Evolution of Elegance

Sumptuous lodging stood at the center of Jekyll Island Club's plans when it incorporated in 1885, and its leaders believed success depended on a splendid but simply elegant Clubhouse rather than the inadequate Dubignon farmhouse used during the Executive Committee's assessment of the island. Architect Charles Alexander designed the Clubhouse in a Queen Anne style that complemented the island's natural beauty and emphasized the rustic simplicity embraced by the club, and it was completed for the modest price of $45,000. Less ostentatious than northern clubs such as the Union Club, the rustic Clubhouse on Jekyll Island offered members, their families, and guests comfort through 60 guest rooms, a reading room, card room, parlor, and billiard room served by a well-trained staff. Its success brought a need for expansion in 1897, and Charles Alling Gifford directed additions that enlarged the dining room, billiard wing, barbershop, and toilet room and added two new stairways and several extra baths while he was also constructing Sans Souci across the green. After arriving on Jekyll Island in 1886, Horace W.S. Cleveland developed a landscape plan for the club, helped choose the ideal Clubhouse location, and recommended an expansion layout that included cottage plots for members. His philosophy of simplicity and appreciation for the natural landscape appeared in suggestions that roads flow around established trees and that native plants be used to create a more comfortable, community-oriented setting while retaining the spirit of a wild paradise.

Jekyll Island, Georgia · United States