The mansion was renovated from 1883-1885 to serve as a public facility. In 1886, the garden in the back of the house was made into the art museum. The chandelier is the only original light fixture left. There are other decorative arts and family items still on display that date back to when Alexander Telfair lived in the house.

The Telfair Museum of Art has four extraordinary columns at the front entrance of the building. Their architectural distinction is their magnificent heads. They have such detailed design that it was said to be the hardest part of the building to design and sculpt. The statues in the front of the building are of Leonardo, Raphael, DaVinci, Michelangelo, and Phidas. Phidas was in the front of the house holding the hammer because he was the man who built the Parthenon.

An old ghost story that relates back to the Telfair Mansion comes from two of the sisters, Mary and Margaret. The problem was that both of these sisters loved the same man. Margaret, however, was the one who married the man and moved out of the Telfair house, which was then left to Mary. The house is much different now than it was when Mary lived in it, but if anyone removes the oil painting hanging on the wall you will know that Mary is still there. Mysterious things will begin to happen; one example of this is when the painting was moved only a few years after Mary’s death, many things in the dinning room were destroyed or damaged. People say that Mary’s anger comes from the fact that she was left with only the house while her older sister got the man she loved.