History and genealogy live inside Wynne-Russell House

There was a recent article about a driving tour around Gwinnett. I went to the site and saw the Wynne-Russell House is listed. I drive by it all the time. Can you tell me about it?

The tour you’re talking about is called The Plantation Houses of Gwinnett, a self-guided tour of historic locations around the county. Many of the homes are privately owned and not open to the public.

Built by Thomas Wynne with his wife, Mary, in the 1820s, the Wynne-Russell House is located in Lilburn.

The style of homes built then is referred to as “Plantation Plan or what started as the Greek Revival ‘I’,” according to Elmer Nash, one of the founding board members of the Lilburn Community Partnership, which oversees operation of the house.

“It was a nice house at a time when most people did not live in nice houses and built by a family of substance — before Lilburn existed, it was called the McDaniel settlement,” Nash added.

Wynne died in 1839, leaving his widow with nine children under the age of 18 to raise on the 500-600-acre plantation, according to the county. They had a total of 15 children.

The two-story house show- cases the parlor, front and great rooms, along with the kitchen on the main floor — the bedrooms upstairs. Nash said partitions were added to divide the once single large room into specific living areas. The original detached kitchen and outhouse no longer exist.

“The interior floors, walls and fireplaces are original and largely untouched by supporting and renovating the

CONTRIBUTED BY KATHRYN KICKLITER The 1820s Wynne-Russell House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is reported to be the oldest pioneer home in Lilburn.