The home that is now known as part of Donaldson-Bannister Farm, as it appeared during the Chesnut ownership prior to the tornado of 1998.
Donaldson-Bannister Farm is celebrating its sesquicentennial this year and to commemorate the occasion I am sharing the stories of the six families who lived there. The last family to live at Donaldson-Bannister Farm was the Chesnuts, who moved there in 1975.
The idea of purchasing the circa 1870 home began when David’s Uncle Frank Berry ran into Jim Cowart at a Dunwoody Kroger. Berry asked what Cowart was going to do with the old house. Cowart said, “if someone wants to buy it and live in it, I’ll sell it and if not, I’m going to knock it down.” In an interview with Jim Cowart in early 2014, he told me he was hopeful that someone would come along and want to restore the old home. He considered it for his own family, but it was too small.
Uncle Frank pointed out to David, “you always wanted to live in that place.” From there, Jim Cowart and David Chesnut talked on the telephone and shook hands to seal the deal. David says they never had a contract.
Linda and David made some changes to the old house and the outbuildings. They added a new section to the back of the barn; to store their tractor, hay, and horse feed. That addition has now been replaced with ADA bathrooms and a multipurpose room to accommodate events at the farm. The Chesnuts also added on to the blacksmith shop.
When the Chesnuts moved in, there was no fretwork around the side porch. They made this addition to the home after major tornado damage occurred in 1998. They replicated the original fretwork by studying old photos from the Lois Pattillo Bannister ownership and by using a fragment of the original cornice. They used this same pattern for fretwork on the well house.
Fretwork to match from Lois Pattillo Bannister’s ownership was designed and installed on the side porch and well house, following the tornado of 1998.
Linda Chesnut believes the Frank Smith family added a brick hearth and surround to the kitchen fireplace. It is possible the kitchen was part of the early home as the fireplace is made with local stone and there is evidence it was fitted to hang a pot over the fire for cooking. In the small room behind the kitchen, there is an antique wood-burning range. The Chesnuts bought and placed this stove, believing the spot had previously been home to a similar stove. In cold weather, the stove warmed this area as it baked sweet potatoes or simmered beans.
Bookshelves were added to the pine-paneled room adjacent to the kitchen, originally built by Lois Pattillo Bannister. Two inside doors were replaced with doors from Linda’s grandmother’s 1915 home, one in the first-floor right bedroom and the other for the first-floor half bath.
The upstairs portion of the house featured a master bedroom with a bathroom and closet with built-ins. In this bedroom, the Chesnuts added a chandelier and gas logs to the fireplace. There were two smaller bedrooms in the front of the house. Daughter Caroline Chesnut lived in the right front bedroom, after the hot pink sheet rock and shag carpet were removed. The original pink ceilings and walls were uncovered and painted.
A closet was added, which concealed a small door opening to a tiny attic room. Bookshelves were added in the other small bedroom and it became David’s study.
The property was known for many years as Boxwood Farm before the Chesnut ownership, and they continued using this name. The name originated during the Lois Pattillo Bannister ownership because she had an elaborate garden of boxwoods, flowers, and paths built along with a large brick wall and gazebo. Colonial Williamsburg was being restored when she purchased the property and became a huge influence for the colonial revival work, she commissioned both in gardens and interior design.
Linda Chesnut says only three boxwoods remained in the formal garden when they bought the property. There were still brick paths in the garden area in between a semi-circular brick wall, small wall fountain and gazebo. The Chesnuts had a pool installed in this area. The original gazebo was destroyed when tree surgeons were removing wisteria from the trees near the garden in 1975. A large oak fell and crushed the building. The Chesnuts rebuilt it on the base of the original structure.
Linda, who worked as an interior designer/decorator, used the small former screen porch area of the caretaker’s office to work at her drafting table. She had an office in the room next door, a space that includes a fireplace and is now part of the Dunwoody Preservation Trust offices.
David Chesnut is an attorney who became Chairman of MARTA (Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority.) When the Olympic games came to Atlanta in 1996, he was Chairman of the equine advisory board. His family has deep roots in DeKalb County. He recalls that his grandfather’s farm was where Chamblee Tucker Road meets I-85. Chesnut Elementary School on North Peachtree Road is built on land donated by the family.
During the Chesnut’s years at the farm, there were some unusual incidents. When the tornado hit Dunwoody, Linda and David walked down the stairs and through a hallway where the floor was covered with broken glass. They should have had multiple cuts on their feet, but their feet were unharmed.
David and Linda both saw a small new testament Bible rise from a table. If left unopened, they would return to the room to find the Bible on the floor. They believe this and other incidents were caused by friendly spirits that occupy the old house. Their experiences are documented in the book, Georgia Ghost Stories.
Donaldson-Bannister Farm after a tornado hit Dunwoody in April of 1998.
When the tornado hit on April 9, 1998, a huge pin oak fell across the front of the house and caused major damage, especially to Caroline’s bedroom. Earlier in April this tree had been awarded a certificate from DeKalb County as the largest post oak in DeKalb County. In just a few moments, the Chesnuts went from shade gardening to a full sun yard. The summer of 1998 saw corn, cotton, beans, and wildflowers growing on Chamblee Dunwoody Road!
At first, DeKalb County felt that the structural damage was so great that the home should be torn down. After structural engineers and others surveyed the framework, it was decided to restore the home. The original building was constructed using ‘balloon framing’ where the studs go from the floor plate the full two stories. This feature made for sturdiness.
There was extensive damage to the home and barn, but the Chesnuts brought it back to its original glory. As part of the repair process, three by four by twenty-inch pine was milled in north Georgia and air-dried in the front yard.
One thing many residents remember from the Chesnut ownership are the horses and donkeys in the pasture that fronts Vermack Drive and Chamblee Dunwoody Road. Some parents brought their children to the fence to visit and feed the animals, while other just walked or rode by, enjoying the feeling of being in the country that comes with seeing farm animals. When school was out for the summer the donkeys would still look for the school children.
When Linda and David Chesnut were ready to sell the old home and property in 2005, they worked with then co-presidents of Dunwoody Preservation Trust, Danny, and Queenie Ross, to save the Donaldson-Bannister Farm. They did not want to see the house demolished and townhomes built on the land. Everyone worked together to arrange a deal with DeKalb County, using Greenspace funds to purchase the property. When Dunwoody became a city in 2009, Donaldson-Bannister Farm became one of Dunwoody’s parks.
The name of Donaldson-Bannister was assigned when the home was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. Donaldson is the name of the first family to live there and Bannister was Lois Pattillo Bannister, the second owner. The historic designation particularly identifies the women’s history of the property. After William J. Donaldson died, his wife Martha Adams Donaldson continued to run the farm for another thirty years. Lois Pattillo was already a widow twice over when she purchased the home and 26 acres, an unusual occurrence in 1934.
For those who lived in the Dunwoody area since the 1970’s, the Chesnuts are the owners they remember. It was often referred to as the Chesnut home or the Donaldson-Chesnut home during their ownership, beginning in 1975, until they moved in 2006. They have returned a few times to share their memories of the old home and farm, which is greatly appreciated by Dunwoody Preservation Trust.
To find out what happened next, read my November 27, 2018 article titled How Donaldson-Bannister Farm Helped Spur 82 % City Approval. Follow this link to my column in the Dunwoody Crier, Past Tense. This article tells the story of how the farm went from ownership by DeKalb County, to neglect and disrepair, to becoming a city of Dunwoody Park. The combined efforts of Dunwoody Preservation Trust and the city of Dunwoody saved this historic home and property.