Sunnyside is a historic mansion in Sevier Park, a public park in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

, USA.

History

The two-story mansion was built in the 1840s. It was designed in the Greek Revival architectural style. It was built for Mary Childress Benton, the sister-in-law of Senator Thomas Hart Benton, after she became a widow. When her great-niece Mary Douglass married Theodore Francis Sevier, it became their family home. In the 1860s, the mansion was purchased by John Armstrong Shute, who gave it to his daughter, Mrs Stephen W. Childress, as a present. It was damaged during the

Battle of Nashville The Battle of Nashville was a two-day battle in the Franklin-Nashville Campaign that represented the end of large-scale fighting west of the coastal states in the American Civil War. It was fought at Nashville, Tennessee, on December 15–16, 1 ...

. Shortly after, it served as a hospital for wounded soldiers of the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

. After the war, Childress renamed the mansion Lee Monte, after Confederate General Robert E. Lee. In 1882, the mansion was purchased by Dr. L.G. Noel, a Professor of Dentistry at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

. In 1927, Granville Sevier, who was Mary Douglass Sevier's grandson, bought back the home, adding to it and renovating it. His children bequeathed Sunnyside to the City of Nashville in 1945. Three years later, in 1948, Sevier Park was established as a public park around the property. The mansion was restored in 2004.

Architectural significance

It has been 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 ...

since October 1, 1974.

References

Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee Greek Revival houses in Tennessee Houses completed in 1840 Houses in Nashville, Tennessee National Register of Historic Places in Nashville, Tennessee {{DavidsonCountyTN-NRHP-stub