The past, present and future of Ossabaw Island's Torrey West House will be the topic of "Torrey Home turns 100: Rehabilitating a 'Southern Palace' on Ossabaw Island, Georgia, "a free lecture by Elizabeth DuBose on Thursday, January 22. DuBose's presentation is the keynote lecture for "Ossabaw Night in Savannah," the annual community event hosted by The Ossabaw Island Foundation. Using historic and recent photographs, plus historic research, DuBose will discuss the 100-year-story of this 20,000-square foot grand residence on Ossabaw Island's North End. 

The Torrey West House, on Ossabaw Island's North End, was completed in 1926. For 33 years it was the winter retreat of the Torrey family of Grosse Point, Michigan--heirs to the Pittsburgh Plate Glass fortune. From 1961-1982 the house was the site of The Ossabaw Island Project, an interdisciplinary creative retreat founded by Eleanor "Sandy" Torrey West and her husband Clifford West. Sandy West made the home her permanent residence in 1984. She lived there until 2016 when, at age 103, she moved to Savannah. Upon her death in 2021, the house became part of the Ossabaw Island Heritage Preserve under the State of Georgia's Department of Natural Resources, who began rehabilitation of the house in 2024. When the rehabilitation is completed, the management of the Torrey West House will be turned over to The Ossabaw Island Foundation, a non-profit organization with a use agreement with the DNR, to manage historic resources, lead and host programming on the island. 

Elizabeth DuBose is the Executive Director of the Ossabaw Island Foundation. In 2024 DuBose received the Governor's Award for the Arts and Humanities from the State of Georgia, for her decades of leadership to preserve and share Ossabaw Island, the third largest barrier island on the Georgia coast.

Ossabaw Night in Savannah is an annual event hosted by the Ossabaw Island Foundation, bringing a little bit of Ossabaw to the mainland. The evening will include a brief presentation by Beryl Gilothwest, a Torrey family member, on an upcoming Telfair Museums exhibition about Ossabaw Island's 20^th century artists. Ossabaw Night in 2026 is sponsored by Gulfstream.

What: Ossabaw Night in Savannah: Torrey Home turns 100: Rehabilitating a "Southern Palace" on Ossabaw Island, Georgia

Presenter:  Elizabeth DuBose, Executive Director, Ossabaw Island Foundation

Date: Thursday, January 22, 2026

Time:  5:00pm Reception, 6:00pm Presentation and Keynote Lecture

Where: The Armstrong Center, 13040 Abercorn Street, Savannah, GA  31419

Admission: Free and open to the public.  

Hosts: The Ossabaw Island Foundation 

Sponsor: Gulfstream