By Eric Curl
Aug. 13, 2023 – St. John Baptist Church, known as “The Mighty Fortress,” sold a historic residential property at 501 East Huntingdon St. on Aug. 4 for $1.25 million according to sales records. The sale to Savannah-based Ronald K. Horton Holdings LLC also included three vacant parcels east of the historic house.
The buyer is going to renovate the house into a high-end single family residence, said Seabolt Real Estate’s Taavo Roos, who represented both the buyer and seller in the off-market transaction.
“It needs everything on the inside,” Roos said. “Architecturally I think it’s pretty incredible so when that is brought back to life and totally redone, and everything is kept historically the way it should, I think it’s going to be a pretty awesome property.”
The 3-story home on Price and Huntington was previously being used by the church as a rental property, commonly by film crews when in town working on productions, Roos said.
Roos said Wednesday he could not comment at this time on the church’s plans for the its other properties in that area.
In a previous Colliers International listing, from 2018, the building was being offered for sale by itself or as part of a larger portfolio spanning three blocks that included five buildings and the three vacant lots. The properties include The sales record did not include any of the church’s other area buildings which include the former church building on Hartridge St. and St John’s Villa Apartments senior housing complex at East Broad and Gaston streets.
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Built in 1890, the building is a contributing structure within Savannah’s Downtown Historic District, according to the Metropolitan Planning Commission’s historic resources listing. A horror movie titled The Accursed received permits to film at the historic home and a couple other locations in 2021.
St. John Baptist Church was established in 1885 and the congregation of former slaves erected the original church building at 526-528 Hartridge St. in 1891, according to the website. The original building was destroyed by a fire in 1993 before a new church building was built at the site. The church relocated in 2017 to 2415 East DeRenne Avenue.
The church did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent Friday via the church’s Facebook page (an email bounced back).
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect the information provided on Aug. 16 by Taavo Roos.
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