The Burns Cottage

988 Alloway Place, S.E. (Ormewood Park)

Thomas H. Morgan, Architect

1911

"Burns Cottage, clubhouse for the Burns Club of Atlanta, is the only replica in the world of Robert Burns' birthplace. The Burns Club, a social, literary and memorial society, was organized in 1896. After meeting for 14 years in members' homes, they contracted with Thomas H. Morgan, club member and prominent local architect, to plan a replica of the poet's birthplace in Ayr, Scotland. Except for the additions at the rear, the Atlanta cottage is an exact duplicate of the Ayr cottage. Construction materials differ. The Ayr cottage is built of rubble stone with clay-and-grass mortar and thatched roof; the Atlanta cottage is Georgia granite with an asbestos shingle roof.

The cottage is curved just as Burns' birthplace was curved to conform with the curving road it fronted. Windows are very small because in Burns' day Scots were taxed according to number and size of windows and panes. 

The public is invited to visit. Caretakers living on the premises conduct tours."

The Burns Cottage is relatively unchanged since 1981, though it appears that it is no longer open to the public. It was listed on the National Register in 1983 and is not locally designated.