McDonald: "Betrayed" By Decision to Demolish Glenridge Hall

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While Glenridge Hall’s owners are planning to move forward with demolition, that isn’t stopping those who are adamant about preserving the home for future generations to see in the flesh rather than just in photographs.

Organizers are using social media to spread awareness about plans to demolish the home. A Facebook page called Save Glenridge Hall was created this week and has been used to publicize rallies to protest plans to tear down the mansion.

One rally was held on Wednesday, and another is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Saturday, April 4. As of Friday evening, the page had around 1,850 likes, or followers.

Mark McDonald, president and CEO of The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, has kept a close eye on the home’s fate

The organization in October named Glenridge Hall to its 2015 Places of Peril list, an annual compilation of historic properties around the state the organization believes is “threatened by demolition, neglect, lack of maintenance, inappropriate development or insensitive public policy.”

McDonald on Friday said he and his organization have attempted to work closely with the Mayson family, which owns the land, to find alternatives to demolition.

“We really reached out to them extensively to try to find a solution to this,” he said.

So when they learned the city of Sandy Springs early last month issued a permit needed to proceed with demolition, McDonald said the organization felt “betrayed” because, according to him, the family expressed its intentions to save the property.

“We were caught totally by surprise and we were very disappointed,” he added.

Mike Rabalais, director of the Glenridge Hall family office, issued a statement on behalf of the family.

“The family has made the decision to sell the property and is steadfast in that decision,” he said. “Unfortunately, preservation of the house is not a possibility and significant architectural features are currently being salvaged for reuse.”

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According to Neighbor Newspapers, Glenridge Hall and nine other structures on the roughly 76-acre site are slated to be torn down later this year.

Roswell-based Ashton Woods earlier this year announced plans to purchase the property. In addition to the purchase, the homebuilder will also sell 12 acres of that property to Mercedes-Benz, which will build its U.S. headquarters on the site in Sandy Springs.

The property, which has been on the market since July, is comprised of two parts: a 47-acre parcel north of Abernathy Road and 29 acres on the south side of Abernathy between Glenridge Drive and Barfield Road. Mercedes-Benz’s headquarters will be located at the corner of Abernathy and Barfield Roads.

According to the Georgia Trust, Thomas K. Glenn built the Glenridge estate in 1929 on 400 acres of farmland north of Atlanta.

Designed by Samuel Inman Cooper, the Tudor Revival mansion required 60 men and a year to complete. The property also included stables, barns, smith and carpentry shops and housing for workers. Thomas and his wife, Elizabeth lived at Glenridge until his death in 1946.

Beginning in the 1980s, Glenn’s granddaughter and her husband fought to preserve the house and its setting. Glenridge Hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 and the couple thoroughly restored the home “with the dream that it be available for the public to enjoy,” Georgia Trust said.

The home has been the site for many charitable events and retreats over the years and has also been used in films such as Driving Miss Daisy and The Vampire Diaries.

McDonald said preserving Glenridge Hall, like other historic properties throughout the state, is important as it serves as “a link to the past.”

Leaving the house in place, he added, would also allow it to serve as a “centerpiece” to any developer’s plans for the property.

Tell us: what should happen to Glenridge Hall?