The oldest art museum in the South, the Telfair is an important regional and national resource for the arts, culture and history. The mansion in which its collection is housed was designed by English architect William Jay in the neoclassical Regency style. Built in 1818-1819 for Alexander Telfair, son of Revolutionary patriot and Georgia governor Edward Telfair, the mansion was home to the Telfair family until 1875. Mary Telfair, and early patron of the arts, bequeathed her house and its furnishings to the Georgia Historical Society to be opened as a museum.
