...Somehow or another, it's always going to be the Jack Stacy House...
Mr. Jack Stacy, a well-known local architect, built the house in 1958 for his wife Matilde and their ever- expanding family. Having outgrown their home in Sylvan Terrace, they moved into the ‘big house’ on Gwinnett Street, with five children in tow and another “in the oven.”
The move to the Gordonston area allowed the Stacys more room to grow, and they ultimately had 10 children in all. It also put them within walking distance of the Savannah Golf Club, where the whole family enjoyed taking to the links.
The move was a fortuitous one, as shortly thereafter,daughter Hollis began to dazzle the world of women’s golfing. As a professional, Hollis Stacy won the U. S. Women’s Open three times , and to this day she holds an amateurs’ record having won three consecutive U.S. Girl’s Junior Championship titles.
The entire family were athletes in their own right—Hollis has said that her younger brother was the better golfer and all of the kids partook in golfing or tennis or swimming at some point, as did their parents. A present-day reminder of the Stacy family’s active lifestyle is the intact and working redwood- lined Metos sauna-- with its original ceramic disc Valmet thermometer from Finland.
The Stacys lived in the house for 38 years after having built it on land they had purchased from the Oelschigs, another old-school Savannah family. The Oelschigs had maintained their plant nursery on the property and adjacent pieces that include present-day Gordonston Bungalows. Long ago, the plot was a part of old Fort Brown; munitions were housed there and it saw action during Sherman’s infamous Siege of Savannah in 1864.
With the design of the house, Mr. Stacy was ahead of the curve in a number of ways. The home reflected the mid-century modern design aesthetic so popular at the time. It was multi-level to help with utility expenses as well as the practical matters of separating up public and private spaces in a house so full of energetic bodies.
He also created an at-home office on the ground level in order to conduct his design work from home-- the bracket for his business shingle still hangs outside of the office door, in fact. With his office just downstairs, he was able to work from home and assist in sharing kid-related chores with his wife, who ”just had to have a break once in a while”. In fact, it is said that Jack fed his children breakfast every morning at the 9-foot long counter separating the kitchen and family room. He served them in two seatings, five at a time, youngest ones first.
Stories abound, but the best are about errant children and adults:
A decorative pendant light fixture broken while ever rambunctious Hollis was dribbling a basketball in the house.
A child, “one of the little ones, I can’t remember which,” said Mrs. Stacy, who’d gone missing and was later found on a big pile of clothes in the laundry room. It seems she’d fallen or been dropped into the upstairs laundry- shoot, but landed none the worse for wear
A Coca-Cola big-wig who’d had one- too- many at a Stacy party, and upon coming- to the following morning, brushed himself off, excused himself and took leave declaring “one of the finest parties I’ve ever attended.”
The whole Stacy clan rambling down to River Street on the weekends to collect ballast stones for a rock retaining wall they had decided to build in the garden. “I don’t guess you could do that today, could you? It’s so fancy down there now.” Mrs. Stacy once mused.
Even sweet remembrances of the family’s ever-attentive housekeeper, Mrs. Clarence Thomas, mother of Supreme Court Justice Thomas— her strong coffee, even temper and impeccable ironing.
The golden Parana pine tongue-in-groove paneling emits a warmth of its own, seemingly imbued with years of happy memories that remain vibrant even today. “You can’t believe how expensive all of that paneling was.” Mrs. Stacy once said. “It was one of the few things Jack and I argued about with this house. It was SO expensive,” she sighed. “ But look at those boards,” she added “ 15 feet long and not a seam or a knot in them, you won’t find that today.”
She is likely right on that point, and it also can be said that one is not likely to find a house that is as elegant and comfortable, or as sleek and modern, yet inviting and warm as is the Jack Stacy House.
Welcome!
The move to the Gordonston area allowed the Stacys more room to grow, and they ultimately had 10 children in all. It also put them within walking distance of the Savannah Golf Club, where the whole family enjoyed taking to the links.
The move was a fortuitous one, as shortly thereafter,daughter Hollis began to dazzle the world of women’s golfing. As a professional, Hollis Stacy won the U. S. Women’s Open three times , and to this day she holds an amateurs’ record having won three consecutive U.S. Girl’s Junior Championship titles.
The entire family were athletes in their own right—Hollis has said that her younger brother was the better golfer and all of the kids partook in golfing or tennis or swimming at some point, as did their parents. A present-day reminder of the Stacy family’s active lifestyle is the intact and working redwood- lined Metos sauna-- with its original ceramic disc Valmet thermometer from Finland.
The Stacys lived in the house for 38 years after having built it on land they had purchased from the Oelschigs, another old-school Savannah family. The Oelschigs had maintained their plant nursery on the property and adjacent pieces that include present-day Gordonston Bungalows. Long ago, the plot was a part of old Fort Brown; munitions were housed there and it saw action during Sherman’s infamous Siege of Savannah in 1864.
With the design of the house, Mr. Stacy was ahead of the curve in a number of ways. The home reflected the mid-century modern design aesthetic so popular at the time. It was multi-level to help with utility expenses as well as the practical matters of separating up public and private spaces in a house so full of energetic bodies.
He also created an at-home office on the ground level in order to conduct his design work from home-- the bracket for his business shingle still hangs outside of the office door, in fact. With his office just downstairs, he was able to work from home and assist in sharing kid-related chores with his wife, who ”just had to have a break once in a while”. In fact, it is said that Jack fed his children breakfast every morning at the 9-foot long counter separating the kitchen and family room. He served them in two seatings, five at a time, youngest ones first.
Stories abound, but the best are about errant children and adults:
A decorative pendant light fixture broken while ever rambunctious Hollis was dribbling a basketball in the house.
A child, “one of the little ones, I can’t remember which,” said Mrs. Stacy, who’d gone missing and was later found on a big pile of clothes in the laundry room. It seems she’d fallen or been dropped into the upstairs laundry- shoot, but landed none the worse for wear
A Coca-Cola big-wig who’d had one- too- many at a Stacy party, and upon coming- to the following morning, brushed himself off, excused himself and took leave declaring “one of the finest parties I’ve ever attended.”
The whole Stacy clan rambling down to River Street on the weekends to collect ballast stones for a rock retaining wall they had decided to build in the garden. “I don’t guess you could do that today, could you? It’s so fancy down there now.” Mrs. Stacy once mused.
Even sweet remembrances of the family’s ever-attentive housekeeper, Mrs. Clarence Thomas, mother of Supreme Court Justice Thomas— her strong coffee, even temper and impeccable ironing.
The golden Parana pine tongue-in-groove paneling emits a warmth of its own, seemingly imbued with years of happy memories that remain vibrant even today. “You can’t believe how expensive all of that paneling was.” Mrs. Stacy once said. “It was one of the few things Jack and I argued about with this house. It was SO expensive,” she sighed. “ But look at those boards,” she added “ 15 feet long and not a seam or a knot in them, you won’t find that today.”
She is likely right on that point, and it also can be said that one is not likely to find a house that is as elegant and comfortable, or as sleek and modern, yet inviting and warm as is the Jack Stacy House.
Welcome!