Sunnyside (Nashville, Tennessee)


Sunnyside is a historic mansion in Sevier Park, a public park in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

History

The two-storey 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. Shortly after, it served as a hospital for wounded soldiers of the Confederate States Army. 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. 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 since October 1, 1974.