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Legend has it that when Ulysses S. Grant sauntered across the South and alighted on the plantation communities of southwestern Mississippi, where white-pillared mansions and ivied live oaks dot the low landscape, he said the idyllic town of Port Gibson was “too beautiful to burn.” It was a sentiment he apparently felt for the neighboring city of Natchez, a town of utopian Southern properties unmarred by Union occupation.

Today the town’s historical architecture stands testament to the beauty of bygone plantation culture and continues to draw tourists from around the world.

1. Linden
   Today Linden is still owned and managed by the same family that purchased it in 1849, six generations later

   Visitors to Natchez can stroll the vast tracts and carpeted halls of dozens of plantation-era homes, but a few—like Linden—are open to overnight guests. The B&B offers six Southern suites and, of course, a full Southern breakfast.

   The central section of the house dates way back, earlier than most Natchez homes, all the way to 1785, at which time it was christened Oaklands. With just four rooms, it was far from the commanding edifice it would become. In 1818 the home traded hands and landed in the arms of Senator Thomas Buck Reed, who renamed it Reedland and added the East Wing and, notably, the frontispiece of the front door. The iconic entryway would later be the inspiration for Tara’s doorway in the movie Gone with the Wind.

   The property was sold again in 1829 to Dr. John Ker, under whose watch the home received its final additions—including the front gallery and living room—as well as its name, Linden. After one final sale in 1849 to Jane E. Conner, the house also found its final family. Six generations later, the bed and breakfast is still owned and operated by Conner’s descendants.

2. Stanton Hall
   Stanton Hall’s imposing figure occupies an entire city block (photo by Billy Hathorn)

   In 1857 wealthy cotton merchant Frederick Stanton broke ground on his dream: an imposing, sprawling Greek Revival in the heart of Natchez. The pristinely white structure staged its corners around the parameters of an entire city block. The home, originally dubbed Belfast, was the epitome of luxury; even before it was furnished, costs exceeded $83,000. Stanton imported massive mirrors from France and marble mantlepieces from New York to outfit his Southern estate with distinctly exotic features.

   But Stanton never truly enjoyed his home; he died just months after its completion in 1859. He also didn’t live to see the home’s occupation by Union troops.

   The striking house stayed in the Stanton family until 1894, when it was transferred to the Stanton College for Young Ladies (at which time it also garnered its current epithet, Stanton Hall). In 1938 the property was purchased and restored by the Pilgrimage Garden Club, which still maintains Stanton Hall today.

3. Longwood
   Longwood remains the largest octagonal house in the country (photo by tpsdavis)

   The Pilgrimage Garden Club is also responsible for Longwood. Like Stanton Hall, the house was the stuff of dreams for local Haller Nutt and his wife Julia, notable figures of the Natchez planter society. Nutt commissioned Philadelphia architect Samuel Sloan to design an Oriental monument unlike anything else in Natchez or anywhere else in the South (it’s still the largest octagonal home in the country).

   Timing of the construction of Longwood was unfortunate: though it began in 1860, it was brought to a halt by the Civil War in 1861. When construction stopped, builders had completed the exterior and bottom level of the home, and it was in this state that the Nutts occupied the home—not just through the War but into the twentieth century. Today’s tours of the estate include a glimpse at the still-unfinished upper floors.

4. The Briars

   The Briars is well known as the wedding location of Jefferson Davis—and is a popular wedding venue today

   Another Natchez bed and breakfast drenched in history? The Briars.

   The estate’s claim to fame is the marriage of one of the South’s most famous historical figures, Jefferson Davis. In 1845 the man who would become President of the Confederacy stood at the mantle of the home to marry Varina Howell. The young woman, regarded as one of the most beautiful women in the South and called The Rose of Mississippi, called The Briars home.

   Like Linden, The Briars’ earliest structure dated back to 1785; the small two-room home later became the property’s schoolhouse when the main house was built from 1812 to 1814. The old edifice bears the marks of history: when settlers traveled down the Mississippi to settle in the area, they’d deconstruct their boats to use in the building of their home, and the cutouts and holes in the beams of the house are evidence of the wood’s origins.

CONTINUE TO “WHERE THE HEARTH IS: THE HISTORIC HOMES OF NATCHEZ: PART TWO”

SEE MORE HISTORIC HOMES OF NATCHEZ PHOTOS HERE

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After seeing Sloan’s design “Oriental Villa” in his book The Model Architect, Nutt was inspired to commission the architect for his Natchez home