House History

History of Barrington Hall

(This winter image of Barrington Hall was painted by Stan J. Strickland, and is available on blank 5x7 notecards. Please refer to "More Info" on this web site for ordering info.)

The town of Roswell, Georgia is steeped in history. When Roswell King first saw this site as a wilderness in the 1820's, it became his dream to build a flourishing town here. In the 1830's he, with the help of his son, Barrington King, he acquired the land[1] and formed The Roswell Company. Barrington served as President of The Roswell Company and under his leadership successful cotton and woolen mills were constructed. These mills formed the economic backbone of the community. In the late 1830's, upon invitation, friends and relatives of the Kings began to move to the area. Six families from coastal Georgia comprised the original colony. They built homes and schools and also organized the Presbyterian Church. In 1854, "the colony" was incorporated into a town and officially given the name, Roswell.

During the Civil War, Union forces under General Garrard invaded Roswell July 8, 1864. The mills were burned and four hundred mill workers (mostly women) were forcibly taken as prisoners-of-war and relocated to northern states. During the occupation, Barrington Hall was used as General Garrard's headquarters. Barrington King had twelve children. All of Barrington King's sons served the Confederacy during the war. Two lost their lives, and three were wounded fighting for "the cause". Two of Barrington's sons served in non-combat roles - one as a Chaplain, and another as a doctor.

The Civil War ended in 1865, and Barrington King died a year later after being injured by a horse. He was in the process of rebuilding the mills when he passed away. His grief-stricken widow, Catherine Margaret Nephew King, continued to live in Barrington Hall. In 1883, Mrs. King invited her daughter, Evelyn (Eva) King Baker and Eva's husband, the Reverend William E. Baker to move in with her. The Bakers moved into Barrington Hall and purchased the home from the estate when Mrs. King died in 1887. The Bakers lived the remainder of their lives in Barrington Hall.

When Mrs. Baker died in 1924, ownership of Barrington Hall passed jointly to 8 individuals - the Bakers' seven children and Mrs. Baker's very special grandchild, Evelyn Simpson. A few years after inheriting the home, the Great Depression came, and the Baker children decided to sell Barrington Hall. The home and its surrounding 41 acres, were listed on the market in 1929 for $20,000. Evelyn Simpson, who owned 1/8 of the home, was distraught at the idea of losing Barrington Hall. She had lived in Barrington Hall most of her life and had served as a companion and care-giver to her Grandmother Baker. Evelyn convinced her parents and siblings to help her "save" Barrington Hall. Evelyn's family, the Simpsons, came up with the money, and they purchased Barrington Hall.

Evelyn, and her younger sister Katharine, eventually bought out the rest of their Simpson family. Neither Evelyn nor Katharine ever married, and they spent their lives living at Barrington Hall, working on preserving the home and its history. For years, they opened the doors of Barrington Hall to family and guests. Hundreds of people have toured Barrington Hall due to their hospitality. In 1960, Evelyn passed away, and Katharine began investigating options for preserving Barrington Hall. Miss Katharine wanted to continue living at Barrington Hall until her death, and she also wanted the home to be preserved historically. None of the options she considered seemed satisfactory. One option came from a local bank, which offered $30,000 to buy the home so they could tear it down and build a new bank branch.

In 1970, Katharine met an energetic woman named Lois Carson. They became close friends, and in 1975, Katharine invited Lois to move into Barrington Hall. Katharine eventually decided Lois was the right person to look after both her and Barrington Hall so she arranged to give Barrington Hall and everything in it to Lois. To prevent any challenges of her will, and to demonstrate her love for Lois, Miss Katharine formally adopted Miss Lois on May 25, 1977. (Lois' birth parents had passed way in the 1940s.) Miss Katharine passed into the hands of God in 1995 at the age of 99. Miss Lois had loved and cared for her adopted mother for 25 years.

Miss Lois continued to live at Barrington Hall until a stroke ended her life in May 2003. Prior to her death, Miss Lois had entrusted the care of Barrington Hall to Sarah Winner, a close friend who spent two years and 1.8 million dollars professionally restoring the home and all its furnishings. The award-winning restoration of Barrington Hall began in 2002 and was completed in 2004. All restoration and rehabilitation work was done under the guidance and direction of the US Department of the Interior, The National Preservation Trust, and the Georgia Historical Preservation Division. In 2005, the Georgia Trust for Historical Preservation presented Barrington Hall with an award for Outstanding Restoration.

Barrington Hall has been restored as close to its original form as possible. The horsehair plaster walls throughout the house were cracked and severely damaged by fire and water. Craftsmen, skilled in the lost art of plastering, spent seven months restoring the walls, ceiling and moldings. The original heart pine floors and walnut doors were refinished; they have never been stained, the rich glow is the true wood color. Many of the doors in the home were originally faux painted, and these doors were restored to their original appearance. Door knobs and hinges throughout the home were repaired and refinished - they are original to the home.

The main house never had any heat or air conditioning – the previous owners spent the cold winter months in two rooms at the rear of the home, huddled in front of the fireplace and gas room heaters. When restoration began, there were no functional bathrooms in the house, and the electrical wiring was in terrible condition. Barrington Hall now has new central heat and air conditioning along with all new plumbing, electrical, and security systems.

In 1970, Katherine Simpson made a detailed list of every item in the home. In this inventory, Miss Katharine described the history and origin of every item in Barrington Hall. Using this list and family letters, Sarah Winner had all the original furnishings and paintings restored. Historical books, letters, photos, china, sterling silver and other personal items left in Barrington Hall were all donated to the Roswell Historical Society so they could be shared with the public.

Gene Surber, a respected Atlanta architect, and member of the Board of Directors for The National Trust for Historic Preservation led a team of Georgia Tech graduate architecture students who spent five months documenting every architectural component of Barrington Hall. With amazing attention to detail, they documented everything including moldings and exterior brick patterns. The result of their efforts was a thirty-five page set of architectural diagrams which have been accepted by HABS (Historic American Building Survey). HABS is an integral part of the federal government’s commitment to historic preservation. HABS documents important American architectural sites and archives their collection at the US Library of Congress where the architectural drawings are made available to the public.

The historical documents, photos and personal family items that were originally in Barrington Hall have been donated to The Roswell Historical Society . Copies of many of the home's historical documents are also available at the Georgia Archives.

In 2005, Sarah Winner sold Barrington Hall, together with all its furnishings, and surrounding grounds to the city of Roswell with conditions designed to ensure Barrington Hall will be historically preserved and open to the public for historical, cultural, and educational purposes.

* Note #1 - Barrington Hall sits on Land Lot #383, one of the 40 acre land lots surveyed July 19, 1832 and acquired by the Kings which eventually comprised the original colony of Roswell. Joseph Jones, Sr., was the first owner of the property, having won it in the Land Lottery. On August 3, 1837, he sold the lot #383 to Richard L Haynes - Forsyth County for $57.50. The land was then sold by Richard L. Haynes and Robert B. Haynes to Barrington King for $175 on August 6, 1838.