The Brick Cottage
1818, addition ca. 1890 | 239 East Washington Street
In 1818 when Joshua Boon built this house with fired bricks laid in the Flemish bond pattern, the city of Madison was only nine years old. Over 200 years later, the cozy structure is still known as THE brick cottage because its construction material stands out in contrast to the many other historic 19th and early 20th Century homes in Madison, almost all of which have clapboard wood siding. In fact, when cottage was expanded in the late 19th Century to add the gable wing on the right side, wood was the order of the day making the house look somewhat like the several newer, but all wood, gable-and-wing houses in the neighborhood nearby.
In 1988 the intimate backyard garden was added by Jeanne Symmes Reid, whose family operated Cedar lane Farm Nursery that specialized in native and vintage plants. The subsequent owners have maintained the outdoor space as a defining characteristic of the property. Atlanta interior designer Jimmy Stanton and his partner renovated the house with interior upgrades, a new metal roof, and a white picket fence along Washington and Pine Streets. A photo spread in the May 2011 issue of Atlanta Homes & Lifestyle magazine featured the stunning result of Stanton’s work.
When Stanton and Patrick Greco moved on to restore the much larger Honeymoon House on the south edge of the Madison historic district, Beth DuVall moved into the brick cottage to be closer to her daughter’s family. DuVall’s 1918 Steinway grand piano anchors the interior and is surrounded by antiques and vintage oriental rugs.