Savannah, GA · Historic / Boutique · ★★★★
Kehoe House
The 1892 ironwork mansion on Columbia Square — afternoon wine, a wraparound veranda, and the kind of ghost story Savannah trades on.
The 1892 ironwork mansion on Columbia Square — afternoon wine, a wraparound veranda, and the kind of ghost story Savannah trades on.
"The 1892 ironwork mansion on Columbia Square — afternoon wine, a wraparound veranda, and the kind of ghost story Savannah trades on."
Kehoe House was built in 1892 as a private residence for William Kehoe, an Irish-born ironworks magnate whose Savannah foundry cast railings, gates, and ornamental ironwork across the Lowcountry. The brick mansion he raised for his family on Columbia Square is, for that reason, an unusually literal advertisement for its owner's trade — the wrought-iron flourishes around the porches, balconies, and stair rails are still the calling card of the building, and they remain among the most photographed architectural details in the Historic District. The house today is a 13-room AAA Four Diamond boutique inn run by HRH Hospitality.
The location, on Habersham Street fronting Columbia Square, is one of the quietest of any Savannah hotel. Columbia is among the original squares laid out by James Oglethorpe in 1799 and is still defined by the live oaks, Spanish moss, and the small Wormsloe Fountain at its centre. From the Kehoe's porch chairs you look directly into the square; from the upper-floor rooms you look across the canopy. The hotel sits a short walk from Broughton Street's restaurants, the Davenport House, and the riverfront — close enough for everything, far enough from the bachelorette parties to sleep.
Thirteen rooms is the right number for what the Kehoe is doing. Each is individually furnished — high ceilings, period antiques, four-poster or canopy beds, gas fireplaces in many — and the inn never feels populated. The wraparound veranda on the second floor is the building's most-loved feature: rocking chairs in a row, ceiling fans, and an unbroken view across Columbia Square. Guests claim the rocking chairs in the morning over coffee, vacate them for the afternoon, and reclaim them again at dusk for the wine hour. It is the most civilised public space at any small inn in Savannah.
The food and drink ritual is part of the price. A full Southern breakfast — eggs, grits, biscuits, country ham, fruit, and proper coffee — is served each morning in the dining room or on a tray in the room. Afternoon hors d'oeuvres and wine are set out daily in the parlour: cheeses, charcuterie, a few hot pieces, and a rotating list of wines that the staff actually pour for you. There is also a nightly cordial-and-dessert hour. The combined effect is that, between 4pm and 10pm, you are never more than an hour from something the hotel is offering at no extra charge — a small luxury, but a meaningful one.
The Kehoe's other reputation is paranormal. The house has been a fixture of Savannah's ghost-tour circuit for decades, with the usual stories about footsteps in the upstairs hallway, children in the third-floor rooms, and the Kehoe family's own losses inside the building. Guests are split: some specifically book for the stories, most are mildly curious, a few never hear anything at all. The staff handle the subject with practised neutrality — they will tell you the legends if you ask, and otherwise leave it to your own night. It is, in any case, less of a draw than the veranda, the wine, or the address. The Kehoe's real competition in Savannah is the Gastonian — both occupy the same niche of historic-mansion-as-hotel, and both reward travellers who specifically want that experience over the more conventional luxury of Bardo or Mansion on Forsyth.
An anniversary at the Kehoe is for couples who measure milestones in armchairs and glasses of wine rather than ballrooms and tasting menus. Book a square-facing room, claim two rocking chairs on the veranda for the afternoon wine hour, then walk three blocks to dinner at The Grey or The Olde Pink House. Return for the cordial hour. The 13-room scale means you are remembered by the second morning — name, breakfast preference, the wine you liked yesterday — and that institutional kindness is itself the anniversary gift. See all anniversary hotels →
The Kehoe is the rare Savannah hotel that solo travellers actively prefer. The veranda is a public room you can occupy alone without seeming to; the afternoon wine ritual is a low-pressure way to meet the other twelve guests if you want to and disappear into your book if you don't; the Southern breakfast is served at communal or private tables to taste. The square outside is for walking; the Historic District is for wandering. There is no resort programming to opt out of. See all solo retreat hotels →
For honeymooners who want a Savannah of porches, ironwork, and live oaks rather than rooftop bars and a pool deck, the Kehoe is the right address. Request a fireplace room facing Columbia Square, take breakfast in the room, and use the afternoon wine hour as the reliable cocktail before dinner. Two nights here paired with two nights at a beach hotel on Tybee or Sea Island is the most distinctly Lowcountry honeymoon Savannah can offer. See all honeymoon hotels →
Rates checked May 2026. Price may vary by date.
A wraparound veranda, an afternoon wine hour, and 13 rooms of being remembered by name. The Kehoe is the historic-mansion stay Savannah was built for.
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