Hordes of fans of the novel Gone with the Wind make a beeline for this vintage apartment building in midtown Atlanta where Margaret Mitchell wrote her most famous work. Visitors can take tours of the living quarters, see exhibits about Mitchell's life and movie memorabilia which chronicles the making of the film in 1939, its premiere in Atlanta, and the impact it had on society.
Built in 1899 and converted into a three-storey mock Tudor apartment building in 1919, Mitchell and her husband lived in one of the apartments from 1925 until 1932. It remained an apartment building until 1979, when it was left to fall into disrepair and was eventually boarded up. It wasn’t until 1985 that a group of preservationists got together and saved and restored the house.
The apartment can only be visited as part of a guided tour, which runs every 30 minutes throughout the day. Tours can only be booked in person so arrive early if you want a particular time slot.
The exhibition Margaret Mitchell: A Passion for Character presents the aspiring writer through her writings when she was a child. It also explores Mitchell’s career as a reporter for the Atlanta Journal newspaper, details how the popularity of the book affected her life, and her famous philanthropy. The film adaptation of the book is now just as legendary as the novel itself, and the exhibit The Making of a Film Legend: Gone With the Wind has some of the original props from the set and costumes worn by the actors Vivien Leigh and Clarke Gable, who played the two main characters Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler.
The Margaret Mitchell House and Museum is easily accessible by public transport and is one block east of the Midtown Marta Station. It's open every day except major national holidays.
