The James Lee House, also known as the Harsson-Goyer-Lee House, is a historic house at 690

Adams Avenue Adams Avenue is a historic road in Memphis, Tennessee. Once known as millionaire's row, it was home to numerous mansions, and was where Nathan Bedford Forrest once operated a giant slave market, said to be the South’s largest, that boasted “t ...

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, United States. It is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

, together with the adjacent Woodruff-Fontaine House. The two houses are included in the Victorian Village historic district. The 8,100-square-foot home was constructed by William Harsson in 1848.Sara Patterso
James Lee House
April 2011 Abandoned Memphis The Commercial Appeal Harsson's daughter, Laura, married Charles Wesley Goyer, who bought the house in 1852. Goyer had it expanded by the architecture firm of

Edward Culliatt Jones Edward Culliatt Jones (July 21, 1822 – February 12, 1902) was an American architect from Charleston, South Carolina. and A number of his works are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, and two are further designated ...

and Matthias H. Baldwin in 1871, after seeing their work in designing the neighboring

Woodruff-Fontaine House The Woodruff-Fontaine House is a historic building at 680 Adams Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. It was constructed in 1871 on Adams Avenue, which was once known as "Millionaire's Row" in Memphis. It was designed by the Jones and B ...

. James Lee, a

riverboat A riverboat is a watercraft designed for inland navigation on lakes, rivers, and artificial waterways. They are generally equipped and outfitted as work boats in one of the carrying trades, for freight or people transport, including luxury un ...

captain who had been educated at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

, bought the house in 1890. In 1925 it became the James Lee Memorial Art Academy, a predecessor of the

Memphis College of Art Memphis College of Art (MCA) was a private art college in Memphis, Tennessee. It was in Overton Park, adjacent to the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. It offered Bachelor of Fine Arts, Master of Fine Arts, Master of Arts in Art Education and Mas ...

(formerly the Memphis Academy of Art).Abandoned Memphis James Lee House photo gallery
''The Commercial Appeal'' The city of Memphis took ownership in 1929. After the art school moved to a new location in 1959, the house was vacant for many years. It was used by Canadian indie rock group

Tokyo Police Club Tokyo Police Club is an indie rock band from Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 2005, it consists of vocalist and bassist Dave Monks, keyboardist Graham Wright, guitarist Josh Hook, and drummer Greg Alsop. The band found early success with the ...

in a music video for their 2008 song "In a Cave." In 2012 the empty house was purchased by new private owners. The following year, a $2 million construction and renovation project began, converting the house into a luxury

bed and breakfast Bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. Bed and breakfasts are often private family homes and typically have between four and eleven rooms, wit ...

. The city of Memphis provided a

property tax A property tax or millage rate is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net wealth, taxes on the change of ownership of property through inheri ...

abatement to encourage its renovation. The bed and breakfast opened for business in April 2014.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, James, House (690 Adams Avenue, Memphis) Houses in Memphis, Tennessee Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee Second Empire architecture in Tennessee Victorian architecture in Tennessee National Register of Historic Places in Memphis, Tennessee