Greyfield (Cumberland Island, Georgia)

Introduction

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Greyfield is an estate with a Colonial Revival-style house of the same name on Cumberland Island in Camden County, Georgia; it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. It has also been known as Greyfield Inn since opening to the public as an inn in 1962. The house was built during 1901 to 1905 for Margaret Carnegie Ricketson and her husband Oliver Ricketson, and was one of several built for Carnegie family members within a large Carnegie family estate on Cumberland. The NRHP-listed area is 203 acres and includes six contributing buildings and four contributing structures.

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Backstory and Context

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In the 1880s, the Dungeness property was purchased by Thomas M. Carnegie, brother of Andrew Carnegie. He began to build a new mansion on the site. The 59-room Queen Anne-style mansion and grounds were completed after Carnegie's death in 1886. His wife Lucy continued to live at Dungeness and built other estates for her children, including Greyfield for Margaret Carnegie, Plum Orchard for George Lauder Carnegie, and Stafford Plantation. By this time, the Carnegies owned 90 percent of the island. The Carnegies moved out of Dungeness in 1925 because of costly upkeep. But the estate was maintained through Lucy Carnegie's estate.

The main house, also called Greyfield, is a two-story mansion house with a raised basement and a finished attic built beginning in 1901. The house is on the western side of Cumberland Island, along the Intracoastal Waterway and facing east toward the Main Road and the Atlantic Ocean. The house is a large, frame, rectangular-shaped Colonial Revival-style building that is weatherboarded front and back, stuccoed on its exterior ends, and on its original brick footings. The Carnegies own and operate the hotel.

Today, the hotel's furnishings and style remain true to the building's history. Greyfield Inn offers 15 rooms in the main house and two additional cottages. The hotel has Fireplaces and a veranda. The library, dinner bell, and a serve-yourself bar all are also features.The hotel is a mile from a private beach on the Atlantic Ocean. Its country-chic rooms offer shared or en suite bathrooms. Some have antique decor and/or 4-poster beds. Suites add living rooms. There are no TVs, phones, or Wi-Fi. Meals are included and served in a refined dining room, in a sunroom or in the garden. Drinks are extra. Resort fees include use of kayaks, nature tours and fishing equipment, as well as round-trip ferry transportation and parking. Minimum-stay rules may apply.

Sources

Greyfield, National Register of Historic Places. Accessed July 28th 2020. https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/03000675_text.

Additional Information

Greyfield Inn