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History

Family History

Rhodes Family
Amos Giles Rhodes arrived in Atlanta with $75 in cash, a gold watch “of uncertain value” and a horse and buggy after the Civil War. A young entrepreneur seeking to make his fortune, he invented the first installment payment plan to help his customers buy his clocks and picture frames. In 1875 he branched out and founded the Rhodes Furniture Store in Atlanta and became one of Atlanta’s wealthiest citizens and a great philanthropist. In 1904 he and his wife Amanda built their dream house, a granite castle inspired by a trip through the Rhineland, winning the “war of wealth and opulence along Peachtree Street.”

In the 1920s wealthy Atlantans were moving further north to Buckhead with West Paces Ferry Road becoming one of Atlanta’s most fashionable streets.  Joseph D. Rhodes, son of Amos and Amanda, and his wife Frances were among the early arrivals who asked the city’s top architects to design their estates. In 1924 Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes selected Neel Reid of Hentz, Reid and Adler, who would be recognized as the Atlanta architect who laid the foundation for the classical movement in Georgia in the 20th century. Family lore says that Mrs. Rhodes initially wanted a colonial-style house, but when she saw a model of a Venetian villa on Reid’s desk, she fell in love with it. Because of ill health, it has been speculated that Reid collaborated with his associate Philip Shutze on the design of the house, which was inspired by a small baroque building in Venice. Known as the “Pink Palace” because of its color, the house was published in House and Garden Magazine in 1929.

Josephine Crawford, a niece of Mrs. Rhodes, was raised in the elegant milieu of the Pink Palace and later inherited the architectural jewel filled with antiques.  In 1934 she married James D. Robinson Jr., whose ancestors reached Atlanta about the same time as Amos Rhodes.

Robinson Family
Capt. James W. English came to Atlanta with less than $1 in his pocket after the Civil War, according to his Mayoral campaign materials in 1878. He lost that election but was successful in 1880. During his two-year term he was best known for paving Atlanta’s dusty and muddy streets.  His 2 ½-story brick home became a downtown landmark since it was one of the first to have electric lights and a telephone. Like other business leaders of the time, Capt. English was involved in several enterprises, including president of the Fourth National Bank of Atlanta, which later became the First National Bank of Atlanta, and president of the Atlanta Terminal Company, which sponsored the grand Terminal Railroad Station that opened with great fanfare in1905.

The grandson of Capt. English, James D. Robinson Jr., followed in his footsteps in the banking business. Mr. Robinson was a leader in the industry for more than 40 years, serving as president of the Trust Company of Georgia Associates and then chairman of the board of the First National Bank of Atlanta (now Wachovia).

In 1945 Josephine and Jim Robinson moved into the Pink Palacea after living in a Shutze-designed house next door. They raised three children there and entertained bankers and businessmen from around the world. Formal dinner parties were given in the living room with opera music in the background and informal ones were held around the pool. Each year Mrs. Robinson created a memorable Christmas party for First National Bank employees, lavishly decorating the first floor with monumental tree in the morning room.