Ardsley Park-Chatham Crescent Historic District
Why it's listed
Ardsley Park and Chatham Crescent are two adjoining planned neighborhoods in Savannah, laid out from 1909-1910 on swampy land beyond the edge of the city. Ardsley Park follows a gridiron with landscaped squares, recalling Oglethorpe's 1733 plan for Savannah. Chatham Crescent, designed by Henri Bignault, uses a grand mall, crescent-shaped avenues and small circular parks in a Beaux Arts-influenced City Beautiful layout. The Berckmans brothers of Fruitland Nursery in Augusta carried out the landscaping of the public spaces. Of almost 1,200 houses, most are wood-framed single-family homes built between 1910 and 1935, representing nearly every popular Revival style as well as many Bungalow/Craftsman examples. Savannah High School, built in 1937 as a Depression-era federal project, anchors Chatham Crescent. The district was recognized for its planning, landscape design, architecture and ties to Savannah's developers and civic leaders, including Harry H. Lattimore, William Lattimore and Harvey Granger.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the district is significant for its community planning and landscape architecture: Ardsley Park is a 20th-century variant of Oglethorpe's 1733 Savannah plan, and Chatham Crescent is described as Georgia's only known Beaux Arts-influenced City Beautiful plan. It also has a large, intact collection of early 20th-century Revival and Bungalow/Craftsman houses, and associations with Savannah's middle- and upper-class citizens and developers.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 85001787, listed August 15, 1985. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Roughly bounded by Ardsley Pk., Chatham Crescent, Bull St., Baldwin Pk. and Ardmore, Savannah |
|---|---|
| County | Chatham County |
| Listed | August 15, 1985 |
| Reference number | 85001787 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1909-1935 |
| Architect / builder | Multiple; architects named include Henrik Wallin, Hyman Witcover, Henry Urban, Olaf Otto, E. Lynn Drummond, Percy Sudgen, Morton Levy, George B. Clark and Cletus Bergen; Chatham Crescent designer Henri Bignault; landscaping by Berckmans brothers of Fruitland Nursery |
| Architectural style | Neoclassical, Georgian and Colonial Revival, Dutch Colonial, Tudor Revival, English Cottage, Bungalow/Craftsman, with Spanish, Mediterranean and Prairie influences |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Community Planning and Development, Landscape Architecture, Architecture, Social History |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Described as extremely intact, in excellent to good condition and occupied; almost 1,200 houses, with just over 200 non-historic. |
| Acreage | 400 |
| Coordinates | 32.04711, -81.09484 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 85001787.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q34816393
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.