Sunnyside (Nashville, Tennessee)

Sunnyside
Sunnyside in 2007
Location3000 Granny White Pike, Nashville, Tennessee
Coordinates36°7′9″N 86°47′20″W / 36.11917°N 86.78889°W / 36.11917; -86.78889
Arealess than one acre
Built1840 (1840)
Architectural styleGreek Revival
NRHP reference No.74001910[1]
Added to NRHPOctober 1, 1974

Sunnyside is a historic mansion in Sevier Park, a public park in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

History

The two-story mansion was built in the 1840s.[2] It was designed in the Greek Revival architectural style.[2] It was built for Mary Childress Benton,[3] the sister-in-law of Senator Thomas Hart Benton, after she became a widow.[2] When her great-niece Mary Douglass married Theodore Francis Sevier, it became their family home.[3]

In the 1860s, the mansion was purchased by John Armstrong Shute, who gave it to his daughter, Mrs Stephen W. Childress, as a present.[2] It was damaged during the Battle of Nashville.[2] Shortly after, it served as a hospital for wounded soldiers of the Confederate States Army.[2] After the war, Childress renamed the mansion Lee Monte, after Confederate General Robert E. Lee.[2]

In 1882, the mansion was purchased by Dr. L.G. Noel, a Professor of Dentistry at Vanderbilt University.[3] In 1927, Granville Sevier, who was Mary Douglass Sevier's grandson, bought back the home, adding to it and renovating it.[3] His children bequeathed Sunnyside to the City of Nashville in 1945.[3] Three years later, in 1948, Sevier Park was established as a public park around the property.[3]

The mansion was restored in 2004.[3]

Architectural significance

It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since October 1, 1974.[4]

References

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "National Register of Historic Places Inventory--Nomination Form: Sunnyside". National Park Service. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Sunnyside in Sevier Park: History of Sunnyside". Metro Government of Nashville & Davidson County, Tennessee. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
  4. ^ "Sunnyside". National Park Service. Retrieved January 12, 2016.