The house was at 425 West Oglethorpe Avenue, at its junction with Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard;[1][2] its original address was 215 South Broad Street.

[3] It was originally built as a three-storey stucco building for Anthony Barclay, next door to a mansion owned by Mary Magdalene Marshall.

Augustus Wetter, who acquired it in 1857 on his marriage to Alberta Telfair, had it remodeled and added cast iron balconies by Wood & Perot of Philadelphia, which included 50 medallions portraying poets, artists, and statesmen.

He worked as a civil engineer under General Jeremy Francis Gilmer and was also a captain of the DeKalb Riflemen,[3] part of the Chatham Artillery.

[13] In 1859, Wetter purchased the 200 acres (81 ha) Sharon Plantation, just outside Savannah on land bounded by Louisville Road and the Ogeechee Canal.

[14] Wetter challenged the will in court, claiming that she was "mentally incompetent" and suffering from monomania to the detriment of others, and demanding $10 million for his children from the estate.