If you've driven past Snellville and never heard of the Maguire-Livsey Family Big House, you're not alone — and Gwinnett County wants to change that. This week, the county is holding two public meetings to gather resident input on how to restore the nearly 200-year-old home at 4530 Anderson-Livsey Lane, one of the more historically significant properties Gwinnett owns.
The meetings
An in-person session runs Saturday, September 26, from 10 a.m. to noon, right on the grounds of the Big House. If it rains, the meeting moves to Lenora Park Community Recreation Center at 4515 Lenora Church Road in Snellville. A virtual option follows on Tuesday, September 29, from 6 to 7:30 p.m.; residents can register at GwinnettCounty.com/MLFBHVirtual. Either way, attendees can learn about the restoration plan, ask questions, and weigh in on decisions that will shape the project's next phase.
"The community's voice is essential in this process," said Chris Minor, Gwinnett's Parks and Recreation Director, in the county's announcement, noting that resident feedback will help determine how the restoration honors the site's history.
A house with two histories
The property's story starts in the early 1830s, when Irish-born settler Thomas Maguire built the home near the Yellow River in what was then the Centerville community, naming it The Promised Land. By 1863, the plantation had grown past 1,200 acres — built and worked through the labor of the 26 people Maguire enslaved there, according to Gwinnett County's own historical records.
The house's second, very different chapter began in 1926, when Robert and Morena Livsey — an African American couple who had been denied conventional mortgage financing because of racial discrimination — purchased the home and 110 acres through a bond-for-title agreement. Robert, Morena, and their thirteen children farmed the land, eventually building out community businesses and subdividing property among their descendants. The Livsey family owned the home until 2017, when they sold it to Gwinnett County.
What restoration means here
Per the county, the current phase will address structural repairs, work to protect the site's historically significant features, and study what expanded public access could look like down the road. None of that is finalized — which is exactly why the county is asking descendants, neighbors, preservation groups, and the general public to show up and weigh in before the next planning phase locks in details.
For a relocation guide built around the idea that Gwinnett is more than subdivisions and school ratings, this is a good reminder: some of the county's most interesting local history sits a few miles off the main road, and for one week, the county is actively asking residents to help write its next chapter.