'Gone With the Wind' mansion in Georgia to be auctioned

They named it Tara in the movie, but the Georgia mansion that inspired the plantation homestead in one of the all-time greatest movies, Gone With the Wind, is, in fact called Twelve Oaks.

And now that very same homestead has come onto the market – 80 years after the movie starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh was released to packed houses.

Author Margaret Mitchell, who penned the Deep South Civil War-era novel in 1936, saw an early advertisement for Twelve Oaks in a newspaper and wrote beneath it: “I like this for Ashley’s home” – that’s the character, Ashley Wilkes, which was played by Leslie Howard.

Listen to Karina’s story of renovating a chateau on Domain’s podcast Somewhere Else :

It didn’t occur to the author that her book would become a classic bestseller for generations to come, and her suggestion for the house is believed to be the only contribution Mitchell made to the movie – other than providing the wonderful story of course.

Twelve Oaks, which is in the historic southern town of Covington, was in a rundown condition when the present owners bought the house. In 2017, they spent US$2 million (AUD$2.89 million) on a huge renovation to bring it back to the fine Antebellum home first sighted by Mitchell in 1939.

Today, the 929 square-metre, 12-bedroom house has many more amenities, as expected. There are hardwood floors throughout, five fireplaces, chandeliers and other period lighting fixtures, 13 bathrooms, a formal parlour, large dining room and new kitchen.

The master suite with personal library features built-in wood bookcases flanking a fireplace. There is room for a casual seating area and a library table. And of course, there’s the rooftop captain’s walk that affords lovely views.

Other key features include a swimming pool with historic pergola, covered porches, a large deck, and more than 1.2ha of gardens. And in a thoroughly modern twist, there’s a four-car carriage house that has Tesla and Copper Creek charging stations for both cars and golf carts – the streets in this town are golf-cart legal.

Covington, Georgia is known as “The Hollywood of the South”, as more than 125 movies and television shows have been filmed there. Details of the town’s film career can be seen downtown in the Georgia Television and Film Museum.

Twelve Oaks is now up for auction, through Dewey Jacobs of Target Auction and Land Company, Inc, with bidding open through July 25, 2019. Some furniture will be available for sale separately. ​

And this is the newspaper clipping of Twelve Oaks that author Margaret Mitchell saw, which determined the Tara plantation house in the movie.

• This article originally appeared on stuff.co.nz