The Thomas–Levy House is a historic building in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Brita ...

, United States. It comprises the western half of a Second Empire baroque

townhouse A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of Terraced house, terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type o ...

known as the Thomas–Purse Duplex, located in the northeastern residential block of Monterey Square. It was built in 1869 for Daniel Remshart Thomas,Historic Building Map: Savannah Historic District
– Historic Preservation Department of the Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission (November 17, 2011) and is part of the

Savannah Historic District Savannah Historic District may refer to: *Savannah Historic District (Savannah, Georgia), a National Historic Landmark district in Georgia * Central of Georgia Railroad: Savannah Shops and Terminal Facilities, Savannah, Georgia, a historic district ...

. Meanwhile, Savannah's Historic Preservation Commission's definition of “exceptional importance” refers to structures built outside of 1870–1923. In a survey for

Historic Savannah Foundation Historic Savannah Foundation (HSF) is a preservation organization founded in 1955 and based in Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County, Georg ...

Mary Lane Morrison Mary Lane Morrison (August 15, 1907 – July 16, 1994) was an American writer, historian and preservationist. She was the curator of the Georgia Historical Society, a member of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the state ...

found the building to be of significant status.

History

Daniel Remshart Thomas (1843–1915) was a Savannah native. After the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, he went into business with Captain Daniel Gugel Purse Sr. Three years later, the two men built a duplex, of which one half is now known as the Thomas–Levy House, with Purse owning number 14 next door. Thomas lived at number 12 with his wife Jeanne Manget. His family later moved to another duplex, the Abraham Smith & Herman Traub building at 210 East Gaston Street, where Thomas died in 1916. The Levy family purchased the property in the 1880s, and it was renovated and added to in 1897 by department-store owner Benjamin Hirsch Levy I, a native of

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

, France. Marion Levy Mendal died in 2019 at the age of 101. She was married to Benjamin Hirsch Levy II, grandson of the earlier owner. The building's basement level is the home of V & J Duncan Antique Maps, Prints and Books, established in 1983 by

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

and Virginia (Ginger) Duncan. They purchased the property in 1977 for $36,000. They installed an elevator in 2008."Jane Fishman: To John Duncan, history is life"
– ''

Savannah Morning News The ''Savannah Morning News'' is a daily newspaper in Savannah, Georgia. It is published by Gannett. The motto of the paper is "Light of the Coastal Empire and Lowcountry". The paper serves Savannah, its Savannah metropolitan area, metropolitan ...

'', March 23, 2019

John Berendt John Berendt (born December 5, 1939) is an American author, known for writing the best-selling non-fiction book '' Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'', which was a finalist for the 1995 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction, and '' The Ci ...

, author of ''

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil ''Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'' is a non-fiction novel by John Berendt. The book, Berendt's first, was published on January 10, 1994, and follows the story of Jim Williams, an antiques dealer on trial for the killing of Danny Hansf ...

'', visited the Duncans in the early 1980s, during the early research for his non-fiction novel. Ginger is mentioned in the book, while both John and Ginger appear in

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western (genre), Western TV series ''Rawhide (TV series), Rawhide'', Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the "Ma ...

's 1997

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

. Its courtyard features a reproduction of

Antonio Canova Antonio Canova (; 1 November 1757 – 13 October 1822) was an Italians, Italian Neoclassical sculpture, Neoclassical sculptor, famous for his marble sculptures. Often regarded as the greatest of the Neoclassical artists,. his sculpture was ins ...

's ''

Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss ''Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss'' ( ; ; ; ) is a sculpture by Italian artist Antonio Canova first commissioned in 1787 by John Campbell, 1st Baron Cawdor, Colonel John Campbell.Johns, C.M.S. (1998) ''Antonio Canova and the Politics of Patronage ...

'' sculpture that was on exhibition at the 1915

Panama–Pacific International Exposition The Panama–Pacific International Exposition was a world's fair held in San Francisco, California, United States, from February 20 to December 4, 1915. Its stated purpose was to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal, but it was widely s ...

in San Francisco.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas-Levy House Houses in Savannah, Georgia Houses completed in 1869 Monterey Square (Savannah, Georgia) buildings Savannah Historic District

History

See also

References