


|
|
Photo Gallery: Avondale Estates Historic District
Amongst the beautiful houses in this community lies the home of Gutzon
Borglum. Information on his work on Stone Mountain is contained in the
marker text at the bottom of this gallery. His house is featured in the last
two photos of the gallery.
Marker
text:
The Gutzon Borglum House
Avondale Estates
1924-1925
Gutzon Borglum, the world famous sculptor of Mt. Rushmore and the first man
to work on the Confederate Memorial carving on Stone Mountain, lived in this
house from 1924 to 1925. He had begun the Stone Mountain carving in 1923
with his plan that included Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, Thomas J.
"Stonewall" Jackson, and an army of Confederate soldiers on horseback,
fading into the granite.
In 1924, Borglum became and early resident of the city of Avondale Estates,
one of the first planned communities in Georgia. George Willis, the city's
founder and Borglum's close friend, had urged him to live here while working
on the Stone Mountain carving. Borglum accepted because Avondale Estates was
convenient both to Atlanta and to his work on Stone Mountain.
In a controversial funding dispute with the Stone Mountain Memorial
Association, Borglum destroyed his models for the carving and left Avondale
Estates in 1925 to begin his monumental work on Mt. Rushmore in South
Dakota. Borglum died in 1941.
044-90 Donor: Avondale Community Action Georgia Historic Marker 1983 |