Mercer-Williams House
Begun in 1860 for General Hugh Mercer, great-grandfather of songwriter Johnny Mercer, this red-brick Italianate mansion on Monterey Square was designed by John S. Norris and finished around 1868 by cotton merchant John Randolph Wilder after the Civil War stalled construction. It found a second life when antiques dealer Jim Williams bought it in 1969, restored it, and made it the stage for the lavish Christmas parties John Berendt would immortalize in "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil." In 1981, Williams shot his assistant Danny Hansford in the front study, touching off four murder trials.
Now a museum at 429 Bull Street, the house keeps its hush, and visitors and staff still speak of a restless presence on the stairs and a feeling of being watched in the room where Hansford died.
📍 429 Bull St, Savannah, GA · Get directions