Herndon Home
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Herndon Home
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| Location | 587 University Place, NW, Atlanta, Georgia |
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| Coordinates | 33°45′21″N 84°24′25″W / 33.75581°N 84.40686°WCoordinates: 33°45′21″N 84°24′25″W / 33.75581°N 84.40686°W |
| Built | 1910 |
| Architect | Adrienne McNeil Herndon |
| Architectural style | Classical Revival |
| NRHP Reference # | 00000261 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | February 16, 2000 |
| Designated NHL | February 16, 2000 |
The Herndon Home is a historic house museum and National Historic Landmark at 587 University Place NW, in Atlanta, Georgia. An elegant Classical Revival mansion with Beaux Arts influences, it was the home of Alonzo Franklin Herndon (1858-1927), a rags-to-riches success story who was born into slavery, but went on to become Atlanta's first black millionaire as founder and head of the Atlanta Life Insurance Company. The house was designed by his wife Adrienne, and was almost entirely built with African-American labor. The house was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2000, and had previously been declared a "landmark building exterior" by the city of Atlanta in 1989.
The Herndon Home is located in Atlanta's Vine City neighborhood, adjacent to the campus of Morris Brown College (formerly the campus of Atlanta University) on the north side of University Place NW. It is a two story rectangular structure, faced in brick, with a flat, balustraded roof, porches projecting from the sides, and a massive neoclassical entrance portico, supported by large paired columns. The entrance is framed by wide sidelight windows and topped by a semi-oval transom, all windows displaying etching and tracery. The building is capped by a full entablature and modillioned cornice. The flat roof is usable as an open terrace, although it was reported to be in poor condition in 2000. The building interior is elaborately fitted with original period wood, stone, and plaster. The main living rooms have murals on the wall depicting elements of the Herndon family history.
The house was built in 1910 for Alonzo and Adrienne Herndon. Much of the building's design is credited to Adrienne, who was a drama teacher at Atlanta University, and had intended the rooftop terrace, from which the university campus was visible, as a performance venue. According to available documentation, all of the work on the mansion, except for its electrical and plumbing systems, was performed by African-American laborers and contractors.
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