The Juliette Gordon Low Historic District consists of three buildings in Savannah, Georgia, which are associated with the origins of the Girl Scouts of the USA.
[5] The Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace, also known as the Wayne–Gordon House, was built in 1820 for James Moore Wayne, then-mayor of Savannah.
[8][9] Still living in England after her husband died in 1905, Low met Robert Baden Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts, and his sister, Agnes, who oversaw the Girl Guides.
[8] Baden Powell recruited Low to become involved in the Girl Guides in 1911, and she returned to Savannah to start the movement in the United States in 1912.
[8] In March 1912, Low talked to her cousin, teacher Nina Anderson Pape, about forming Girl Guide troops in Savannah.
[9] The Girl Scouts of the USA purchased the Birthplace from the Low family in 1953 and began an extensive renovation of the dilapidated building.
[12][6][7] Opened in 1956 as a historic house museum, the Birthplace features many original Gordon family furnishings, including art by Low.
[6][5] As part of its conversion into apartments, the house's side porch was enclosed, and a kitchen extension was added to the upper floor.
[9] It is a two-story house with a raised basement, built in the Greek Revival style from brick covered with stucco that is scored to resemble stone blocks.
[13] It has an entry staircase made of brown sandstone and is flanked by two cast iron lions at the bottom of the stairs.
[13] It also has a cast iron balcony on its south side that runs along the six windows of the parlor and features guilloche patterns, ornamental railings, and a pagoda-style roof.
[13] Inside, the house has a central hall with a passion flower ceiling medallion, sterling silver doorknobs, and doors surrounded by pediments and pilasters that repeat the exterior's Tower of the Winds motif.