As we begin 2017 and I get notices from some asking if the Tara façade is still available for tours and if we have a nice building yet,…I thought now was the time to share what is happening (or not) and where the Saving Tara Project is headed.
Many times I have reminded my readers that Margaret Mitchell said her story was about people with “gumption” which is a southern term for those who have the courage and will to stick to sometime until it gets done. I have of course noted Scarlett as one who led the way in gumption in the movie as she did all she could to “keep body and soul together” and save her beloved Tara. But I do not think I ever thought of the time it took for Margaret to achieve her success or her heroine, Scarlett to succeed in securing and rebuilding Tara.
I has taken a couple of years now to get out the word that the Tara façade was not destroyed in Hollywood in 1959 and after it was trucked east it was not destroyed by the weather or the years of storage in barns in north Georgia or Mrs. Betty Talmadge’s dairy barn. It has taken years to learn the facts of what was removed from Hollywood and what was available to display. It has taken years to learn parts of the story that I now share with those who take the tour and marvel at the pieces of the most iconic movie set of all time. All of it has taken time,…and I believe that it will take more time before it is one display in the best of buildings.
Today the Tara façade is still in Mrs. Betty Talmadge’s barn in Lovejoy and I am still working to get it in a larger building to better display this piece of history. I have no idea when it will happen but every day I work toward that end,… and every day I hope that more folks will come and tour it in the old barn rather than assume that Tara will one day be “finished” (whatever that means) and they can view a complete reproduction in air conditioned comfort. For now Tara rests where it was stored in 1980, tours are available as I can set them up and the little book, The Official Guide to the Saving Tara Project is still for sale to help cover costs (buying them through a book store rather from my site does little to help the project financially) of the work that continues.
I look forward to meeting you all up at the gate.
Peter
Peter,
We have company coming from NC in June. How would we go about seeing Tara in the barn?
I love that you’re doing this, thank you SO much!
Rachel
Marietta, GA
Dear Mr. Bonner,
In June 2016 , Mr Kirk Blackmon showed me a book of photos of the Gone with the Wind set and said he has restoring the set for the Talamage family in a building in Georgia. Is he working with you on this project? Is it really being reconstructed at this time? After looking this project up on the internet I am more confused than anything else. Where do I find info on tours?
Thank you,
I would love to take a tour of it is available!if Where is it located? I have always been a huge Gone With The Wind fan. I learned years after my husband and I were married that Margaret Mitchell is part of his family.
I (as have most of Georgia) have known about the Tara facade in the barn since it arrived in 1980 so it was never a surprise. That is what is so damn stupid about it all.