The most unusual feature of the William S. Simmons Plantation is the interior paint. Though four of the rooms no longer have their original paint, three rooms and the upstairs and downstairs foyer do. Several doors and mantels also are painted using a technique known as faux bois. Several of the doors are painted to appear as if they have raised panels where there are none and three of the mantels and fireplace surrounds have what appear to be the remnants of a marbled pattern (see photos below). In my research, I've found examples of more rustic, folk-style murals done by itinerant artists using a combination of stenciling and hand-painting techniques, but have yet to find anything that truly compares to this house except perhaps Beauvoir, Jefferson Davis' home in Mississippi. The interior of Davis' home, according to a staff member at Beauvoir, was painted by a German artist out of New Orleans named Muller. Beauvoir, like the William S. Simmons Plantation, also features faux wood designs on the doors and wall frescoes which incorporate the art technique trompe l'oeil - to deceive the eye. In the case of the Simmons Plantation, the frescoes are now quite faded. The Rococo-style frescoes at Beauvoir, which are believed to have been completed between 1850-52, were beautifully restored by Linda Croxson and Philip Ward and, based on the photos I've seen, are far more elaborate than the ones in our Cave Spring home. Still, there are definite similarities and it is easy to imagine how beautiful the walls in the William S. Simmons Plantation must have been at one time. Click here for images of Beauvoir and take a look at this CNN article (photo number 5) to see what a restored, marbled-finish fireplace looks like (this is how I imagine the fireplaces in the William S. Simmons Plantation once looked). The Wall Street Journal also has a wonderful Beauvoir slideshow which shows the foyer of the home and gives you an idea of how gorgeous these frescoes must have been when freshly painted.
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If you watched the first music video starring renowned composer and pianist Malek Jindali, you saw the William S. Simmons Plantation "burn" at the end of the video. Not to worry, it was all done with special effects. In this, his second video filmed in Cave Spring, nothing was "burned" although Jindali reportedly gave serious consideration to torching the beautiful antique piano you see featured in the video. The piano was non-functioning, but still lovely. Thankfully he decided to keep it. This video was filmed in early 2012.
The historic William S. Simmons Plantation in Cave Spring, Ga. recently served as the backdrop for the latest music video by Syrian pianist and composer Malek Jindali.
Jindali, along with a production crew from Atlanta-based FUGO Studios, filmed the video Dec. 17-18. Scenes for the video were shot both inside and outside the home, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and on the Georgia Historic Resources Register. Eric Haviv, president of FUGO Studios, said he chose to film at the antebellum home due to its uniqueness. “We wanted really like a very historic location that really had a lot of character,” Haviv said. Though the video is not set in any particular time or place, Haviv explained the Cave Spring house is a big part of the video. “Immediately, when we saw it, we said this is the place,” he said. “I think the walls are what sold me immediately.” The William S. Simmons Plantation is one of the oldest brick residences in Floyd County, Ga. Built in the late 1840s, the house is constructed entirely of handmade red bricks. The brick exterior walls are 18 inches thick. The interior walls are also made of brick and are over 14 inches thick. Many of the rooms contain hand-painted details original to the house that mimic ornate trim. “Everything really was exactly what we were looking for -- really old and original with a lot of character,” Haviv added. Haviv discovered the property through the Georgia Film, Music and Digital Entertainment Office film locations database. The database contains information about homes and businesses throughout Georgia that have been listed as potential locations for feature films, television shows, commercials, music video and photography shoots. Location specialists help producers find locations that match specified criteria. The William S. Simmons Plantation is a two-story Greek revival house featuring nine rooms and over 4,000 square feet of living space. A two-room brick cook house dating to the early 1800s stands behind the main house. The home sits on 1.3 acres in the Cave Spring, Ga. historic district and is surrounded by scenic cotton fields. For more information, complete our contact form or email [email protected]. This bedroom, which I call the blue bedroom, is my favorite bedroom. The wall paint is original and is the best preserved in the entire house. The fireplace and mantel have a faux bois finish. The mantel has a marbled paint pattern and the door, just like most of the other doors in the house, was painted to give the appearance of panels where there are none. Another interesting feature of the room is a message written in charcoal on the wall near the fireplace (see photos). The images below show the room at various times since the house was purchased. The panoramic photo above was taken in summer 2013. This is a view of the cotton field as seen from the rear porch of the storage building located at the rear of the William S. Simmons Plantation property.
How could you not love Rolater Park, located just a few minutes away from the William S. Simmons Plantation? It is absolutely beautiful. I took this photo on a rainy day earlier this year.
The chapel is located on the rear corner of the property and was completed in 2013.
In the early part of the 1800s, the area now known as Floyd County, Georgia was still Cherokee Indian territory. The Cherokee, a peaceful, agrarian people, had established their own democratic government, the Cherokee Nation, and were considered one of the five “civilized” tribes. David Vann, Cherokee sub-chief and treasurer of the Cherokee nation in the 1840s, was born around 1800 in the valley where Cave Spring, Georgia was settled. The valley was named Vann’s Valley after his father, Avery Vann. Avery Vann, was the son of a Scottish trader named Clement Vann who married a full-blooded Cherokee named Wa-wli Gam. Avery is believed to have been Clement’s son by his first marriage to an unknown white woman. Avery married Margaret McSwain, daughter of a white trader named Alexander McSwain and a woman named Nancy Downing. Avery’s step-brother, James Vann, was a powerful, wealthy Cherokee chief known for his fierce temper. His home, Spring Place in Chatsworth, Georgia, is now open as a museum. Like his uncle, David Vann was also a very wealthy Cherokee planter. Vann was a slaveholder and owned a large plantation consisting of several hundred acres in the area which now comprises downtown Cave Spring. In A History of Rome and Floyd County, Vann is described by the author as “very well educated” and having “a pleasing hand with occasional misspelt words, like most of the Indian leaders.” A letter found in the 1960s in a city vault in Calhoun, Georgia contained a description of a visit to Vann’s home. The letter, written by Herman S. Gold on May 22, 1830 to Gen. D. B. Brinsiade, was a record of Gold’s travel to Creek Path. The letter reads in part: “Tuesday; We visited John Ross, the principal Chief, his house is a long two story building, inside has the appearance of neatness and elegance, here we crossed the Coosa, and passed the tomb of the Cherokee, who was so barbarously murdered by the Georgians. We went along Vann’s Valley, to David Vann’s; his house is elegantly painted outside, and in, and is beautifully clouded and furnished with the nicest kind of furniture, his wife amused us in the evening by playing most charmingly on her Piano, They are both descendants of Cherokee’s.” It was shortly before the time of this letter that gold was discovered in Georgia. As miners rushed to the state seeking to stake their claims on the land, the pressure to rid the land of Cherokees mounted. In 1829, the Indian Removal Act was introduced in Congress. Senators Daniel Webster and Henry Clay delayed passage until 1830. Vann, along with other wealthy Cherokee planters as well as the rest of the members of the Cherokee Nation, suddenly found themselves facing the prospect of losing their lands. In December of 1831, legislation was enacted in Georgia to create Cherokee County, a vast area covering most of the northern part of the state. Cherokee chief John Ross decided to fight the legislation within the court system. David Vann was initially a member of the Ross party. Eventually, Vann joined other prominent Cherokees including the Ridges in their efforts to negotiate a treaty with the United States government and end the persecution of their people at the hands of Georgians. Ultimately though, Vann disagreed with the treaty terms that Ridge and others negotiated at New Echota. Vann refused to sign the treaty—a decision which would save his life when other treaty leaders were brutally executed in 1839. Ross fought the federal government’s efforts to remove the Cherokee until 1838 when he finally realized his efforts were futile. Ross accompanied his people on the “Trail of Tears”. His wife was one of the many Cherokee that died as a result the grueling conditions of the forced march westward. It is not known at what point David Vann relinquished his land to the state of Georgia and moved west. In 1835, Vann was listed in Cherokee Census. According to the census records, in addition to Vann, there were three males under the age of 18 in Vann’s household and two females over the age of 16. Vann owned seven male slaves and six female slaves. His estate was valued at over $11,000 in the 1835 Cherokee valuations. Vann’s plantation would be divided up as part of the fourth section of the third district of what was then Cherokee County. The lots which would become part of the William S. Simmons Plantation were part of Vann’s estate. In December 2011, the historic William S. Simmons Plantation in Cave Spring, Ga. served as the backdrop for the latest music video by Syrian pianist and composer Malek Jindali.
Jindali, along with a production crew from Atlanta-based FUGO Studios, filmed the video Dec. 17-18. Scenes for the video were shot both inside and outside the home, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and on the Georgia Historic Resources Register. For more information, visit the William S. Simmons Plantation page on Facebook. |
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