descendants took over the property and lived there until a tornado ripped the roof off in 1906, driving the family into adjoining the kitchen wing where they lived for the next 30-plus years. The property was eventually auctioned off in 1942 and then fell into kudzu-covered ruins.

Luckily a buyer came to the rescue in the late 1980s and transformed the estate into one of the most unique and delightful resorts in the country. Now, in just a little over an hour from Atlanta, you almost magically arrive at a fairytale recreation of a quaint English village.    

Dozens of charming cottages, outfitted with the finest luxury creature comforts are neatly arranged on immaculately manicured gravel lanes, all of which lead to the still-standing ruins of Woodlands. The rooms are decorated in traditional English country style with antiques, four poster sleigh beds, ball and claw cast iron soaking tubs and real wood-burning fire places. And since there is no large central inn or concentration of buildings where guests stay, the feeling of seclusion is more like a private mountain hideaway than a luxury resort.

But you are far from stuck in the middle of no where: rooms come with high-speed Internet, pay-per-view television and in just a short walk from your cottage you arrive at one of three outstanding restaurants, a championship caliber golf course, a gym and a small spa offering all of the requisite pampering you would expect at a world class property.

Barnsley Gardens also has teamed up with sporting goods company, Orvis, to create The Outpost, a state-of-the-art recreation center from which you can ride horseback, bicycle, play tennis, fish, shoot skeet, paintball and even negotiate a “9 hole” Frisbee golf course.

A stroll around the Woodland ruins, gardens, family cemetery and nearby trails is a must. All that stands of the old mansion itself are the outer brick walls and the kitchen wing which sustained the family for years after the tornado. Inside, bullet holes and blood stains from 1935 murder of Barnsley’s great-grandson, Harry Saylor, by his brother, Preston (who was a world class boxer aka K.O. Dugan), are clearly visible on the original hard woods. Civil War memorabilia and other mementos from the family’s haunting past are faithfully preserved giving a visitor a tabloid-type glimpse into the family’s history as well as a vivid snap shot of what life must have been like in rural Georgia during the nineteenth century.
You will have a difficult time finding a property that creates an atmosphere of such deep intimacy and splendid seclusion while offering royal service and a variety of amenities that rival any of the big name resorts. You want a vacation to instill memories. Barnsley Gardens them, plus history. SP

Photos/David Danzig

IF YOU GO

Barnsley Gardens Resort
597 Barnsley Gardens Road
Adairsville
www.barnsleyresort.com
770-773-7480 or 1-877-773-2447
Rates start at $250/night for rooms (Sunday–Thursday) and $299/night for weekends. Suites and cottages with 1-7 bedrooms are available.
Located 70 miles north of downtown, the drive up I-75 is quick and easy; the roads off of the highway offer gorgeous country scenery.

Insider Tip: Build in extra time before or after your visit and tour the Etowah Indian Burial Mounds which are a few exits south off of I-75. Not related to Barnsley Gardens, the mounds are 1,000-year-old burial mounds, one of which is more than 6 stories high and 3 acres wide. The mounds picturesquely sit along the Etowah River. www.gastateparks.org