I adored my trip to Savannah with my mom last year. I’ve talked about it a lot here, sharing snapshots from our trip and my favorite brunch spots in Savannah, but hands down my favorite place we visited is probably not what you’d expect… an old antique store that, at-first-glance, is just an old mansion that is now the home to a bunch of stuff. We stumbled upon Alex Raskin Antiques completely by chance while we were looking for the Mercer-Williams House – home of the almost unbelievable story that is chronicled in the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. I was enthralled with the story of Jim Williams and the murder that took place in his home, so we set off to find it, and ended up walking into Raskin Antiques to kill some time.
At first glance, it seems as though you’ve entered a cellar packed full of random furniture and art. It’s inside a beautiful, historic mansion – the Noble Hardee Mansion – and you’re immediately overwhelmed with the immense amount of items packed into a small space. We wandered around and were actually about to leave when we got to talking to Alex, the owner, and he told us that all four floors of the mansion had items for sale, and we should go take a look. We obliged, and I am forever glad that we did. Upon further research of the home after our trip, I found this blog post that shares the history of the original owner and how it came into the hands of Alex Raskin.
For someone who loves old things, antiques, and history, Raskin Antiques was absolutely a DREAM COME TRUE. Every single level was packed floor-to-ceiling with beautiful antiques, artwork, tapestries, fabrics, chandeliers, chairs, etc. I felt like everywhere you turned there was something fantastic to look at. The interior of the home has not been restored, but I believe that that was part of the reason that I was so completely in love with the space. The paint was peeling, the crown moldings were chipping, in some spots the ceiling gave way to visible floorboards from the level above – but the chandeliers still hung elegantly, the fireplaces were grand, and the windows let in beautiful afternoon light. I couldn’t get enough of this magical place, enough so that we actually came back a second time just to take it all in again.
Now, don’t expect to walk away with a new (old) china cabinet or a velvet chair for your sitting room. These pieces are old and in mint-condition for the most part, and the price agrees. I stumbled across a Jacobean chest from the 1720’s that was tagged at “$12,500 FIRM!”. Raskin has carefully collected and curated his inventory over the years from auctions and sales around the world, and he knows their value. But I will always be more than happy to wander the beautiful halls and take in the magic that was this fantastic house. It’s almost hard to put into words the feeling of wonder that I got from this place.
“Walking through this suspended-in-time, stuffed-to-the-gills mansion is a bit like visiting Miss Havisham of Great Expectations, except that here the dusty tramp art and Biedermeier chairs are for sale.”
Garden and Gun Magazine
“If the walls of the Noble Hardee Mansion could talk, they’d have to speak up to be heard over the hoard of antiques jostling for attention in their rooms.”
Atlas Obscura
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