A well-restored 19 C. mansion, this unusual and unique home was built in the 1870s by a dapper young gentleman named Jule Korne. He was an artist, designer and architect known for his Bull Durham cigarette ads painted on buildings throughout the south. The house was meant to be a home, and included an artist’s studio, office, recreational hall and ballroom, carriage house and stables. The stables later became a library and sewing room.
Every square inch of the entry foyer including the ceiling has ornamentation. There are 22 rooms on 3 floors with seven levels, many with hidden nooks and crannies. Ceiling heights range from 5’ in the children’s rooms to 25’ in the attic, where there is a theatre. The house contains 15 differently styled fireplaces, many peculiar cubbyholes and trap doors. All doorways vary. Windows pivot and other openings create a clever air ventilation system, done many years before the advent of modern air-conditioning. Beautilful tile and woodworking abound along with decorative murals by German master Caesar Milch. Korners Folly was a name given to the mansion by Korner when his cousin called it by that name.
