AFTER HOURS: Mystery and history at Hay House
Nobody seems to mind the minor inconvenience of detouring around boom trucks and equipment vans parked in front of Hay House. The allure of history has once again brought filmmakers to Macon -- this time to stage scenes for the third season of “The Originals,” a spin-off from “The Vampire Diaries” series on the CW television channel.
Last year, the opulence of the Grand Opera House fit the bill for the brooding plot, replete with fictional other worldly characters. This year, scouts and the advance team wanted the 19th century Italianate mansion for a longer period of time and removed many of the treasures and furniture to create the film noir ambience for the good guys fending off evil influences from the dark past.
The marble sculpture that stands on an ornate rotating pedestal in the Music Room of Hay House is titled “Ruth Gleaning,” one of more than 24 “Ruth” statues produced by American expatriate artist Randolph Rogers in his Rome studio in the mid 1800s.
William Butler Johnston and his bride, the former Anne Tracy, spent four years honeymooning on their “Grand Tour” in Europe and commissioned Rogers in 1853 to carve the statue for an alcove, specifically designed for her in their new house in Macon by the New York architectural firm of T. Thomas and Son.
Although Thomas provided a skylight and gas jets for lighting the alcove at night, the Johnstons’ daughter Mary Ellen, and her husband, William H. Felton, who lived in the house after her mother’s death in 1896, moved the pedestal and statue to what was then called the Picture Gallery, now the Music Room, between 1897 and 1910.
Ruth has never moved from that spot -- until this month.
SECRETS REVEALED
When the production team hired Axis Fine Art Movers from Atlanta to move the signature sculpture for the first time in more than 100 years, Hay House staff members were watching but had no idea that a small piece of history would be uncovered in the move.
In recent years, the original wood-grained finish, referred to as faux bois, on the walls of the Music Room, was discovered under wall covering that had been installed after the Johnston era. Moving Ruth revealed a round piece of the carpet that had been in that room at the time she was placed there.
According to Hay House director Jonathan Poston, the fragment is from a crimson Brussels carpet, with a stencil design, from the late 19th century. Conservationists will be able to establish its exact provenance.
In the meantime, this new revelation has inspired a conversation with the Georgia Trust about moving the sculpture to its original location in the naturally illuminated alcove.
AN UNBEATABLE COMBINATION
The carrot was three ounces of beer to encourage men to take advantage of a PSA test Aug. 22, when the annual Pints for Prostates, advertised as a health fair thinly disguised as a beer festival, took over the streets of downtown Macon for an afternoon of tasting craft beers, listening to great music, eating brats and hanging out with friends who may need a nudge to pay more attention to their health.
Leighanne Etheridge dropped in at the Downtown Grill, one of the 17 venues participating, where owner Richie Jones served up several of the 27 varieties of craft beer on tap. Blondes and Brunettes, of which Etheridge is a member, is a group of local women who rally to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Association. They donned their bright blue T-shirts to show support for another good cause, the prevention of prostate cancer.
Publicity for the event encouraged participants to make dinner reservations at one of the participating restaurants before heading to the Cox Capitol to hear Marty Stuart and the Fabulous Superlatives in concert, with EmiSunshine opening for the band.
Known as the ambassador of country music, Stuart sang several new melodies, including “Hardworking Man” from his 2014 album “Ghost Train,” recorded in the same studio in Nashville where he played, at the age of 13, with Lester Flatt in the 1970s. Stuart was one of the first country singers to cross over in popularity to what was coined “rockabilly.”
Kirk and Kirsten West were in the balcony with Lynn Lavery and John Griffin when Stuart gave a shout out to Kirk, an old friend on the circuit as Allman Brothers road manager and now co-owner and featured photographer at West Gallery on Third Street.
Stuart’s performance was the exclamation point to a perfect day of partying for a cause.
Katherine Walden is a freelance writer and interior designer in Macon. Contact her at 478-742-2224 or kwaldenint@aol.com.
This story was originally published August 29, 2015 at 9:31 PM with the headline "AFTER HOURS: Mystery and history at Hay House ."