Henry Ford’s Former Georgia Home Can Be Yours for $4.5 Million
During the early part of the 19th century, Michigan-based automotive pioneer Henry Ford and his family wintered in Fort Myers, on Florida’s Gulf Coast. Starting in the middle of the 1920s, looking for more privacy and space—a lot more space, as it turns out—Ford set his sights on a coastal area of southeast Georgia’s Lowcountry called Ways Station, where he ended up owning roughly 85,000 acres covering about 120 square miles.
In 1937, Ford and his wife Clara completed construction on a stately Georgian Revival mansion that now serves as the centerpiece of the private Ford Field and River Club community. But, for about a dozen years prior, they occupied what’s known as Cherry Hill House, a 19th-century residence that has been comprehensively updated over the last four years and is now on the market for $4.495 million.
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The two-story residence, originally constructed in 1870 and within the guarded gates of The Ford Field and River Club, today measures a comfortable 4,215 square feet with four bedrooms and four bathrooms, plus a couple of powder rooms. Another 2,200 square feet of covered verandas extend across both the front and back of the house, offering shaded respites with expansive views over Lake Clara and the greens and fairways of the Pete Dye-designed golf course that winds through the upscale club community along the snaking Ogeechee River.
The home’s original, genteel charm is present at every turn, but at the same time, the interior spaces have been tweaked and opened to each other for a less formal, more convivial layout conducive to relaxed entertaining. The living room features a brick fireplace and custom built-ins, while the adjoining dining room, lined with eight-pane floor-to-ceiling windows, is completely exposed to the kitchen. The kitchen is fitted with top-grade appliances and brass fixtures. There’s also a separate scullery and a mud room that doesn’t leave the four-legged residents without a bit of luxury. Along with a wall of expertly milled robin’s egg blue storage cabinets, there’s a built-in food and water station set into a marble-lined niche.
The upper porch includes what listings held by Kacey Howard and Danielle Hopper from Seabolt Real Estate’s Howard & Hopper Team describe as a “bespoke beverage nook,” and the nearly one-acre property is fully landscaped with meandering lawns and a bonfire-sized firepit. Added recently is an almost 1,200-square-foot detached structure with two air-conditioned two-car garages connected by a dogtrot, also known as a breezeway.
The Ford Field and River Club, about a 40-minute drive from Savannah, spans 1,800 acres with miles of river frontage. Among the centuries-old magnolias and native wildlife, residents and guests have access to numerous amenities that include a deep-water marina, a spa, a sports barn and pool, a community farm, and a shooting preserve. There are also guided fishing excursions, nature hikes, and kayak tours with an on-staff naturalist.
Click here for more photos of Cherry Hill House.
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