Historic Townhouses to Modern Elegance

Our History

The businessmen who originally built the two townhouses in 1876 that would ultimately become the Bellwether House were a couple of New Englanders: Samuel Palmer and Henry Dresser. Both men would travel south from their respective home states in order to find better economic opportunities in Savannah.

Samuel Palmer—who resided on the left side of the home—was born to a Rhode Island family whose ancestors came to America onboard the Mayflower. But in the early 19th century, his family moved to Bulloch County, Georgia, before finally settling in Savannah. Along with his father and brother, Samuel opened one of the most significant hardware stores in the city at the time that they called “Palmer and Sons.” The Palmer family subsequently lived at their brilliant downtown manor for the remainder of their lives.

On the other side in the adjoining townhome resided Henry Dresser, who hailed from coastal Massachusetts. In fact, his own family were integral in founding both the communities of Salem and Boston back during the colonial era. But unlike his neighbor Samuel Palmer, Henry Dressed had moved to Savannah as an adult in the wake of the American Civil War. Dresser himself specifically desired to become a “cotton factor” and reinvested heavily into reviving defunct plantations surrounding the city. Cotton factors operated as wholesalers that specialized in transporting cotton on shipping cotton from port. Henry and his family lived in Savannah for just a couple of decades, though, and soon took their newfound wealth back north.

Nevertheless, the two structures continued to operate as residential structures for generations thereafter, until they were joined together to form a bed & breakfast in in the early 2000's. However, the building fallen into disrepair until a new set of owners bought and restored the property in 2020 and reopened as the Bellwether House in 2021.