Skipwith Hall facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
|
|
Skipwith Hall
|
|
Skipwith Hall
|
|
 Location in Tennessee
Location in the United States
|
|
| Location | Columbia, Tennessee, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Area | 13 acres (5.3 ha) |
| Built | 1815-1816 |
| NRHP reference No. | 77001283 |
| Added to NRHP | November 23, 1978 |
Skipwith Hall, also known as Oakwood Farm, is a historic mansion in Maury County, Tennessee, USA.
History
The land was granted by George Washington to Nathanael Greene in 1807. However, Greene let his brother-in-law, Captain William Littlefield, settle the land. When Littlefield's son, Newport, Rhode Island, native Edward B. Littlefield, married Greene's daughter, Cornelia Lott Greene, recently widow of Peyton Skipwith (c.1779-1808, third child of Sir Peyton Skipwith, 7th Baronet), the new couple decided to build a mansion for their plantation.
The mansion was built with timber in 1815-1816. It was the residence of Edward Littlefield and his wife Cornelia. It was home to the first piano in Maury County. When he won Lucius J. Polk's seat in the Tennessee Senate, Littlefield moved to Nashville and left the mansion to his stepsons, George Greene Skipwith and Peyton Horatio Skipwith. They formally inherited it in 1836. By 1849, George passed it on to the Planters Bank through a deed of trust. Shortly after, the bank sold it to Benjamin Harlan.
Harlan renamed it Oakwood Farm and turned it into a stock farm, importing stock from Spain and selling it in the South. Meanwhile, Harlan hired architect Nathan Vaught to redesign the mansion. Vaught added "six white pillars and a grand veranda." According to local historian Reid Smith, Harlan added his "own special trademark of hospitality" with "A little Negro slave boy [who], stationed in the shade of a mighty oak along the pike, stood ever ready with a drink of spring water for each and every passerby."
The property was later inherited by Harlan's descendants, who were still the owners of the mansion in the 1970s.
Architectural significance
It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since November 23, 1978.
