SCAD Ivy Hall

Glamorous SCAD Ivy Hall was designed by noted architect Gottfried L. Norrman in 1883. Formerly the Peters House, Ivy Hall was home to the Peters family, one of Atlanta’s founding families, for nearly 100 years. Patriarch Richard Peters moved to Atlanta from Philadelphia in 1846 as an engineer and surveyor for the Georgia Railroad company. Recognizing the importance of Atlanta as a transportation hub, he purchased 400 acres of land. His son, Edward, inherited his father’s estate and built what he anointed Ivy Hill. Now called SCAD Ivy Hall, the Peters House is the best and earliest surviving example of residential architecture from Atlanta’s post-Civil War era. The well-preserved two-and-a-half-story red brick mansion is a fine representation of high Victorian architecture, featuring both Queen Anne and Shingle Style elements. The house survived the Great Atlanta Fire of 1917 and a second fire in 2000. In 2007, SCAD acquired and extensively rehabilitated the building, which reopened in fall 2008. The university’s meticulous restoration received numerous national awards and was featured in the five-part documentary series The Art of Restoration, produced by Public Broadcasting Atlanta.