Each week, Clason Kyle sits in his sunroom and reads the Sunday edition of the New York Times at his home in Overlook, the Columbus neighborhood where he has lived all 97 years of his life. Beyond the sunroom’s mesh screen, he looks out on a historic Columbus home: Gordonido, formerly known as Old Dawson Place.
The Greek revival-style house built in 1837 is a prominent landmark between midtown and downtown Columbus. Kyle remembers playing with the kids who lived at Gordonido when he was a child. As he grew older, he attended cocktail parties on the 1.24-acre property and weddings in the expansive garden.
“This was a vibrant neighborhood,” Kyle, a founding trustee of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation and a Columbus historian, told the Ledger-Enquirer, where he used to work.
Gordonido caught fire Oct. 7, 2023. Former Columbus Fire & EMS division chief John Shull told the L-E then that the fire moved fast and caused significant damage to the house…