In Covington, mansion that inspired ‘Gone With the Wind’ heads to auction

Film, literature, and history buffs with a fancy for antebellum architecture, heads up: Your chance to own a colossal mansion that inspired Gone With the Wind is on the horizon.

About 40 miles southeast of downtown Atlanta, in Covington, a 10,000-square-foot bed-and-breakfast at 2176 Monticello Street is headed to auction.

Built in 1836, the 12-bedroom, 12-and-a-half-bath estate caught Gone With the Wind author Margaret Mitchell’s eye in the early 1900s.

She told film producer David Selznick, the brains behind the 1939 movie adaptation of her book, that the antebellum beauty would be perfect for character George Ashley Wilkes’s estate, according to CNN.

The online bidding kicks off at $1 million on the Fourth of July, and a live auction is scheduled for July 25, according to the listing by Target Auction.

“Frankly my dear, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to own one of the finest and most famous historic mansions in the U.S.,” the listing says, nodding to the famous line by Gone With the Wind’s debonair Rhett Butler. “Named one of the Top 10 Antebellum Sites in Georgia, Twelve Oaks is on the National Register.”

The sprawling property sits about three blocks from Covington’s historic town square.

In 2017, the mansion, now encased in some three acres of gardens, underwent a $2 million renovation.

The updated inn also features 11-foot ceilings, three laundry rooms, 12 remote-controlled fire places, and two bathtubs worth more than $14,000 apiece.