The Reynolds Mansion
The Reynolds Mansion is one of very few commercial structures on Sapelo Island. We were not supposed to sneak around in there, but we did. (Kathy is fearless.) It was a surreal and slightly painful visit. It was easy to imagine the mansion in its heydey — one could almost imagine Jay Gatsby gazing down from his balcony at Daisy as she strolled the grounds. But it has fallen into disrepair since its big moment in the Roaring 20s. It was acquired by the state in the 1970s. What remains is beautiful but desperately in need of attention. A remarkable but bizarre structure.
"...The second millionaire to own [Sapelo Island] was business visionary Howard Coffin, a Detroit automobile pioneer of Hudson Motors fame who purchased most of the island in 1912. He rebuilt the South End Mansion, building on top of the 100-year-old foundations an opulent mansion with indoor and outdoor swimming pools, Italian statuary, and a recreation room and lounge on the basement level. Coffin was visited by President Calvin Coolidge, President Herbert Hoover, and aviator Charles A. Lindbergh, who landed his plane on the island....
"The stock market crash of 1929 and Great Depression resulted in the financial and emotional ruin of Coffin, who sold Sapelo to tobacco king R.J. Reynolds in 1934... Coffin died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 1937." — the Sherpa Guide to Sapelo Island
The Reynolds Mansion
The Reynolds Mansion is one of very few commercial structures on Sapelo Island. We were not supposed to sneak around in there, but we did. (Kathy is fearless.) It was a surreal and slightly painful visit. It was easy to imagine the mansion in its heydey — one could almost imagine Jay Gatsby gazing down from his balcony at Daisy as she strolled the grounds. But it has fallen into disrepair since its big moment in the Roaring 20s. It was acquired by the state in the 1970s. What remains is beautiful but desperately in need of attention. A remarkable but bizarre structure.
"...The second millionaire to own [Sapelo Island] was business visionary Howard Coffin, a Detroit automobile pioneer of Hudson Motors fame who purchased most of the island in 1912. He rebuilt the South End Mansion, building on top of the 100-year-old foundations an opulent mansion with indoor and outdoor swimming pools, Italian statuary, and a recreation room and lounge on the basement level. Coffin was visited by President Calvin Coolidge, President Herbert Hoover, and aviator Charles A. Lindbergh, who landed his plane on the island....
"The stock market crash of 1929 and Great Depression resulted in the financial and emotional ruin of Coffin, who sold Sapelo to tobacco king R.J. Reynolds in 1934... Coffin died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 1937." — the Sherpa Guide to Sapelo Island