Sunday, March 17, 2013

Gothic Inspired Druid Hills Presbyterian

Druid Hills Presbyterian Church, at 1026 Ponce de Leon Avenue is a handsome church, but its exterior doesn't really tell of the wonders to be discovered inside. This Gothic inspired sanctuary was erected during World War II, adding to its incredibly interesting story.

Druid Hills Presbyterian Church
Druid Hills Presbyterian Church
One of the Phoenix Flies tours, presented by the Atlanta Preservation Center, Druid Hills Presbyterian was a continuation of our 'Organ Crawl' from the day before. When I saw "Gothic inspired' in the tour description, I was soooo there!

Druid Hills Presbyterian Church
Druid Hills Presbyterian Church
The Church is currently undergoing an interior renovation and one of the upgrades included additional uplighting in the rafters creating the incredibly gorgeous ceiling. Our tour guides told us that there were church members who never realized how intricate the ceiling really was until the hew lighting was added.

Druid Hills Presbyterian Church
Druid Hills Presbyterian Church
There are dozens of stained windows, each a beautiful work of art. The stained glass window at North Druid Presbyterian were designed and produced by Henry Lee Willet of the Willet Studios in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and installed from 1940-1948.

Druid Hills Presbyterian Church
Druid Hills Presbyterian Church
Willet used only traditional medieval techniques (technology that's from approximately 900 years ago) to produce the windows...every stained glass window was created using this method. 

The windows tell stories from the Bible from the Creation to the Second Coming. Another series, along the base of the larger windows flanking the nave, depict the months of the year, jobs associated with those months, and the zodiac associated with the months. Rather fascinating in so many ways!

Druid Hills Presbyterian Church
Druid Hills Presbyterian Church
The Rose Window, above the balcony, depicts The Apocalypse and Second Coming.

Druid Hills Presbyterian Church
Druid Hills Presbyterian Church
One of the smaller rose windows in the balcony.

Druid Hills Presbyterian Church
Druid Hills Presbyterian Church
These are some of the windows on the east side of the Nave. The stories depicted along this wall include the Miracles of Christ; the baptism of Christ; the Evangelists; the Apostles; Paul on the road to Damascus; and world missions.

Druid Hills Presbyterian Church
Druid Hills Presbyterian Church
I was totally fascinated with the Gothic ceiling...I made more photos of it  than I'll ever use, but I will enjoy them for many years. I love this style of architecture!

Druid Hills Presbyterian Church
Druid Hills Presbyterian Church
My buddy and fellow blogger, Terry Kearns, author of Architecture Tourist, recently created the Atlanta Glass Project (check it out!). And for Phoenix Flies, he created a Stained Glass Bucket List...a brilliant list for stained glass enthusiasts!

Druid Hills Presbyterian Church
Druid Hills Presbyterian Church
Druid Hills Presbyterian also boasts the oldest Aeolian-Skinner organ in Atlanta...and we were treated to a recital by Organist Cliff Frierson, who played beautifully. 

Druid Hills Presbyterian Church
Druid Hills Presbyterian Church
Cliff also completed a lot of the organ's recent restoration work himself.

Druid Hills Presbyterian Church
Druid Hills Presbyterian Church
I think my favorite window, of all of them, is the one that depicts the story of Creation. There are so many other windows to ponder, that declaration of favoritism could easily change from visit to visit, but for now...

Head over to the wanderlust ATLANTA Facebook Page for even more photos of Druid Hills Presbyterian Church...I got a little shutter happy.

"Thank you" to the Atlanta Preservation Center and Druid Hills Presbyterian (Howell, Cliff, and Mary Elizabeth) for such a beautiful tour...we really enjoyed it!

1 comment:

Terry said...

Cliff rocked the DHPC organ on Monday too. It's sounding really good. The new slate floor and extra space around the pews are really bringing out the beauty. This is the church he did during Smith's long design incubation of St. Philip. We need to visit Grace Methodist and the St. Joseph Maronite Catholic Church both by him.