Wares Folly

Completed in 1818 for the exorbitant sum of $40000, the Nicolas Ware House, Ware's Folly, is an architectural showplace in Augusta. Nicholas Ware, mayor of Augusta and United States senator, built this grand Federal-style house which now is the home of the Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art. The house has a simple four room, center hall plan with four end chimneys and a handsome portico, bays, and oval stairway. The home's fluted pilasters, elegant bay windows, and three-story elliptical staircase were attractions to visitors when it was built and still enthrall tourists today. - NPS