06/02/2026
This week’s highlights one of Georgia’s first female architects and Agnes Scott alumna, Leila Ross Wilburn.
Leila Ross Wilburn was born in Macon, Georgia. In 1895, she moved to Decatur and went to the Agnes Scott Institute for two years from 1902 to 1904. In 1906, the Institute would become Agnes Scott College. Wilburn took private drafting lessons, traveled the country, studied architectural trends, and apprenticed at Benjamin R. Padgett and Son architectural firm. At the time, she was one of only two women working as architects in the state of Georgia.
In 1909, Wilburn opened her own firm and began publishing pattern books, which included drawings, photographs, and floor plans. From these books, people could order sets of plans and lumber. Homes built from or based on Wilburn plans can be found in many areas of Metro Atlanta and the South. She also designed apartments, schools, and commercial buildings.
The Wilburn Collection consists of eight architectural plan books published between 1914 and the mid-1950s.
Wilburn died in 1967 and is buried in Decatur Cemetery.\
The first photo is of Leila Ross Wilburn, followed by examples of her work.
You can find a catalogue of homes in Decatur based on Wilburn’s designs at mak-decatur.org/lrwhomes.shtml.
Information about Wilburn’s Piedmont Park Apartments can be found online: https://www.atlantaga.gov/government/departments/city-planning/historic-preservation/property-district-information/piedmont-park-apartments.
A copy of one of Wilburn’s books. “Small Low-Cost Homes for the South” was donated by blogger Eric Plaag. Plaag wrote about a historic South Carolina home based on a Wilburn plan. That blog can be found at https://www.carolinahistorical.com/blog/2015/7/30/leila-ross-wilburn-and-the-james-a-fulmer-house-fountain-inn-sc.
