Explore Gothic revivalist architecture of the Green-Meldrim House and St John’s Church

May brings warmer weather and a special double tour to Savannah. Tucked into the tree-covered west side of Madison Square is St. John’s Church and the Green-Meldrim House. Both are independently open for tours, but on Wednesdays in May, visitors will be able to get a special tour of both.

The tour will guide people through both Gothic Revivalist buildings with special attention to the unique architectural details, the history, and the symbolism, followed by refreshments of cheese straws, Benne wafer cookies, lemon blueberry poundcake, and pimento cheese sandwiches.

This is a step in a new direction for the Green-Meldrim House. The historic home was purchased by St. John’s Church in 1943, and while it is used as a parish house and rectory, it was eventually opened as a house museum.

Jamie Credle, who is no stranger to Savannah’s historic house museums, having previously worked with the Davenport House, took over as executive director in July of last year. A few months later, the house museum reached nonprofit status, and Sherry Holtzclaw stepped up as president of the Keepers of Historic Green-Meldrim House.

“I'd say [the idea to start the nonprofit] came out of the vestry, which is the group that runs the church,” said Holtzclaw. “Seeing that our volunteer base was shrinking as people were getting older, more young people are working and don't have the time to volunteer, and it's a lot of upkeep to keep this house heated and cooled and in repair, as well as to lead tours, it was just getting to be a big job that we needed some help with.”

Holtzclaw said she has been a member of St. John’s for around 30 years and has volunteered at the house for approximately 20 years in various roles.

Both Holtzclaw and Credle are excited to expand resident and visitor appreciation of the Green-Meldrim House and St. John’s Church as well as what all the historic house museum can offer.

“It's an evolutionary process,” said Credle. “The Keepers have a wealth of understanding of collections and research, but I think that the whole point was to get in lockstep together with what we think the future can be.”

New docents will be leading the tours

After several months of recruiting and training new docents to build upon the core of docents, Credle said it was the perfect time to try a new tour.

“One of our goals for the year is to be open five days a week. We're open four now, but we also wanted to do something imaginative or different than your typical tour. A lot of people would love to see the church, and we've got our docents so this combo tour seemed like filling a need.”

Credle said she hopes the 75-minute tour will leave people with a new appreciation for Madison Square and gothic revival architecture.

“Though it seems sort of old to us, this was cutting-edge architecturally. We talk about mid-century modern in the 20th century. Well, this was mid-century modern in the 19th century. It was a stunning thing to see both this house and the church together, two different architects, two different functions for spaces, but a cutting-edge square here.”

“Plus, they were being built at the same time,” said Holtzclaw. “Charles Green [the original owner of the Green-Meldrim House] knew some of the people that were in on the planning of the church. So there probably was some interaction and collaboration when all this was happening.”

While the house is stunning from its bright pink exterior to the black, white, and wood-grained interior, Holtzclaw said the church is equally impressive.

“One of the first things you notice when you go in the church, besides the architecture and the steep ceiling, is the stained-glass windows and how beautiful they are. They’re very old. They're from 1886 and made in England. They feature prominently in the church. Also, up at the altar, there are some very interesting pieces up there. We'll talk about not only the architecture but some of the symbolism.”

It’s important to note that, for anyone with mobility issues, there is a ramp into the church, but there is no ramp or elevator in the Green-Meldrim House.

For those who fall in love with the tours and want to help in the future, Credle said they are looking for more docents, front-door greeters, and gift shop volunteers. The museum also has a youth guide program.

“We're training teenagers this summer to be tour guides. It’s a wonderful skill. It could be after their daytime job if they have that.”

Anyone interested need only reach out to the museum through its website.

Tours are each Wednesday in May starting on the first and ending on the 29th. There will be two tours each afternoon at 1 and 2:30 p.m. except on May 8th at 2 and 4 p.m. Entry is $25 per person and will need to be purchased prior to the event at GreenMeldrimHouse.org.

More new things are on the way for the Green-Meldrim House. Credle said the museum is also planning for new tours and a lecture series in the fall. It will be interesting to see the evolution of the museum with the Keepers of Historic Green-Meldrim House and the museum’s new executive director at the helm.

If You Go >>

What: Green-Meldrim House and St. John’s Church combo tours

When: May 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29

Where: 14 W. Macon St.

Tickets: $25

Info: GreenMeldrimHouse.org

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: New architectural tours available in May at Green-Meldrim House