Savannah ยท Forsyth Park
Bellwether House
A pair of 1876 Italianate townhouses on Gaston Street joined into a 16-room hotel near Forsyth Park. Adults 18+.
- Built
- 1876Built 1876 as a pair of adjoining Italianate townhouses for merchants Samuel Palmer and Henry Dresser; joined as a bed and breakfast in the early 2000s; restored and reopened as Bellwether House in 2021.
- Style
- High Victorian Italianate
- Type
- Boutique hotel
- Rooms
- 16
- Area
- Forsyth Park
- Credentials
- Historic Hotels of America member; Inside a National Register historic district
The story
Bellwether House is a pair of adjoining Italianate townhouses built in 1876 in Savannah’s Stephens Ward for two New England-born merchants: Samuel Palmer, whose family ran the Palmer and Sons hardware business, and Henry Dresser, a cotton factor who arrived after the Civil War. The Palmers lived in their half for the rest of their lives, while the Dressers returned north after about two decades. The houses stayed residential for generations, were joined as a bed and breakfast in the early 2000s, and were restored by new owners in 2020 before reopening as Bellwether House in 2021. Historic Hotels of America says the house has the longest contiguous porch in Savannah.
The ghost story
Guests and staff report sightings of Mary Palmer, Samuel Palmer's 16-year-old daughter, who died after a fire accident while the house was being built; she is said to sit on the edges of beds, and a guest is said to have photographed her in Room 1.
Source: www.historichotels.org
Good to know
- Breakfast: included
- Parking: garage nearby
- Pets welcome
- Adults only
- Address: 211 E Gaston St, Savannah, GA 31401
Things to do
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Sources (4)
Last verified October 2026. Details change; confirm with the inn before you book.