Two weekends ago, Mark and I made the drive back to Madison, GA, a quaint and historic Southern town about an hour from downtown Atlanta. It’s a through back in time, with beautiful historic homes that were spared in the Civil War burnings and for that I’m grateful. I love towns like Madison, where driving through the streets feels like another era and time. The downtown square is so pretty and it was a fun 2 days, since we spent the night at a bed and breakfast this time and came back home Sunday. I’ve shared Madison, GA a few times, so check out the Spring tour we did a couple of years ago.
We also noticed one of the houses that was open for viewing back then is on the market still or again for sale in the historic district. Take a look at the Kolb-Foster historic home in Madison, it’s a beauty!
We love touring homes at Christmas and decided to take in Madison’s tour this year, even though it’s on the same weekend as the Marietta Pilgrimage, so we had to skip that one this time. Madison is a great town to visit if you haven’t been yet! We did the day tour on December 7th and also the candlelight tour that night. It was all a treat to enjoy!
I had heard about Hilltop house (circa 1838) before we got to Madison and briefly got to meet the lady of the house, well known Christine Lambert, who has lived in Hilltop for 50 years. She is a spry 94 year old and has been recognized as one of Georgia’s major leaders in historic preservation. Her late husband, Roy, was a local attorney and influential member of the Georgia General Assembly.
It was a treat to see her house and I hope that she doesn’t mind me sharing a few pictures of inside the house. It’s gorgeous inside and out.
I loved this staircase with swags of garlands and pink bows.
Valley Farm is a newish neighborhood in Madison, with homes that look like they are historic, but are not. The original farmhouse is still on the property and is used as a clubhouse for the neighborhood, which I think is great. Known as Old Holland Place the Farmhouse overlooked a large pasture and orchard. The house was built and completed in 1870.
Developers Diane Lankford and Dell Reardon purchased the property in 1998 and created a community in sync with historic Madison in both architecture and landscape design. The old farmhouse is now the Valley Farm Meeting house with modern conveniences, indoor kitchen and swimming pool with bathhouse.
It was fun touring the farmhouse and I enjoyed the old mixed with new.
The porches really caught my eye.
Next door to the farmhouse was another home on the tour. We were allowed to take pics inside of some of them, but I didn’t overdo it. This is the Halloran residence, built in 2000 and is a Southern Living house with reclaimed pine floors.
I didn’t take a lot of pictures inside, but it was a beautiful home. You can see from the outdoor pics that the neighborhood is the best of both worlds. Architecturally historic looking, but newish homes.
I knew you all would love this blue and white collection of dishes.
I always love the Williamsburg way of displaying fruit at Christmas.
I didn’t get outdoor shots of the candlelight tour homes, but this one is the Porch House, circa 1897. With a wrap around porch, that’s how it got its name I’m sure. The current owners are Mike and Laurie Becker and they moved to Madison in June 2019 and say the house is a work in progress. I loved the artwork and Christmas displays throughout the house.
Beautiful artwork over the mantel.
On the candlelight tour, this house had some beautiful displays. The Barnett Stokes Ball house, circa 1835 was really well done and pretty inside. I didn’t get a pic from outside since it was dark, but I loved their displays of Christmas cheer. It’s a raised cottage style house more typical of South Carolina low country than Georgia.
The current family, Sarah and Sam Ball moved to Morgan County in 2012 and became owners of the Barnett-Stokes-Ball home four years ago, adding two little ones to the family since then. You can see the children’s rooms in these pictures and they are adorable!
I think this is the famous Arhaus mirror that I’ve seen in blogland.
This girl’s room really caught my eye.
And this nursery is so cute!
The lower area of the house still had the old kitchen and brickwork throughout and was really a neat tour.
I hope you enjoyed this taste of Madison, GA’s historic Christmas home tour. We really enjoyed our stay there. I’ve got a few more things to share of Madison, including the B&B we stayed in and where we had dinner, all worth sharing, so I’ll do that on another post.
I took these shots at night as we were walking around town.
Loved this shot of the clouds and moon over the court house, I think it was. Madison is such a cute town, so if you haven’t visited, put it on your list of places to see in Georgia!
Always love your tours Thanks for posting. Been along time since I’ve been to Madison. All the homes on the Main Street into town had green shutters.😁
OOOOO!!! I love the mooncake molds hanging in the first kitchen. They have even more than I do!
Wow!! These are beautiful. I saw a few things that have been on my wish list. The Arhaus mirror is gorgeous and I’ve been wanting to put the Anthro wallpaper somewhere for a few years now. Don’t you just love home tours? We’ve been on several this year around Dallas.
Merry Christmas to you and yours Rhoda.
Thank you for the pictures! I went to school with Laurie and her sister, Molly. Sweet friends. Her red twin bedroom is precious! Her house is as cute on the outside as the inside. Thanks for posting. Merry Christmas to you and Mark!
Oh my goodness Rho! Those houses are beautiful. I love Madison GA and those historic and new homes. Sigh! I want one. Thank you so much for sharing. My heart is full when I see pictures of my GA roots.
Merry Christmas Friend,
Judy
So pretty! love the photo of the moon over the courthouse. I’d love to visit this town soon!
I love to tour historic homes and authentic farmhouses – and I’m sure most people realize that the genuine ones – true to the period are grand old ladies – but they usually have creaky floors, uneven doors, windows that are not efficient, and cracked plaster. They are dark in the evenings and cold in the winter. My husband and I toured a Civil War era home several years back south of Tuscaloosa (his family’s origins) and while it was cavernous, the bedrooms were not large and the beds were tiny, the bathrooms were retrofitted in the 1950’s, and the kitchen smallish. What I recall the most were the COLD FLOORS. I could not stand in one place too long for fear of losing circulation in my feet. But it was a grand dame. The family living there mostly occupy the ‘back den’ and kitchen area with a bath and bedroom off the kitchen. Too expensive to keep the big house even moderately warm. Their biggest fear? a fire due to bad electrical wiring! These are Southern treasures and I applaud you for whetting the interest of your readers. Merry Christmas to you and your beautiful family.
Hi Rhoda. My husband and I went on the Saturday tours. I’ve never been disappointed in this town’s Christmas tours. This one didn’t dissapoint and I came home with more great ideas. We enjoyed a great lunch at Mint Juleps. Merry Christmas to you and Mark!
Beautiful old homes. Love the elegance and simplicity of the Christmas decor. Reminders of a simpler time. Thanks for sharing.
Madison is a beautiful town, near where we live now, we always love walking the around the square in town. So historical and feel like we’re walking in times past…magical!!! Rhoda, you did an excellent job of narrating n photographing the tour!! As I also enjoyed your Christmas tour of Acworth, where we moved from 15yrs ago…. Small world!
Merry Christmas Emma
Hi, Emma, that is a small world, Acworth and now Madison! Both are cute towns.
Beautiful! I’ve visited Madison once but want to return. Your photos were such a treat.
Rhoda, you did a marvelous job documenting the tour! We didn’t get to see that last house on the Friday daylight tour…I would have loved to have seen that wall of blue plates! My favorites were the farmhouse/clubhouse and the house next door because they were both so welcoming and livable. I wish I lived a little closer to Madison. The shopping is great and so is the food!
Hey, Roxanne, I’m sure you enjoyed your trip to Madison too, such a cute town!
I drove through Madison recently for the first time. I knew nothing about it, but was so impressed. I wished I could have stopped and looked around awhile. I actually thought of your blog while I was driving and wondered if you’d ever had a post about Madison! You did it proud! Now I really want to go back!
Hi, Peggy, it is a cute town and I’m glad you went through there too.
Happy Birthday Dear Friend,
Wishing you the best day ever with your friends. Wish that I was there to have lunch with you.
Hugs and Much Love From Texas
Judy
Thank you SO much for sharing this again; Madison is a true Georgia gem! Really special.
I have followed you for years. I need your help pls to know how to get rid of all the ads that are in the “body” of your posts and along the right side of the posts. They are honestly so distracting and detract from your good posting. Thanks in advance for helping me on this; I bet I am not the only longtime reader with this problem. Happy Birthday!
Hi, Elaine, I’m sorry about the ads. I think it depends on how you are reading. It’s a lot worse on the phone but the computer should be pretty easy to read. The content ads should not be in the way of the posts. I’m sorry, but that’s the main way I make a living with my blog.
I loved the tours especially the blue and white dishes, the art work, and beautiful homes. Thank you for sharing your tour pictures.
I also have a December birthday, mine it the 9th. This is a busy month for both of us.