Hardman Farm State Historic Site

The house at Hardman Farm tells the story of three owners and the valley around them. It was built in 1870 as an Italianate mansion, and the state now runs it as a historic site, with guided house tours, trails and 173 acres of open grounds.

Hardman Farm is managed by Smithgall Woods State Park. Questions: 706-878-1077.

An annual Historic Site Pass is also available. Leashed pets are allowed on the trails but not inside buildings, and the site asks you to call ahead for special-needs accommodations.

Captain James Nichols built the house in 1870; it was originally known as "West End." Later owners included Calvin Hunnicutt, who used it as a summer residence, and Dr. Lamartine Hardman, who served as Georgia's governor from 1927 to 1931. Hardman's family owned it last and donated it to the state in 1999.

On the tour you'll also see the bedroom of Anna Ruby Nichols, the namesake of Anna Ruby Falls. If you'd like to link the two stops, the falls are about 20 minutes away.

The property includes the old Nacoochee Dairy barn, which operated from 1910 into the mid-1920s, and the start of the Helen to Hardman Heritage Trail, a walking path between the two places. Georgia State Parks lists the gazebo-topped Sautee Nacoochee Indian Mound among the site's best-known features. State Parks says the mound is a burial site that was probably used long before the Cherokee lived in the area. For more on it, see our Nacoochee Mound page and the detailed mound guide.