Antebellum Farm with 12ac Lake

Farm Description

Among the memorable moments in the Margaret Mitchell's southern epic Gone with the Wind was the line:

“Land is the only thing in the world that amounts to anything.”

The land always matters - and this is your chance to commit to a piece of land with history entwined with the American southern story - part of the original land grant period when middle Georgia was settled. Settler Thomas Grimes acquired a 200 acre in 1786, when Greene County was established as Georgia’s 11th County and named after Revolutionary War hero General Nathanael Greene.

Continually farmed for more than 200 years, today the Moore-Crutchfield Place is a homestead consisting of 77+/- acres of land with a 2 acre pond and 12 acre clear stocked lake and two homes listed on the National Historic Register, plus a caretakers home.

The C.1810 single pen log home, the oldest surviving structure on the property, was built of hand-hewn logs with ½ dovetail notching and consists of one room with a loft above, a massive stone fireplace flanked by small windows, and a later shed addition that now houses the kitchen. The log cabin is about 870sf, with about 343sf of covered porches. Constructed by Thomas Moore as an early settler’s home, it was likely used as a kitchen after the “main home” was built.

The C.1841 main home shows the transformation from one generation to the next, as the frontier became more settled. Thomas Moore’s daughter and her husband, George Crutchfield, built a larger and more prestigious home, signifying the transition from frontier to plantation. The Plantation Plains home signature features include the two over two design with wide center hallway, Greek Revival influences in the mantles and entrance door treatment, and the front shed porch and end chimneys. The home is 2984sf on two levels plus a classic 8x46 covered porch that spans the front of the home. As you enter the home, note the hand-planed horizontal heart pine boards throughout, heart pine floors, paneled wainscoting, and simple Greek revival mantles. Dining room to the left, and parlor to the right, both with gas-log fireplaces. The back portion of the home includes a study and a fully functional kitchen, with massive brick hearth and exposed beams, plus a small addition that includes laundry facilities and a full bath. Upstairs you’ll find a sitting room at the top of the stairs, a full bath, and a pair of large bedrooms each with stunning farm views.

Both homes were restored by the current owner, under the direction of preservation architect W. Lane Greene. The homes are fully furnished with artwork and furniture mainly crafted in North Georgia to complement the period of the homes.

Notes from the report commissioned when the property was submitted to the National Historic Register: The Moore-Crutchfield Place is significant in Agriculture because it was from this main house and the remaining outbuildings that the antebellum and postbellum farm operations were run, and exemplifies the way farms in Georgia were run during this period from slavery to tenant farming, from subsistence to cotton as a cash crop. The Moore-Crutchfield Place is significant in Architecture because it contains good examples of two important early types of vernacular house forms in Georgia: a single pen log structure, and a two over two “Plantation Plain” type house.

The land includes 77+/- acres of rolling land, fully fenced with established pasture. It’s rare to find a smaller tract with two excellent water sources: the two acre pond to the front of the property, and a clear 12 acre lake along the back border. Both are stocked. There are two outbuildings - a hay shed that can house up to 1000 bales of hay, and a 1940’s barn with tin roof. The owner will convey all equipment currently used to support the farm operations, including a pair of tractors and other implements. The property includes a caretaker’s home -3 bedroom/2bath 1988 manufactured home.

The farm is located just 5 minutes from I-20 Exit 138 in eastern Greene County - about 50 miles from Augusta and 75 miles from Atlanta. Nathanael Greene Academy, a private K-12 school, is across the street.

Lake Oconee, Georgia’s second largest lake, with more than 19,000 acres of boating and fishing fun, is just west of the farm. Managed by Georgia Power, Lake Oconee offers stable lake levels year round. Lake Oconee is a Top Ten Golf Resort Destination, with 189 holes of private and public access golf. Georgia’s Lake Country offers recreation for the whole family, including golf, boating, fishing, and hunting, as well as equestrian sports.

The National Register is the nation's official list of historic buildings, structures, sites, objects, and districts worthy of preservation, and is maintained by the US Department of the Interior. Listing in the National Register provides recognition of a property's architectural, historical, or archaeological significance.