Home > Mississippi > Natchez > Melrose, 1 Melrose-Montebello Parkway, Natchez, Adams County, MS
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Item Title
Melrose, 1 Melrose-Montebello Parkway, Natchez, Adams County, MS
Location1 Melrose-Montebello Parkway,
Natchez, MS
Find maps of Natchez, MS
Created/Published
Documentation compiled after 1933.
Notes
Survey number HABS MS-61
Unprocessed field note material exists for this structure (N53).
Building/structure dates:
1840 initial construction
National Register Number: 74002253
Significance: A fine example of the Greek Revival style and one of the grandest estates in Natchez, Melrose was built ca. 1845 as the suburban residence of attorney and planter John T. McMurran of Pennsylvania. Jacob Byers of Hagerstown, Maryland designed and built the mansion. In 1865, McMurran sold the estate to George Malim Davis, whose family owned Melrose until 1975. The front facade is dominated by a two-story tetrastyle portico, modified by broadly spaced center columns and ornamented with delicate iron railings; the rear elevation features a two-story gallery and the massive load-bearing walls are of brick. A rectangular cupola above the third floor (attic) is crowned with a balustraded deck; the cupola's windows draw air up through the house, helping to relieve summer heat and humidity. The 12' by 14' foyer opens into a 21' wide central hall leading to the back door and forming a comfortable breezeway. To the right of the central hall a drawing room, parlor and library are aligned, each separated by double sliding doors that facilitate the circulation of people and air. To the left of the hallway, two-thirds of the space is devoted to service and circulation; from the rear gallery, servants reached the dining room in the northwest corner through a passageway along the outside wall. The second floor maintains the plan of the first, with three rooms and a grand staircase on the left. To the rear of the 14,472-square-foot main house is a symmetrical, U-shape cort. On the left are a two-story brick kitchen with slaves' quarters above, a latticed octagonal cistern and a smoke house; these buildings are matched on the right by a two-story dairy, cistern and privy. Much of the national architectural and historical significance of Melrose is derived from the full complement of dependencies that have remained an integral part of the estate. The 80-acre property also includes a stable, carriage barn, slaves' quarters, workers' cottage, workers' privy, shed, gazebo, and about 40 acres of wooded and landscaped park with ponds, formal gardens, an orchard and manicured lawns. Natchez National Historical Park was authorized on October 7, 1988.
Collection
Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)
Contents
Photograph caption(s):
1. Historic American Buildings Survey --- Ralph Clynne, Photographer, March 29, 1934. WEST ELEVATION - GENERAL VIEW
2. Historic American Buildings Survey --- Ralph Clynne, Photographer, March 29, 1934. WEST ELEVATION
3. ENTRANCE TO SITE FROM THE NORTH-WEST
4. VIEW ALONG ORIGINAL ENTRANCE DRIVE, EAST TO WEST FROM HOUSE
5. IBID, NARROWER ANGLE VIEW
6. DISTANT GENERAL VIEW FROM THE NORTH
7. GENERAL VIEW FROM THE NORTH
8. GENERAL VIEW ENCOMPASSING THE DAIRY, MAIN HOUSE, AND THE KITCHEN. VIEW FROM THE SOUTH
9. IBID., FRAMED BY DEPENDENCIES, SCALE INCLUDED
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