By admin 
If you do a search for the most charming Southern town, I have no doubt that Madison, GA will probably pop up! No doubt, Madison has quaint and charming covered and every time I go there, I come away and say, I could live here! It really is the quintessential Southern town with so much to offer and see. Their historic district is second to none and if you stroll the streets of Madison, you’ll see what I mean. When I was invited by the hosts of the Madison Spring Tour of Homes to come back and visit, of course I jumped at the chance. It’s been 6 years since I’ve been and it was so nice to be back. I enjoyed a day and 1/2 in charming Madison, so I’ll share the home tour, where I stayed and where I ate. If you go to Madison, there is no shortage of good food and things to see and do. The home tour always opens up all the churches and historic buildings too, so you can see them all in one weekend. I visited several during my weekend there, but I’m only sharing the home tour today. Come along and see the tour!
Unfortunately Mark couldn’t make the trip with me this time, even though I know he would have enjoyed the weekend. His mom went in the hospital and then we ended up moving her to assisted living (the same one my parents were in) a week ago, so it’s been an eventful week.
The Madison-Morgan Cultural Center is housed in an old elementary school that’s so full of charm. I’m so glad they kept this beauty, it’s an iconic building on Main Street. The Romanesque Revival building was constructed in 1895 as one of the first graded public schools in the South. It functioned as a public school until 1957.
I’ve been in here several times and the old wood floors and auditorium harkens back to days gone by when elementary school was a simpler time. Isn’t it gorgeous? Since 1976, the Cultural Center is a thriving arts organization and a venue for performing and visual arts. It’s also a history museum rich with local and regional history and houses a restored 1895 classroom. I picked up my map and off I went on the self walking and driving tour. I saw 7 houses in all. I won’t get into all the history of each house, but will share a bit about them. I took pics inside most of them, as well as some garden areas and I hope they don’t mind being shared as they were all featured in pictures in the Madison tour paper.
Chapman-Bell House, ca. 1895
This Victorian cottage’s current owner, Brad Chapman, has renovated and decorated the house to reflect his combination modern taste with respect for the past. He did a great job!
Back of the house.
The Porch House, ca. 1897
Home owners: Mike and Laurie Becker. Most homes of this era have been renovated and added onto and The Porch House got its name from the addition of this wrap around porch sometime around 1921.
The porch was extra special!
This porch is so spacious and welcoming.
Alfred Shaw House, ca. 1847, restyled 1880’s
The Queen Anne owned by Cade Cowan, has been made his own with a keen eye for maintaining the long-standing historic character of the house. The kitchen was extensively overhauled adding heart pine floors and painted wood. This kitchen and whole house might be my favorite of the tour.
Isn’t this beautiful and so unique?
Love this Victorian porch that was added on.
View from the yard.
Flower garden and outbuildings. There was also a guest house to the left of where I’m standing.
LeSeuer-Overby-Rhodes House, ca. 1875
Current homeowners: Reginald and Kebby Holden and they have done an amazing job of being careful stewards to this historic house, with thoughtful additions.
I loved how this home was decorated, with pretty saturated colors.
This stop is where I ran into a reader, Julie, who reads my blog and follows me. I always love to chat with you all, so if you see me out and about, please say hello! It was great to meet you, Julie!
Bonar Hall, ca. 1839
Homeowner: Betsy Wagenhauser
This elegant Georgian style antebellum home, has mostly been left unchanged from renovations over the years and deserves its place on the National Register of Historic Places. It has a mix of original and relocated outbuildings spread across 13 acres.
The original kitchen.
The property and gardens were beautiful.
The Whiteside House, ca. 1920
Current owners: Clarence and Kathy Whiteside
The Whiteside’s made several renovations to the home after acquiring in 2018. It’s filled with American antiques from the large historic estate that they previously owned in Madison and from their former mountain home.
House of Janus ca. 1998
By the end of the tour, I wasn’t taking as many pics. This home is owned by Steve and Linda Huggins and is on a private road with half a dozen lots, all of which are 7 acres or more. It’s country living near the heart of town. The house is fairly new and the current owners added a breezeway and garage. The backyard was really pretty and I should have gotten a picture of it with the pool.
Downtown Madison is in a square and so very well done. I was there for dinner and also had breakfast the next morning on the square.
I want to give a big shoutout to Mad Hospitality, who hosted me in a stay at the newly renovated motor inn in town, New South Motor Inn. It’s a quaint inn just like the old motels we all stayed in growing up, but each of the rooms have been refurbished and made new. It was a delightful place to stay, with no front office check in. You get everything by email with a code to get in the door.
It was spacious and well appointed, clean and comfortable.
I would highly recommend a stay here if you’re in Madison.
Mad Hospitality also treated me to dinner at The Dining Room, downtown Madison. Owned by real estate developer Thomas Preston, the company has opened several restaurants in the historic square of Madison. The Dining Room was so exceptional with farm to table fine dining and I enjoyed every single bite of my dinner. I appreciate their hospitality so much and that was one fabulous dinner! Truly memorable.
The next morning I stopped by Patisserie for breakfast (also owned by Mad Hospitality), snagging a ham and cheese croissant, which I heard were delicious. They are!
I also took home a box of pastry treats and a loaf of sourdough bread. Mark love pastries and was very happy when he saw all of this. It was all superb and tasty!
It was such a treat to once again visit Madison and enjoy their Southern hospitality for myself. Thank you again, Madison, for the invitation and treats, so memorable for me. I hope you all enjoyed seeing the tour of homes this year. I took so many pictures of the beautiful historic homes lining the streets, so I will also do a post showing those as well as the antiques shop I visited again. It’s always fun to visit Madison!
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