AT HOME IN HOUSTON COUNTY 2018

Lilly Schoolhouse
Historic
Circa 1912
The upstairs auditorium seats
approximately 150 and has been restored
to an art-deco theater/auditorium of the period.
Go back in time to the
Old Lilly Schoolhouse
Saved from impending demolition, the Lilly Schoolhouse in Lilly,
Georgia has been a labor of love for local attorney, Michelle
Smith. The loving restoration has been a four-year project,
that had a year-long delay last year due to the January 2017 tornadoes
and weather that almost destroyed three years of painstaking, historic
restoration. Circa 1912, the Historic Lilly Schoolhouse was built by Perry
Green Busbee, Sr., the father of Georgia Governor George Busbee. The
school has a 150-seat auditorium/theater, a large banquet room, and two
period classrooms with original chalkboards.
Rain damage from the January 2017 storms was not covered by the
insurance policy as rain was excluded. Disaster assistance with FEMA and
SBA, while promised by both bureaucracies never materialized, since Lilly,
Georgia was 30 miles outside of the disaster declaration. Local delegations
pleaded to have the disaster declaration amended by FEMA, only to be
told that such an amendment could only come from the President. A
letter to President Trump requesting assistance could not unravel the
bureaucracy.
Undeterred, Smith has continued the labor of love, starting over
last January repainting and reworking areas already restored. Historic
restoration is a slow process, as it is not enough to just make an old
building look new. Original colors of surviving paint are matched, as
well as original stain colors from surviving baseboard and trim. Period
lighting, curtains, and appropriate historic era furnishings are just some of
the details that make an old building go back in time.
This is not the first time the Lilly Schoolhouse was almost destroyed
by water damage, as the school was in danger of being lost completely by
catastrophic roof damage due to water and rain damage in the 1980’s. The
upstairs auditorium was completely in ruins.
The downstairs floor has a large banquet
room that leads out to the Lilly
Schoolhouse grounds and two additional period
classrooms with original chalkboards.
The entire front classrooms were almost completely lost due to massive
termite damage that obliviated entire supporting beams. So as not to
destroy the integrity of the original heart pine classroom flooring, Smith
insisted that the termite repair was done by crawling under the school, and
slowly taking up individual heart pine boards to save and relay them after
new supporting beams were constructed underneath. At all times, the goal
has been to save the integrity of the building and to maintain its character
and charm.
M
iss Kitty, Lilly Schoolhouse Resident
Cat and Official Hostess.
misskitty@lillyschoolhouse.com
The Lilly Schoolhouse is not perfect, because construction in 1912 was
not perfect. Defects and imperfections have been lovingly preserved,
including the original glass in an interior door that was once an exterior
door. The original craftsman built the door by hand and squared out the
opening by sight. The original out of square opening, visible if you look
close remains, to be true to the character and charm of the building.
That door was built with love for the Lilly Schoolhouse some 100 years
ago, and love should not be changed to fit in a square.
The Lilly Schoolhouse will open late summer or early fall 2018, weather
and rain permitting.
www.lillyschoolhouse.com
At Home in Houston County 61 59
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