Winecoff Furniture Restored

Dresser Recovered From The Winecoff Hotel

Dear Mr. Goodwin,

I have a bedroom suite that I believe my father purchased from an auction of furniture from the Winecoff Hotel. It is the only bedroom suite I remember my parents ever using. The suite consists of a double bed, a dresser with mirror and a chest of drawers. Both chests have marble tops.

I remember when my father got the pieces. We lived in College Park, Georgia. He refinished them in the late fifties or early sixties. As a young girl, I would "help" him from time to time.

To my knowledge, the bedroom suite was refinished only once. The mirror is somewhat wavy, I feel certain that it is original. The hardware is original. The middle drawer still has its lock but the locks are missing from the other drawers. I don't believe there are any scorch marks on the furniture.

Thank you for helping me to learn more about this important event and its significance for my family. It is so sad that so many high school students attending the Youth Assembly were lost in the fire. Coincidentally, as a senior in high school in College Park, I too was a delegate to the YMCA Youth Assembly.

Thanks again,

Beth
Canton, Georgia

Dear Beth,

Thanks so much for the photo. Not every room in the hotel was burned and a variety of furnishings were recovered. It's great to know a complete bedroom suite from The Winecoff Hotel is still intact. I also know of a Winecoff Hotel table, now in Roswell, Georgia and a grand piano in Pine Lake, Georgia.

After the 1948 civil trial, the hotel's furnishings were sold at auction to help satisfy the judgement of the court. It's likely your father bought the furniture at that auction. Please know, his dollars went to those who deserved them - the injured survivors and the victims' families.

All best,
Allen B. Goodwin