Vintage rockers sit on the front porch of the home at 705 North Louise.
A 1936 photo of the first Hanner’s Funeral Parlor that set behind the home.
The steps to the old funeral parlor still lead up the hill.
The dining room seems trapped in time with the original Chippendale dinette set.
This antique filing cabinet was found in the old funeral home building in the back yard.
The multi-faceted glass doorknobs were manufactured by the Corbin Company in the early 1900s.
This wooden cabinet may have come from the Hanners Ravanna store or the Alldays business.
The original bathtub knobs were saved when the plumbing was updated.
This hallway nook was fashioned to hold a new invention called the telephone.
The existing butler’s pantry has an updated look.
The Hanners Mercantile business was at the heart of Ravanna, Arkansas.
Edna Gail Hanner, pictured here in 1918, grew up in the house.
One of three servants bells on the property.
The Hanner House
At the turn of the century in Atlanta, there was only one funeral service, owned by R. S. Allday and his son, Frank. Back then the body stayed in the persons residence until burial and no funeral parlor was needed; the hearse was a two-horse carriage. That carriage, and the subsequent motorized hearses, doubled as an ambulance service.
As all successful business owners know, it’s the employees who manage your interests that determine just how long your name remains relevant. The Allday family had many good employees over the years, two of them being a pair of brothers from Ravanna, Arkansas – John and Nathan Hanner.
The Hanners had both been employed by the Alldays in various positions - clerk, bookkeeper, manager – and by the 1930s they had started their own insurance company. The brothers then bought the funeral business from the Alldays and Hanner Funeral Service was born.
Nathan and wife Edna bought the home at 705 North Louise Street and built the first Hanner funeral parlor in the back yard. Their daughter, Edna Gail, was born in 1914 and grew up on the property.
The house was built in 1923, but the records of who built it have been long lost. When Nathan died in 1942, Edna remained at the home until her death in 1972. At that time, Edna Gail had recently moved back in with her mother after divorcing husband Jack Walls. Her son, David Walls, was away at college and daughter Martha Gail lived with her and attended Atlanta schools.
After Martha Gail grew up and left home, Edna Gail lived there alone for several years. In 1981 David, his wife Lou and daughter Amy, moved into the home to help her until her death in 1993. David and Lou still reside at the property.
While there have been necessary updates to the house, not much has really changed over the last century. The dining room remains trapped in time – the original Chippendale dining table and chairs sit where they always have. The twin built-in corner cabinets still have some of the same china in them.
The business in the back yard has been demolished, along with a garage apartment that sat high on the hill. From that spot you can see clear through to the Brooks property across Louise Street. The steps that once led to the office still remain – a remnant of times gone by.
Throughout the home, Lou has placed many family heirlooms and antique pieces that blend in with the 1920s bungalow. Some of these pieces were salvaged from the backyard buildings, including an old file cabinet and retail sewing cabinet – which may have been saved by the Hanner brothers from one of their jobs at R.S. Allday Companies.
The bathroom just off the hallway still has the white and purple tile on the floor, the pedestal sink and builtin medicine cabinet. When the bathtub plumbing had to be upgraded, Lou saved the old faucets and had a wall hanging made for them.
The side porch off the kitchen has been enclosed to create a washroom and a hall to the comfortable family room in the back, where most of their time is spent. The shine of the multi-faceted glass doorknobs and hardwood floors hint at the gentleness with which they have been treated over the years.
The wide front porch is the setting for the vintage rockers where the Walls sit and watch the squirrels and cars on Louise. Between the carport and front door sits an outdoor dining area. The giant oak trees in the front yard offer plenty of shade all day long.
The cement strips that make up the 20s era driveway that leads up the hill and around to the back of the house are still intact. Steps made of Atlanta brick lead up to the backyard, where a patio table and swing invite you to sit a spell.
On the property there are three bells – two are mounted on high poles in the back and side yards, one is mounted just outside the back door. These were used to signal their servants and harken back to the darker side of that era.
Today, the bells are silent. Instead, we hear birds chirping and an occasional car pass by down below. A small garden circle in the back is brimming over with rose bushes and one has to wonder how far down their roots go. The old cast iron bench is in the perfect spot to rest after a brisk walk up and down the hill.
It’s little wonder that David and Lou took the house off the market, after a half-hearted attempt to sell last it year. It would be difficult to find another home that could live up to the beauty or comfort level of this one.