The Catherine Ward House, built in 1886, is considered by many to be the best example of High Victorian Italianate Architecture in the low country and Savannah. In 1846, James Ward emigrated from Ireland to Quebec at age 13. Having grown weary of the seafaring life, the Sea Captain moved to Savannah in 1869. Captain Ward was attracted to the large Irish community and to the opportunities in the new South during Reconstruction.In the early 1880's, Captain Ward's first wife died. He married Catherine, fifteen years his junior. It was for Catherine that he planned to move his residence to the developing Victorian District ...