There was a time not so long ago when if you asked someone if they expected to live to be one hundred years old, they would probably laugh at the thought. In 1940, for example, there were only 3,700 Americans aged one hundred or older. By 1990, that figure passed 60,000, and will soon exceed 100,000! We use the term "centenarian" to describe anyone who passes one hundred birthdays or more, and almost eighty per cent of them are female. But the lady in this story is not a person. We attach a feminine persona to cars and ships, but the grand dame I speak of is a house. Not just any house, of course. She is a twenty room, Greek revival, Queen Anne, Victorian masterpiece.

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Now known as Simmons-Bond Inn Bed & Breakfast, the  boutique hotel  mansion was constructed in 1903 by architect E. Levi Prater, who went on to design many of the beautiful  homes in Gainesville and Athens, Georgia.  James B. Simmons, a successful lumberman and furniture maker in Toccoa, wanted to build a mansion outside of town for his wife, Mrs. Antoinette Mosely Simmons, and so commissioned Mr. Prater to draw up the plans. But upon announcing his intentions to his wife, she told him she would not consider moving out of town. She was, after all, very active in the Literary Club, the Garden Club, the Adelphians, and the First Methodist church.

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The plans having already been purchased, Mr. Simmons decided to squeeze the mansion onto a 100' x 100' city lot, taking almost every inch of it. Little else is known of Mr. Simmons, but his legacy lives on in the gorgeous quarter-sawn oak panels that line the main floor of the house to this day. The heavy oak pocket doors, flooring, pillars, and grand staircase are the hallmarks of a lumberman's home. The carved oak newel post, dental work, and the nine fireplaces speak not only of his wealth and success, but of his love for wood.

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Mrs. Simmons, or "Mammy" as she was called, loved the house and took meticulous care of the her. She kept and milked cows out back where the library stands now, and she was a phenomenal cook, as is the current owner and lady of the house, Bella, continuing her  passionate legacy.

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What is now an oak built-in china cabinet, once served as a pie safe, and was filled with her desserts, namely cakes she made in the shape of an "M" for her namesake "Mammy".  Long before the present-day bed and breakfast opened, Mammy often took in boarders. From the very beginning, this house has loved its guests.

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Ben Cheek, president of 1st Franklin Financial, was born in the house. Mrs. Simmons also took in servicemen during World War II. The paratroopers training at Camp Toccoa were entertained by the U. S. O. in tents on the property behind the house. But she was still strong enough to turn them away when they'd had a few too many. The storage room under the grand staircase once served to hide moonshine during the prohibition. "Mammy" lived until December of 1954.

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The Simmons’  had two children: Emma, who died of scarlet fever in infancy, and Frances Louise, who would live in the house well into her eighties, and died in 1991. In 1917, Frances Louise, or "Weezy", married Julius Belton Bond who owned a local furniture store, and her mother insisted they move into the house with her, thus the name "Simmons-Bond". "Weezy" was also very active in the Methodist church, where they named a Sunday School class after her. She loved to entertain in the huge paneled dining room portico with vaulted ceilings and curved stained glass windows. She served scrumptious food like Ambrosia, Dates stuffed with Fondant, and Spiced Pecans; some of her favorites. These same rooms are offered for weddings, special events, and parties today.

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They too had two daughters, India Simmons-Bond (b.1919) and Mary Belton Bond (b.1925), who grew up in the house. Little Mary loved to entertain the guests at the Albermarle Hotel (later Alexander Apts.) across the street. India married Stephen McLynn "Mac" Gower, Jr., and stayed in the house while he was in the service. He was overseas for two years, but before he left the country, he traveled to the coast by troop train. These trains often had "Pullman" cars with fold-down beds. One night, he woke up by chance as the train passed through Toccoa. He could see the light on in India's bedroom, but he would not see her until after the war.

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Mary and India moved out when they married, but their children spent many happy hours in the house. They would climb the huge Magnolias that still stand in the yard and drop twigs on passers-by. Imagine playing hide-and-seek in a twenty-room mansion! They recall hanging Christmas stockings on the wide Terra Cotta fireplace that graces the foyer, once called the "Grand Hall". If you look, you can still see the soot on the once coal-burning fireplace used to heat this entry room.

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It's hard to say which is more impressive, the abundant ornate woodwork, or the glass. Oh, the glass! The front door is leaded glass, as are the parlor and foyer windows. The dining room has 4 stained glass windows, and upstairs there are 4 oval "spider web" leaded glass windows. But the crowning touch is the seven foot  stained glass window that lights the grand staircase.​​