In
1858, Fredrick Stanton built the home of his dreams for his family on his new
property-an entire city block of Natchez Mississippi. The city block cost about
1,550. The house cost over $83,000 before it was even furnished. Carrera
Marble, mahogany doors 2 1/2 inches thick, chandeliers from France, and Italian
statuary appointed the interior. Huge Corinthian columns and granite steps
adorned the facade.
Stanton
came to America with his brothers in 1815. He made a fortune as a cotton
broker, then as owner of more than $16,000 acres of cotton plantations.
Ironically, he lived only one month after his dream home was finished.
It
is currently owned by The Pilgrimage Garden Club who offered daily tours. We
took this tour and it was fantastic. It is amazing that this home was built
over 150 years ago and even now when you first lay your eyes on it, it takes
your breath away with amazement at how beautiful it is.
http://www.stantonhall.com/
What
we found amazing is that these huge old homes were bought in a state of
disrepair and renovated by Women's Garden Clubs. Thank God for these brave
women otherwise all the beautiful history would have been lost!
The Natchez Garden
Club officially began in 1927 as an outgrowth of The Women’s
Club of Natchez. In the spring of 1931 the small (only 57 members) but very active club was making plans to host the state organization’s annual convention. The most anticipated activity was to be a tour of the many old-fashioned gardens which should have been at their most beautiful at that time of year. To the members’ dismay, a late freeze spoiled the beauty of the gardens, and they had to hastily arrange for their visitors to tour a number of the old houses instead. This turned into an unmitigated success.
Club of Natchez. In the spring of 1931 the small (only 57 members) but very active club was making plans to host the state organization’s annual convention. The most anticipated activity was to be a tour of the many old-fashioned gardens which should have been at their most beautiful at that time of year. To the members’ dismay, a late freeze spoiled the beauty of the gardens, and they had to hastily arrange for their visitors to tour a number of the old houses instead. This turned into an unmitigated success.
And the rest, as they
say, is history. From this grew the Natchez Pilgrimage, an annual tour of
antebellum homes which continues to this day.
With the proceeds of
Pilgrimage, the Natchez Garden Club initiated preservation efforts
in Natchez in 1935 with the purchase of a dilapidated property now known as the House on Ellicott Hill, making it the first architectural restoration preservation project by a private organization in the State of Mississippi. Along the way, it has assured the preservation of the William Johnson House, the Priests’ House, and Lawyers’ Lodge,
along with the House on Ellicott Hill and Magnolia Hall.
in Natchez in 1935 with the purchase of a dilapidated property now known as the House on Ellicott Hill, making it the first architectural restoration preservation project by a private organization in the State of Mississippi. Along the way, it has assured the preservation of the William Johnson House, the Priests’ House, and Lawyers’ Lodge,
along with the House on Ellicott Hill and Magnolia Hall.
Because of these
efforts along with those of the Preservation Society of Ellicott Hill, the
Pilgrimage Garden Club, the Auburn Garden Club, the Historic Natchez
Foundation, and the citizens, Natchez, Mississippi, is now noted as being one
of the few places in the
entire United States where one can find over five hundred buildings constructed before
1860. And tourism is now the major economic engine of the city’s growth.
entire United States where one can find over five hundred buildings constructed before
1860. And tourism is now the major economic engine of the city’s growth.
http://www.natchezgardenclub.com/History.html
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