Writer’s quest: Tara shall rise again

What better place than the White Homestead to host a “Gone with the Wind”-themed garden party.

The Fort Mill History Museum held the garden party fundraiser on the front lawn of the homestead June 25, the same lawn were the last cabinet meeting of the Confederacy was held in April 1865.

“After that, it was ‘run for your lives,’ said Ann Evans, consulting executive director of the museum, of that historic meeting at the end of the Civil War.

Speaker for the event was professional storyteller and tour guide Peter Bonner, who created a “Gone with the Wind” tour in Georgia. He is now leading the “Saving Tara Project,” with the hopes of restoring the movie set façade of Tara, the fictional home of Scarlett O’Hara. The 1939 movie was based on the novel by Margaret Mitchell.

Bonner brought a shutter, still in a coat of the original green paint, bricks, door locks and hinges from the facade to the event.

As those in attendance ate lunch and sipped lemonade, Bonner told them that the front door and sidelights of Tara’s facade were restored for display at the Atlanta History Center and are now currently at the Margaret Mitchell House in Georgia.

Other pieces are being stored in an old dairy barn in Lovejoy, Ga., including a large cathedral window, the side porch where Melanie Wilkes speaks to soldiers and the window from where Mammy chided Scarlett – all scenes familiar to fans of the movie.

In his book, “The Official Guide to the Saving Tara Project,” writes that the facade is made of “wooden scaffolding, overlaid with plywood veneer (and)…pressed board bricks” and sat on a back lot of Selznick Studios in Hollywood. But for “Gone with the Wind“ fans, the iconic set made the story come alive.

The façade was eventually dismantled by Desi Arnaz, who owned the studio lot with his wife, Lucille Ball. The set was trucked to Georgia, and the parts have deteriorated, Bonner said. There was interest in building a “Gone with the Wind” museum in Georgia at one time, but funding never materialized, Bonner said.

In the works is a 5,000-square-foot building where the restored pieces of Tara may be displayed, Bonner said.

Those in attendance included “Gone with the Wind” fans and history buffs, Evans said. The garden party highlighted local history, the Fort Mill museum and the importance of preserving history, she said.

Mary Sue Wolf, 89, of Fort Mill, is a volunteer at the Fort Mill History Museum and said she enjoyed hearing Bonner’s talk.

“I love history,” she said. “And I guess ‘Gone with the Wind’ is my favorite movie.”

“Gone with the Wind’s” universal themes are what endear fans, and are behind Bonner’s own interest in restoring the façade.

“It is the passion and the gumption – Margaret Mitchell said it was the story of gumption,” he said.

For more, visit fmhm.org or peterbonner.com.

This story was originally published July 1, 2016 at 5:28 PM with the headline "Writer’s quest: Tara shall rise again."