Opened 1914 Architect Edward Emmett Dougherty | Phone +1 404-378-4243 | |
Address 1410 Ponce De Leon Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30307, USA Similar Shrine of the Immacula, Episcopal Cathedral of Saint P, Fox Theatre, Regions Plaza, Tech Tower | ||
St. John's Lutheran Church, formerly known as the Stonehenge Mansion and once home to Samuel Hoyt Venable, is a historic Atlanta home converted into a church. It is located on Ponce de Leon Avenue.
The home was built in 1914 for Sam Venable as well as his sister Elizabeth Venable Mason, her husband Frank Tucker Mason and their children. It was designed by Edward Bennett Dougherty with murals painted by Venable's sister Leilla Venable Ellis as well as other artwork by her. It is Gothic Revival architecture from the Tudor period and was constructed with granite from Stone Mountain (owned by Samuel Venable and his brother William and operated as Southern Granite Company).
St. John's Lutheran Church bought the mansion in 1959 for $60,000 and converted it into a church. The sanctuary was added in 1969 according to designs by architects Barker and Cunningham using Stone Mountain granite. The octagonal shape, used in earlier periods of history to signify the "eighth day of creation" (baptism into the death and resurrection of Jesus), was contemporary in 1969. It seats 300 in five rows around a central altar reflecting "St. John's understanding of the Church as the family of God gathered around the table of God." The four-sided cross above the altar is made of faceted glass and a W. Zimmer & Sons pipe organ was added in 1983.