Gleaves Wilson House

I was looking around the Gleaves website the other day. I wasn't trying to find anything specific; I was just looking to see what was there. I looked through some letters and some pictures and I came upon a link for the Gleaves Wilson house. Intrigued, I clicked on the link to find out what this house was all about.

The Gleaves Wilson House

Well, it turns out, there is an absolutely gorgeous house in Lebanon, Tennessee that was built around 1830 and it's first owner was none other than Benjamin Franklin Gleaves. I wasn't sure how he was related to me (but what a fantastic name!), so I looked him up on my family tree and he is my 4th great grandfather's brother.

When the house was built, they were next door neighbors to Andrew Jackson (7th US President)! He and Benjamin were friends. I think that is pretty neat. Anyway, the house was passed down through generations and ended up belonging to Alfred and JoAnn Wilson, who were married in the 1920s and lived most of their lives in Houston, Texas. But, Tennessee was the place Alfred loved and they lived their final years there.

Back to the house, it was restored once in the mid 1800s, but in 1989, when Alfred and JoAnn inherited the house, they decided to get it back to its formal glory while adding some niceties of modern day. As they were restoring the house, they realized that the house was no longer in a good location; the area was becoming more urban and Alfred and his siblings decided to sell the property, so they moved the house! They dismantled, numbered and moved the house 20 miles into beautiful countryside and put it all back together. It took them 22 years to finish restoring the house. Those 22 years were worth it. The house is beautiful.

You can go the their website here: http://www.gleaveswilsonhouse.com and see more pictures and read other information on the family and the house. I thought it was neat to learn about this house, and maybe some day I'll find myself in Tennessee and can see the area for myself!