Thomas Brown House (Franklin, Tennessee)

Old Town, also known as the Thomas Brown House, is a house in Franklin, Tennessee, United States, at the Old Town Archeological Site that was built by Thomas Brown starting in 1846.[2] It is a two-story frame structure built on an "I-House" plan, an example of vernacular architecture showing Greek Revival influences. The Thomas Brown House is among the best two-story vernacular I-house examples in the county (along with the William King House, the Alpheus Truett House, the Claiborne Kinnard House, the Beverly Toon House, and the Stokely Davis House).[3]^:42[4]

Old Town
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Nearest city	Franklin, Tennessee
Coordinates	35°59′37″N 86°56′10″W
Area	2.8 acres (1.1 ha)
Built	1846
Architect	Lilly, Pryor
Architectural style	Greek Revival, Central passage plan
MPS	Williamson County MRA (WM-397)
NRHP reference No.	88000324[1]
Added to NRHP	April 14, 1988

It was located on the Harpeth River branch of the Natchez Trace.

Singer Jimmy Buffett owned the house in the late 1980s.[5]

It is built amidst[5][6] and named for, Old Town, a village site of Mississippian culture with mounds. It is located near Old Town Bridge, the remains of a Natchez Trace bridge.

Original Owner

Thomas Brown was born in Virginia in 1800 and moved to Williamson County, Tennessee, in 1822. Brown became a prominent farmer and purchased a large amount of land from William O'Neal Perkins in 1840. Brown began construction of this two-story frame house in 1846 with builder Prior Lilly acting as contractor. Little is known about Lilly but he is also the attributed contractor of the H.G.W. Mayberry House (MW-676), a brick central passage plan residence built ca. 1856. Thomas Brown was listed in 1860 with real estate valued at $25,000 and personal property of $34.500. At his death in 1870, he owned 546 acres of valuable land along the Harpeth River. Brown had six children and his daughter, Bethenia Brown Miller, lived at the house until her death in 1913.[7]

Exterior

Old Town is a two-story frame central passage plan antebellum residence with Greek Revival detailing. On the main (east) facade is an original two-story portico with square columns and Doric capitals. On the second story balcony is a lattice railing and in the gable field is dentil molding. The main entrance has an original four panel frame door, two light sidelights with frame lower panels, and a two light transom. Dividing the door and sidelights are fluted Doric motif plasters. The door has rectangular frame panels and a dentilled cornice.

On the central bay of the second story is an original door with features to match the main entrance. Windows on the main facade are original paired four-over-four sash with 19th century shutters. Over the windows are dentiled cornices and dentils are also located along the roof cornice. The house has weatherboard siding, exterior end brick chimneys, a gable roof of composition shingles, and a stone foundation. On the south facade are original four panel doors which open onto a ca. 1960 one-story porch with square Doric motif columns. The rear two-story ell also has a brick chimney. The rear and side facades have original six-over-six sash windows.

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
2. The Williamson County MRA gives a date of 1842; NRIS gives the date as 1846; McGuinness gives the date as "circa 1854."
3. Thomason Associates and Tennessee Historical Commission (February 1988). "Historic Resources of Williamson County (Partial Inventory of Historic and Architectural Properties)], National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination".
4. Kelly McGuinness. "Old Town". FranklinIs.com website. Retrieved April 2, 2010.
5. https://books.google.com/books?id=z6ntnxM0s20C&pg=PA139, page 139.
6. Prehistoric and Pioneer Settlement, Historic Nashville, Inc. website, accessed March 21, 2011
7. "Tennessee Multiple Property Form". National Register of Historic Places. Retrieved 18 June 2015.