06/08/06

This National Historic Landmark is an elegant symbol of African-American achievement in the South.

by Contributor

The Scene
The white-columned mansion memorializes the African-American family's remarkable rise from slavery to wealth and leadership. Built in 1910 by Alonzo Franklin Herndon, founder of the Atlanta Life Insurance Company, and his wife Adrienne McNeil, a teacher at Atlanta University, the 15-room house holds a significant place in African-American history. Herndon, Atlanta's first black millionaire, was a driving force behind minority entrepreneurship in the early 1900s.

The Draw
The landmark shares a "Mansion to Mansion Passport" with Rhodes Hall. Visitors to both historic sites learn how much Alonzo Herndon and Amos Rhodes had in common. One black, one white, the two made it rich at the same time in separate worlds only five miles apart. While the Herndon Home was designed in a Classical Revival style, Rhodes built a wacky Romanesque castle. Inside, there are surprising similarities: French parlors, open floor plans, and a mix of arts and crafts, art nouveau and renaissance styles.