Q: Glenridge Hall is in news with the decision to sell the property and demolish the mansion. What’s the story behind the home?
A: One of the articles I came across while researching this answer referenced Glenridge Hall as the home to a pair of TV vampire brothers named Stefan and Damon Salvatore on "The Vampire Diaries."
Fans of the series, who couldn’t picture the Salvatores being homeless, voiced their displeasure over the mansion’s demise by joining efforts to attempt to rescue the home through a Facebook page called “Save the Salvatore Home,” and signing an online petition at Change.org.
That list had more than 15,000 signatures as of early April, but nothing could stop the destruction of Glenridge Hall.
The mansion was torn down last Thursday to make room for Mercedes-Benz’s new U.S. headquarters, which is moving from Montvale, N.J., and a mixed-use development by Ashton Woods Homes.
Obviously, there’s more to Glenridge Hall’s history than what’s shown on TV.
Architect Samuel Inman Cooper designed the Tudor-style mansion for an Atlanta businessman named Thomas K. Glenn in the 1920s. Glenn was involved in the leadership of several companies, including Atlantic Steel and a couple of others now called Georgia Power and SunTrust Bank, so he could afford the 15,000-square-foot Sandy Springs landmark.
The home was finished in 1929 and Glenn’s estate included 400 acres of farmland, just west of what is now Ga. 400. He turned some of the land into a farm, adding “stables, barns, smith and carpentry shops, and housing for workers,” georgiatrust.org states.
Glenn and his second wife Elizabeth – his first wife died — lived there until his death in 1946.
The home, which was owned by the Mayson family, was restored in the 1980s and included antique furnishings and many paintings and portraits. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 and hosted many social and charitable gatherings through the years.
Glenridge Hall also was featured in movies and TV shows like “The Vampire Diaries.”
And even though it was on the National Register and Georgia Trust placed Glenridge Hall on its 10 “Places in Peril” for 2015, there was nothing to protect the mansion from demolition.
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