Historic Mansion Downtown Centerville | Live and Online Auctions on HiBid.com

Historic McBride Mansion in Downtown Centerville 115 W End Avenue - "just off the Courthouse Square" Built in 1902...same family for almost 120 years! This home boasts of 4,380 square feet of living space. There are 5 bedrooms & 3 full baths - Master Bedroom on the main level. Each room has its own fireplace! Selling per Court Order to settle the Henry B. McBride Estate This home has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places by The United States Department of the Interior Situated on West End Avenue in Centerville (pop. 2,824), Hickman County, Tennessee, the James Buchanan Walker House is an excellent example of early twentieth century Classical Revival architecture. The style, popularized by the Chicago Exposition of 1893, was based on Roman or Renaissance rather than Greek precedents. Decoration was bolder in effect than that of the earlier Greek Revival style, with larger windows, more pronounced porches, and more emphatic individual building elements. The Walker House is the best example of this style in the county. The house was designed in 1903 by Nashville architect Clarence K. Colley. The foundation is constructed of limestone bedded with burned lime mortar. The bottom course is large flat stones that extend the full thickness of the foundation. Visible areas of the front and sides of the foundation are faced with pitched faced ashlar stone, while work not visible from the exterior is of random rubble work that is bonded with through stones every six feet. Exposed joints are pointed with a raised bead of cement. Foundation ventilators are comprised of decorative cast iron grates. Walls are of hard-burned brick laid in lime mortar, faced with sleeper bond pressed brick of a uniform dark red color, and laid in red mortar penciled white. Some brick from the Centerville Training School building which once stood on the site of the house was used in the construction. Ornamental brick, with molded dentils and with egg-and-dart work, is used in the cornices and all chimneys. The cut stone is Bowling Green white limestone and it is used for a water table, door and window sills, and front steps. Lintels over doors and windows are constructed of steel and cast iron. Framing lumber is yellow pine. Floor joists are two inches by ten inches set sixteen inch on center with one inch by three inch cross-bridging. Ceiling joists are two inch by six inch bridged the same way as the floor joists. Joists are doubled at partitions and around fireplaces and stair wells. The floors and roof are covered with diagonal pine and yellow poplar sheathing as a base. Floors in the parlor, dining room, library and reception hall are plain oak. Other floors are pine which is secretly nailed. Ceilings are poplar and are plainly faced with no crown molding. The front door and frame are quartered white oak and the doors in the aforementioned principal rooms are chestnut. The other doors and frames are poplar. Windows have boxed frames with hardwood pulley styles, steel axle pulleys, and cedar and cypress sills. The hip roof is covered with Virginia slate and nailed with wire nails. Hip and box valleys are flashed with tin. It has a deck surrounded by a balustrade (widow's walk). Approximately eighteen feet square, it is reached by a ladder and hatch from the unfinished attic. The cornice, downpipes, and finials are made of galvanized iron. The main facade looks north towards West End Avenue. The five bay facade is centered around a central pedimented portico with balcony supported by four large fluted poplar columns with Scamozzi order capitals. A denticulated wooden raking cornice and entablature defines the porch section only. The second story balcony is enclosed by a plain paling balustrade. Behind this portico, a one story porch extends across the entire facade and wraps around part of the east elevation. The porch roof is supported by smaller columns matching those of the main portico and is constructed of random length narrow boards. The main entry has a single-leaf door with a large beveled glass window. It is flanked by sidelights and topped by a three light transom. The windows to either side are double-hung sashes with 1/1 lights, topped with radiating brick voussoirs. Upstairs, paired 1/1 sashes are situated to either side of the porch. Just below the line of the eaves, a string course of molded brick in an egg-and-dart pattern forms a cornice. The east elevation is divided into three irregular bays. Part of the wall terminates in a canted bay end surmounted by a pedimented gable. The tympanum is brick with an elaborate traceried fanlight in the center. The same formed brick string course found on the facade continues along this elevation. The one story porch wraps around the side to a single-leaf door into the projecting bay; in the 1930s this section of the porch was screened. Windows are 1/1 sashes. A tall corbeled interior brick chimney breaks the roof line near the front. The west elevation is similar to the east elevation, however, the porch does not extend around to this elevation. There is a wood and glass panel door with a single light transom to the rear of the bay end. It is reached by stone steps. A tall corbeled chimney occupies the center of the projecting canted bay end and is flanked by quarter-round windows in the pedimented gable through which it passes . At the southwest corner of the residence, projecting from the rear elevation, is a one story ell. Topped by a steep pitched hip roof, it has a 4/4 light sash on the east elevation. On the east elevation of the ell there is a wood and glass panel door that opens to a small latticework frame porch with a hip roof. The remaining part of the residence's south or rear elevation has centered 1/1 light sashes in each of its three bays and a smaller window to the east of center opening from a bath. A brick shed addition which housed an acetylene gas plant and later a twelve-volt Delco electrical system is also found here. A tall narrow concrete block flue rises from this end. The well-appointed interior is laid out on the central passage plan. A small hallway extends across the rear on the first floor, and the kitchen occupies the rear ell. Stairs are located in the central and the rear halls. The upper level is divided into five bedrooms. The interior is completely unaltered, except for some gas pipes recently routed through the house. The plaster ceilings are eleven feet five inches on the first story and ten feet upstairs. The central stair hall runs three-quarters of the way back to a junction with the rear hall. Wide seven panel chestnut pocket doors on Richards Improved Overhead Hangers open east and west to the main parlors. Behind the staircase, smaller five panel single-leaf doors open east and west to a bedroom and the dining room and south to the rear hall. The broad paneled box chestnut staircase wraps around the south and west walls. Its molded rail rises from a wooden newel post embellished with a domed cap and acanthus leaf trim. An integral wooden seat runs along the base of the stairs. On the opposite wall is a small oak mantelpiece with an overmantel framing a bowed glass mirror. Its molded shelf with ovolo trim is supported by small colonettes with Scamozzi capitals and a cantilevered lower mantel shelf. The iron coal firebox is surrounded by small pale green tiles. Crossing the center of the hall is a shallow arch supported by intricate molded and incised posts with tapered sides and small capitals supporting a cross-beam which is decorated with dentils and applied garland trim. Behind the pocket doors to the west is a large parlor, called the library or music room. In addition to the main doors from the hall, a second set of narrower pocket doors in the south wall provide access to the dining room. A 1/1 light sash on the north overlooks the front lawn and a smaller matching window is centered on the west wall. Also on the west wall is another fireplace with mantel and overmantel supported by square posts with a bracketed shelf and egg-and-dart trim around the mirror on top. Light green tiles again surround the coal firebox. The dining room behind (to the south) also features smaller single-leaf doors south to the rear hall and kitchen wing and east to the central hall. The west wall is a gable bay end with the fireplace in the center. Its mantel and overmantel rests on two tiers of square posts with Ionic capitals. It also features a beveled glass mirror with egg-and-dart trim and light green tiles surrounding the hearth. Windows with 1/1 lights are located in the bays to either side. Across the hall, the east parlor is laid out similarly, except that the second set of pocket doors to the south is replaced by a five panel singleleaf door connecting with the bedroom. The mantel in this room is supported by tall round columns with carved Ionic capitals. The molded shelf is convex and the mirror above is of beveled glass. Windows again are 1/1 light on the front and side walls. Behind (to the south) this room is the family room or downstairs bedroom. It is distinguished by its bay end to the east, with a door to the outside in the bay. Single-leaf doors open north to the front parlor and west to the central hall. Also on the south side is a fireplace with a plain boxed mantel and overmantel supported by round columns with molded capitals. Its shelf held up by carved acanthus leaf brackets and the beveled glass mirror is framed by ovolo trim. Running across the entire rear of the first floor is a service hall. It has doors at the west to the outside, north to the dining room and central hall, and east to a original bath. A narrow straight service stair runs along the north wall. It has a plain rail supported by turned spindles rising from a square boxed newel post with simple molded trim. A door below the staircase provides access to the basement. Off the rear hall at the west end is the rear ell that contains the kitchen. It features 4/4 light sashes on the west and south walls, a boxed interior flue for a former stove, and a high chair rail running around all walls. On the north wall is a spacious walk-in pantry with single-leaf door. A wood and glass panel door opens east to the latticework side porch. The upstairs floor plan generally follows that of the main floor. The broad central hall has a doorway, matching the main entry, opening north to the upstairs balcony. Five panel wooden doors with operable center-pivot glass transoms provide access to the bedrooms, two on the west and three on the east; a sixth matching doors at the south end leads to the rear hall. The staircase is located at the rear of the main hall and its turned posts continue all the way around the stairwell opening. The northeast bedroom over the main parlor has two 1/1 light sashes on the north side and one on the east. A mantel and overmantel with acanthus leaf trim on the east wall matches that in the family room below. A narrow closet with a five panel single-leaf wooden door is on the north side of the room. Next door, the east center bedroom is distinguished by its bay end, with a fireplace with simple mantel and overmantel featuring a rectangular mirror. The cast iron coal firebox is surrounded by delft blue tiles. In the bay are 1/1 light sashes. A closet is located in the north corner. In the southeast corner of this floor is a large bath, with doors opening north to the center bedroom and west to the hall. A closet is located on the north wall and 1/1 light sashes open south and east. Across the hall, the northwest bedroom is similar to the northeast. The only difference is a somewhat more elaborate coal burning fireplace with a mantelpiece decorated with carved, incised, and applied trim. The firebox surround and hearth are faced with pink and cream tiles. The west bedroom has a bay end with 1/1 light sashes. On the west wall is a coal-burning fireplace with tall mantel and overmantel supported by plain round columns and with green tiles on the hearth and surround. A small closet is located on the north wall, and single-leaf doors open east to the center hall and south to the rear hall. The house was originally heated by the eleven coal burning fireplaces. In 1942 central oil heat was installed and in 1969 a gas furnace and central air conditioning were installed. Gas lighting was originally specified for the house, but the house was also wired for electricity (and an electrical service bell system), even though electricity was not yet available in Centerville. The original gas pipes are still present. At some later time, a household Delco electrical power plant, located in the shed addition to the rear ell, was used until public electricity became available. Original plumbing was one bath downstairs plus a sink in the kitchen and a five foot diameter, two foot deep tank off the upstairs rear hall connected to the cistern by a hand pump. This gravity-flow system was removed about 1942 when city water was provided. Two outbuildings are located on the property. The larger building is a rectangular plan frame carriage barn dating from circa 1910. It is covered with horizontal wood siding and topped by a tin gable roof. The carriage barn is a contributing resource. The James Buchanan Walker House in Centerville was nominated under National Register criteria B and C for its associations with Walker, an important figure in Centerville commerce and local government, and for its significance to Centerville and Hickman County in architecture. The house is one of relatively few homes in the county of brick construction and is the only good surviving local example of early twentieth century Classical Revival architecture. Most homes in Centerville and the surrounding country are simple buildings of frame construction, and no building in the county features such elaborate interior trim and decoration. The house was built for James Buchanan Walker, who was born June 26, 1857 in the Whitfield-Coble-Beaverdam area in western Hickman County. As a young man. Walker clerked in the store of his elder brother, John T. Walker. He later operated his own store in the Shady Grove area in the eastern part of the county for nearly ten years. He then sold his business and came to Centerville, where he purchased his brother's interest in a mercantile business and also worked for the First National Bank in Centerville. Walker was the bank's assistant cashier and director after January 15, 1903, cashier after March 4th of the same year, and after January 14, 1913, President of the First National Bank, remaining in this capacity until his death in 1940. Walker was a pivotal figure in the development of Centerville from a little country village to a prosperous small town. He was elected the first mayor of Centerville in 1905 and was said to have welcomed every stranger to town. He was remembered as cordially receptive to every new business, actively interested in the community, and capable and well-informed as a public official. He was a member of the Centerville School Board, president of the Centerville Training School (once located on the site of his house), and a member of the Board of Directors of Fairview Academy in Centerville. In business, he was recognized as the dean of Tennessee bankers. He was a member of the Methodist Church for sixty years, serving for thirty years as Superintendent of the Sunday School and for forty years as Chairman of the Board of Stewards. He was a member of the Fifty Years in Business Club of Tennessee and was appointed by Governor Ben W. Hooper as a member of a three person commission to locate the Memphis-Bristol Highway. In 1916, he was chosen as a delegate to the 1916 Democratic National Convention. In 1886, Walker married Henrietta Russell Walker, the youngest of nine children of Madison Monroe Russell and Rachel Alston Jones Russell from the Williamsport area on Duck River in western Maury County. They had six children, five daughters and one son. (The son, James B. Walker, Jr., took over as President of the bank on his father's death, and later was appointed as State Treasurer of Tennessee by Governor Frank Clement. His son, James B. Walker, III, became bank president when his father died. His aunt, Mattie Lou Walker, daughter of James B. Walker, also worked in the bank for seventy years, retiring in 1978.) The land on which the house was built was purchased on October 13, 1902 by Walker from the Centerville Training School for $1,500. The conveyance shows an existing brick building on the lot. The architect's specifications also refer to an existing building as a source for some of the brick to be used in the construction of the new Walker house. The house was built in 1903 by Clarence K. Colley (1869-1956) of Nashville. Colley, a Wilson County native, opened his architectural practice in Nashville in 1899. He designed the North Branch of the Nashville Public Library on Monroe Street at Tenth Avenue North. In 1909 he was partnered with J.H. Colley and from 1922 until 1928 the firm was known as Colley and Company. Colley was known primarily for his numerous apartment buildings. The Walker House is an excellent local example of the early twentieth century Classical Revival. Its most prominent feature is a portico with tall round reeded columns topped by Scamozzi capitals. In addition to the central portico, one-story porches extend across the west or front and north sides, and a small latticework frame porch is placed at the interior side of the rear ell. The relatively plain exterior gives little hint of the house's outstanding interior. The house illustrates the turn-of-the-century proclivity for the use of rich wooden detail work, featuring four sets of internal pocket doors, and an outstanding stairway in the central hall which is embellished with turned spindles and a molded rail, with a paneled closed area below. The same entry hall features a wooden arched opening separating it into two sections. In the rear hall, a smaller service stair also provides access to the second floor. Four of the rooms are of irregular shape, with bowed sides created by the gable bay ends of the house. The house is the largest of the few brick houses in the small county seat. Most homes in Centerville are of frame construction and usually quite smaller. No house in the county is known to features such a detailed and complex interior. The interior is completely unaltered except for the installation of new gas lines, and retains all original doors, baseboards, and other millwork. No other house in the city is built in the early twentieth century Classical Revival style. The only other example of this style is the 1922 Methodist Church. The Walker house has remained in the family since its construction in 1902. Now we are selling this historic home by court order - Online Auction. When we announce this is a RARE buying opportunity, this is a fact! This historic home has been the same family since it's construction in 1902....almost 120 years! Opening Bid - $125,000.00 Bidding Ends on Thursday, July 22nd at 6pm Open House dates to be announced...