The Owens Thomas House – Our First Bad Experience in Savannah
We had been excited to get into the old homes of Savannah, especially after our great experience at the Scarborough House. So it was with high expectations that we visited the Owens Thomas House on Oglethorpe Square. High expectations that, unfortunately, weren’t met.
Let’s start with the good — the William Jay house truly is an architectural masterpiece, with design elements I’ve never seen before, such as a bridge connecting the two halves of the upper floor. It was one of the first houses in America with running water, and every room is elegantly designed. Plus, the house has been kept in excellent shape. The price is initially shocking, at $20 per head, but when you consider that it includes entrance to the three sites of the Telfair Museum for a week, it’s fine.
Moving onto the bad. The first, and least understandable, problem was the unfriendly attitude of the ticket sellers. Apparently, our obnoxious desire to gain entrance had interrupted their conversation, and they treated us with open contempt. It wasn’t just us — they were equally rude to the group behind us. “And there are NO pictures inside!” Fine, lady, sheesh! “Absolutely NO PICTURES! Not even with your sneaky phones!”
Our tour began immediately. After a bit of history in the carriage house, we moved into the main residence. Problem #2: we were sandwiched between other tour groups. The people ahead of us were moving too slowly, and the group behind us was advancing too quickly. Our guide often became flustered, not knowing what to do with us, and it was annoying to be shoved through rooms.
The guide, while pleasant, was obviously not an expert in the history of the house. As long as she stuck to the script, she was fine, but when (god forbid) we had a question, she was almost always at a loss. “Please admire the fine engraving on the fireplace, based on a famous myth”.
“Interesting! What myth is it?”
“You know, that’s a good question. I have no idea, but it is a very famous myth”.
Seriously. While we were waiting on the group ahead of us to move on, she would just stand there in uncomfortable silence, having exhausted the four factoids she had about, say, the kitchen. Even when we’d prompt her, “Who is that a portrait of?”, her awkward responses made us feel bad. Eventually, we stopped putting her on the spot.
The worst was when we were viewing the balcony from which the Marquis de Lafyette once gave a speech. First of all, the Owens Thomas House’s proudest moment of glory is that the Revolutionary hero once spent two nights here. She went on and on about the Marquis, about how because of his stay, the house is now a national heritage site, but I fail to see why it’s such a big deal. I drolly asked her if every house the Marquis stayed in during his life was now a national treasure. “You know, I think probably so.” I’m sorry darling, but I think probably not.
Anyway, she described the speech he gave from the balcony, “About liberty and freedom, and these things that…”, now she looked at Juergen, who she knew was German, “Well, as an outsider, you have to understand that the concepts of Freedom and Liberty are just very important to us Americans”. I almost dropped dead. Juergen just smirked. “Liberty? But vas ist das, mein Fräulein?”
This house could offer a rich experience, but the staff needs to get their act together. The tour guides need to study up, and they should really not rush people who’ve just paid $20 to get in. From reading online reviews, I don’t think our experience was a fluke. A missed opportunity for the city.
- If you book your Owen Thomas House only tour online it’s only $9!
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November 26, 2010 at 9:58 am
November 26, 2010 at 12:13 pmJean
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Oh, Bummer!!!
I am so sorry. Does this weather make up for any of that experience! (Actually, we need rain.)
Saw that you made it to Tybee. Is that not a neat place! Sundies is a great place to eat. So is Fanny’s on the Beach/Marlin Monroe and the other dives on Bulter are always fun. Try the Oyster Bar on Wilmington and Wiley’s Bar-B-Q on Whitemarsh. Have you been to Thunderbolt yet?
Tubby’s is there. And make sure you to the Bonna Bella Yacht Club. If you could arrange for someone to take you by boat, that would be best but if not, easy to drive to.
We live east of town and have not found any need to go other than downtown or the islands for eats! Most often downtown places are full of tourists but it is fun to meet them and tell them how great it is to live here.
Hope that tour was the only bad experience you ever have here and that the many friends you make and places you visit make up for it!
November 28, 2010 at 10:07 amKristin
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Damn shame about how y’all were treated during the tour.
Echoing Jean above me when I say I hope that’s the only bad experience y’all have! Though I have to say, Juergen’s response to the tour guide was fabulous!!
December 1, 2010 at 9:42 ambyrdiegyrl
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Ditto!!! There are several other historic homes that I have toured and had a wonderful experience…I hope you try some others while here!!!! The Mercer-Williams house was great! And Jurgen….I agree about the Wonderbread!!! We Americans have NO idea how to eat properly!!!! Everything must be fast fast and easy….I would love a bakery on every street!!!!!
December 1, 2010 at 11:46 amDave
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My experience there was the polar opposite; in fact, I have continually recommended this place because of my experience. Had a great tour guide (she actually knew WAAAAAAY more information than I cared to know!) and thought the house was beautiful. Of course, that was about 2 years ago. I sure hope what happened to you was a rarity. Would hate to think they’d allow morons like that to work there on a regular basis!
December 3, 2010 at 6:54 amTelfair Museums
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I am sorry that you had a bad experience at the Owens-Thomas House. We strive to offer our visitors educational, interesting tours led by trained interpreters. We frequently receive compliments about our tours and our tour guides, so I am surprised to hear about your experience. With nearly 60,000 visitors a year, we do our best to offer a positive, informative and memorable experience. I would like to invite you back to the house for another visit with a personal guide. It is important to us, and the city, that you do not have a bad experience in Savannah. I hope you will give us another chance.
December 3, 2010 at 9:44 amMike
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@Telfair Museums -
Thanks for the note. Though our experience at Owens Thomas wasn’t great, we did have an excellent time at the Telfair Academy, a week later. And we’ll be posting that (very positive) review in the coming days. We appreciate your response.
December 5, 2010 at 3:03 pmSuzanne
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Telfair — great initiative. Thanks, from a Savannah resident.
January 24, 2011 at 3:33 pmMzVikkee
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I had a similar experience at Owen Thomas. I enjoyed it but you could definitely tell the guide did not want to get off script. If you asked a question, she seemed confused. The best deal to see this house is through Old Town Trolley. You can get the on/off for 2 days plus the Owen Thomas & Telfair Museums for $42 or you could when we took the tour in 2010. The other tour companies probably have similar deals.
July 12, 2011 at 8:15 amDiane
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I was a docent for awhile at the Owens-Thomas house, so I do know that the quality of the docents varies. There are some truly amazing docents you could follow around all day and never get the same tour. They have so much knowledge of the history of the house, architecture, and period decorative arts, but it is the luck of the draw, and it sounds like you were there on a busy day, and may have had a new docent. The price truly is fair when you consider that this includes the architecture of the Telfair, a building also designed by William Jay, the Telfair permanent collection, period rooms and whatever show is on, as well as the Jepson Center, the most beautiful and architecturally important contemporary building in Savannah, and its permanent collections, shows and sculpture on the balcony. The way the light travels through that building is amazing. And if you really look, and compare it to the Owens Thomas house you start to see how Moshe Safdie, the architect reinterpreted some of Jay’s famous elements, such as the bridge and the curved walls. It is one of my favorite buildings in Savannah. Did you go there? I don’t see mention of it at all, but perhaps I missed it.Best to you. Your links here are fun!!
February 22, 2013 at 9:23 amSheri
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We missed this exhibit (had e-tickets and ran out of time). We do plan to go back and trust me, based on your review I will be looking for someone knowledgeable.
Part of the lure of the city (for our family anyway) was to get lost in the history.
When I read “But vas ist das, mein Fräulein” I cracked up. I wish I could have been there to see that lady’s face when you said it. That would have been a picture to post!