Constructed in 1869 in the ever-popular I-house form with Greek Revival and, to a lesser extent, Italianate details, the Brown-Hancock House was expanded and further stylized into a vernacular expression of Classical Revival by prominent Nashville/Bell Meade architect Thomas West Gardner who carefully designed and implemented a large expansion of the house beginning in 1916 and ending in 1918.5 As such, the Brown-Hancock House is eligible under Criterion C as a locally significant example of mid-19th century Greek Revival I-House with Italianate details as well as early 20th century Classical Revival. The house is also locally significant under Criterion C as an excellent local example of an historic adaptation of a property that represents the modernization of American residential life.
he first Euro-Americans to settle the area that would become Cannon County arrived in the late 1790s near Readyville and Bradyville (the present western portions of the county). The legislature formed Cannon County in January 1836 from segments of Rutherford, Smith, and Warren Counties, later adding portions of Wilson County to its north.The first substantial village, and the first county seat, was Danville, whose name was later changed to Woodbury. The town’s first arrangement was a linear street plan that Henry Trott and William Bates later adapted into a central courthouse square plan in 1836. It was at the northeast corner of this central square plan that Christopher Columbus Brown had his stylish I-house with Greek Revival details built in 1869.6Born around 1831, Brown became a successful Woodbury merchant by 1860 and married Ann Coleman in 1869. Later in the year he acquired land, bound by the East Fork of the Stones River and Water Street, from Ann’s father, Frank.7 Frank owned the Coleman Inn located across Water Street from the newlyweds’ lot.
Soon after, he had the brick I-house built on the corner of the square in which he and Ann raised their children: Claudia, Charles, William, Alice, and Grace Christine. Brown died in 1894, after which his wife, Ann, and youngest daughters, Alice and Grace Christine, continued to live in the house. The eldest daughter, Claudia (1871-1948), married local civic and business leader Walter Hancock in 1898.8 By 1910, Walter and Claudia Hancock had moved into the home with Ann and Claudia’s sister Grace.9 Ann lived with her daughter and son-in-law in the house until her death in 1928. Known initially among the community as the Ann. E. Brown homestead, then the Walter and Claudia Hancock House, the Brown-Hancock House remained in the same extended Brown-Hancock family until 1951 when it was conveyed to N.B. and Lila Hancock (no confirmed relation).10Walter Hancock The Hancock family has a long history in Cannon County. In 1809, Richard and Lewis Hancock migrated to Tennessee from Virginia and began a lucrative farming business. Settling on Sycamore Creek in Cannon and Wilson counties, the Hancock brothers owned adjacent farms consisting of 3,000 acres of farmland.11 Lewis Hancock’s eldest son, Richard Alexander, was born in January 1827.12 He married Anna Jeff Sneed and together the couple had six children--one of which was Walter Hancock. Hancock was influential in Woodbury from the late-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries through a long career of public service. In 1888, at the age of nineteen, Walter helped organize the Bank of Woodbury, eventually becoming the bank’s vice president and director.In 1893, he left Cannon County to study law under William C. Houston, then-member of the Tennessee House of Representatives.13 After becoming a lawyer, Hancock ran a successful law practice from the Woodbury square with clients throughout the mid-state and became involved in Cannon County’s local politics as an ardent Democrat. Hancock served as the Mayor of Woodbury for three terms during the 1910s. It was around this time that Walter and Claudia hired Nashville architect Thomas W. Gardner to substantially expand the house’s floor plan and install three bathrooms and a kitchen inside the house. Oral tradition maintains that Walter agreed to continue living in Claudia’s childhood home on the condition that it undergo such expansion and modernization.14By the late-1910s, Hancock turned his political focus toward national issues. During the First World War, Hancock demonstrated his commitment to the local war effort while serving as the chairman of the local draft board. By the end of the 1910s, Hancock’s political involvement expanded further as he became an outspoken proponent of Prohibition. He served as the president of the Woodbury Anti-Saloon League and maintained his commitment to a dry state well beyond the enactment and repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment, as he gave traveling prohibition talks in Cannon and Rutherford counties throughout the 1930s. Hancock was also a close associate of Governor Gordon Browning during his first term in office.15Hancock is remembered as having played an active role “in all programs designed for the betterment of his community and took the lead in church, civic and social enterprises in the Woodbury area.”16 His involvement in one enterprise, in particular, is indicative of his influence on the town of Woodbury. As Woodbury expanded as the county’s main town in the early decades of the twentieth century, it “never had a railroad connection and remained largely isolated from major transportation networks until the completion of the original Memphis-to-Bristol Highway (now U.S. Highway 70S) during the late 1920s.”17 Hancock, though no longer serving in his mayoral capacity, served on the Cannon County delegation to advocate for the Memphis-to-Bristol Highway through Woodbury.18On April 25, 1947, Walter Hancock suffered a fatal heart attack in his home on Water Street. The Tennessean’s announcement of his death on April 27, 1947, declared “Cannon County and that whole section of the state lost its most tireless supporter and promoter. Though he held public office as mayor...he was never one to seek the limelight. But his efforts on behalf of his home community never ceased.”19Claudia’s death followed in 1948, after which the family home reverted to her sister Grace Christine who conveyed the property to N.B. and Lila Hancock (no confirmed relation) in 1951.
While the original c. 1869 façade remains intact, the Hancocks commissioned well-known Nashville/Bell Meade architect Thomas West Gardner to design an addition from 1916-1918, including a Classical Revival solarium, that nearly doubled the house’s size.
A native of Winchester, Franklin County, Tennessee, Gardner worked for the Cumberland Telephone and Telegraph Company in Nashville as Chief Draftsman and Chief Engineer before the company merged with Southern Bell in 1912. Though he lacked formal training, Gardner left the company to pursue a career in architecture in mid-1910s, making the Brown-Hancock House one of his early projects. In fact, Gardner worked on the expansion of the Brown-Hancock House as he was designing his own home, the Gardner-Warner Place, in Nashville. This Nashville landmark has been described as a “creative interpretation of Colonial Revival architecture...influenced by the Prairie house style.”20Around the beginning of the Brown-Hancock home’s expansion and construction of his own home, Gardner created a firm with Atlanta architect Edward E. Dougherty who had recently moved to Nashville and built such landmarks as the Colonial Revival-style Belle Meade Country Club (1914-1916) and the Tudor Revival-style Belle Meade Apartment Building (1917, NR 84003474). A graduate of the University of Georgia, Dougherty studied architecture at Cornell University before moving to Paris to attend the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. He returned to Atlanta where he ran a successful practice and completed several significant projects including the Classical Revival-style Highland School (1911, 1929, NR 06000959) and the Druid Hills Golf Club (1911-1912, Druid Hills Historic District NR 79000715).21Together, Gardner and Dougherty designed such Nashville landmarks as the Renaissance Revival-style Doctors’ Building (1916, 1921, NR 85001607) and the Tudor Revival-style Hunter’s Hill (1928). They also designed the north and south wings and clock tower of the Robertson County Courthouse (1929-1930, NR 78002627) in Springfield, Tennessee, in 1929-1930. Many of the pairs’ most significant commissions were church buildings, including the Classical Revival-style Central Baptist Church (1926, NR 88002988) in Miami, Florida, the First Baptist Church (1926) in Williamsburg, Kentucky, and the Druid Hills Baptist Church (1928, Druid Hills Historic District NR 79000715) in Atlanta.22Throughout his career, Gardner was known as an architect of churches and is credited with designing more than 120 church buildings in the South, either as partner or sole architect. Gardner and Dougherty parted ways in 1930, after which Gardner completed several projects, including the chapel for the Woodmont Baptist Church (1943) in Nashville, and Tennessee Central Railway Freight Depot (1943) in Nashville.23Gardner also maintained ties to Walter Hancock and Cannon County, as he accompanied a group of the county’s civic leaders, including Hancock, to view the Robertson County Courthouse in 1934. Though there is no indication Gardner participated in the design or construction of the Cannon County Courthouse (1935-1936), in 1934, The Tennessee annoted, “A spokesman for the committee [Cannon County committee of which Gardner and Hancock were a part] said the group was delighted with the courthouse here [Springfield], and would recommend the construction of one of similar type at Woodbury, but some smaller.”24 Gardner remained busy designing schools, churches, and to a lesser extent, residences, until his death in 1952.
he first Euro-Americans to settle the area that would become Cannon County arrived in the late 1790s near Readyville and Bradyville (the present western portions of the county). The legislature formed Cannon County in January 1836 from segments of Rutherford, Smith, and Warren Counties, later adding portions of Wilson County to its north.The first substantial village, and the first county seat, was Danville, whose name was later changed to Woodbury. The town’s first arrangement was a linear street plan that Henry Trott and William Bates later adapted into a central courthouse square plan in 1836. It was at the northeast corner of this central square plan that Christopher Columbus Brown had his stylish I-house with Greek Revival details built in 1869.6Born around 1831, Brown became a successful Woodbury merchant by 1860 and married Ann Coleman in 1869. Later in the year he acquired land, bound by the East Fork of the Stones River and Water Street, from Ann’s father, Frank.7 Frank owned the Coleman Inn located across Water Street from the newlyweds’ lot.
Soon after, he had the brick I-house built on the corner of the square in which he and Ann raised their children: Claudia, Charles, William, Alice, and Grace Christine. Brown died in 1894, after which his wife, Ann, and youngest daughters, Alice and Grace Christine, continued to live in the house. The eldest daughter, Claudia (1871-1948), married local civic and business leader Walter Hancock in 1898.8 By 1910, Walter and Claudia Hancock had moved into the home with Ann and Claudia’s sister Grace.9 Ann lived with her daughter and son-in-law in the house until her death in 1928. Known initially among the community as the Ann. E. Brown homestead, then the Walter and Claudia Hancock House, the Brown-Hancock House remained in the same extended Brown-Hancock family until 1951 when it was conveyed to N.B. and Lila Hancock (no confirmed relation).10Walter Hancock The Hancock family has a long history in Cannon County. In 1809, Richard and Lewis Hancock migrated to Tennessee from Virginia and began a lucrative farming business. Settling on Sycamore Creek in Cannon and Wilson counties, the Hancock brothers owned adjacent farms consisting of 3,000 acres of farmland.11 Lewis Hancock’s eldest son, Richard Alexander, was born in January 1827.12 He married Anna Jeff Sneed and together the couple had six children--one of which was Walter Hancock. Hancock was influential in Woodbury from the late-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries through a long career of public service. In 1888, at the age of nineteen, Walter helped organize the Bank of Woodbury, eventually becoming the bank’s vice president and director.In 1893, he left Cannon County to study law under William C. Houston, then-member of the Tennessee House of Representatives.13 After becoming a lawyer, Hancock ran a successful law practice from the Woodbury square with clients throughout the mid-state and became involved in Cannon County’s local politics as an ardent Democrat. Hancock served as the Mayor of Woodbury for three terms during the 1910s. It was around this time that Walter and Claudia hired Nashville architect Thomas W. Gardner to substantially expand the house’s floor plan and install three bathrooms and a kitchen inside the house. Oral tradition maintains that Walter agreed to continue living in Claudia’s childhood home on the condition that it undergo such expansion and modernization.14By the late-1910s, Hancock turned his political focus toward national issues. During the First World War, Hancock demonstrated his commitment to the local war effort while serving as the chairman of the local draft board. By the end of the 1910s, Hancock’s political involvement expanded further as he became an outspoken proponent of Prohibition. He served as the president of the Woodbury Anti-Saloon League and maintained his commitment to a dry state well beyond the enactment and repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment, as he gave traveling prohibition talks in Cannon and Rutherford counties throughout the 1930s. Hancock was also a close associate of Governor Gordon Browning during his first term in office.15Hancock is remembered as having played an active role “in all programs designed for the betterment of his community and took the lead in church, civic and social enterprises in the Woodbury area.”16 His involvement in one enterprise, in particular, is indicative of his influence on the town of Woodbury. As Woodbury expanded as the county’s main town in the early decades of the twentieth century, it “never had a railroad connection and remained largely isolated from major transportation networks until the completion of the original Memphis-to-Bristol Highway (now U.S. Highway 70S) during the late 1920s.”17 Hancock, though no longer serving in his mayoral capacity, served on the Cannon County delegation to advocate for the Memphis-to-Bristol Highway through Woodbury.18On April 25, 1947, Walter Hancock suffered a fatal heart attack in his home on Water Street. The Tennessean’s announcement of his death on April 27, 1947, declared “Cannon County and that whole section of the state lost its most tireless supporter and promoter. Though he held public office as mayor...he was never one to seek the limelight. But his efforts on behalf of his home community never ceased.”19Claudia’s death followed in 1948, after which the family home reverted to her sister Grace Christine who conveyed the property to N.B. and Lila Hancock (no confirmed relation) in 1951.
While the original c. 1869 façade remains intact, the Hancocks commissioned well-known Nashville/Bell Meade architect Thomas West Gardner to design an addition from 1916-1918, including a Classical Revival solarium, that nearly doubled the house’s size.
A native of Winchester, Franklin County, Tennessee, Gardner worked for the Cumberland Telephone and Telegraph Company in Nashville as Chief Draftsman and Chief Engineer before the company merged with Southern Bell in 1912. Though he lacked formal training, Gardner left the company to pursue a career in architecture in mid-1910s, making the Brown-Hancock House one of his early projects. In fact, Gardner worked on the expansion of the Brown-Hancock House as he was designing his own home, the Gardner-Warner Place, in Nashville. This Nashville landmark has been described as a “creative interpretation of Colonial Revival architecture...influenced by the Prairie house style.”20Around the beginning of the Brown-Hancock home’s expansion and construction of his own home, Gardner created a firm with Atlanta architect Edward E. Dougherty who had recently moved to Nashville and built such landmarks as the Colonial Revival-style Belle Meade Country Club (1914-1916) and the Tudor Revival-style Belle Meade Apartment Building (1917, NR 84003474). A graduate of the University of Georgia, Dougherty studied architecture at Cornell University before moving to Paris to attend the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. He returned to Atlanta where he ran a successful practice and completed several significant projects including the Classical Revival-style Highland School (1911, 1929, NR 06000959) and the Druid Hills Golf Club (1911-1912, Druid Hills Historic District NR 79000715).21Together, Gardner and Dougherty designed such Nashville landmarks as the Renaissance Revival-style Doctors’ Building (1916, 1921, NR 85001607) and the Tudor Revival-style Hunter’s Hill (1928). They also designed the north and south wings and clock tower of the Robertson County Courthouse (1929-1930, NR 78002627) in Springfield, Tennessee, in 1929-1930. Many of the pairs’ most significant commissions were church buildings, including the Classical Revival-style Central Baptist Church (1926, NR 88002988) in Miami, Florida, the First Baptist Church (1926) in Williamsburg, Kentucky, and the Druid Hills Baptist Church (1928, Druid Hills Historic District NR 79000715) in Atlanta.22Throughout his career, Gardner was known as an architect of churches and is credited with designing more than 120 church buildings in the South, either as partner or sole architect. Gardner and Dougherty parted ways in 1930, after which Gardner completed several projects, including the chapel for the Woodmont Baptist Church (1943) in Nashville, and Tennessee Central Railway Freight Depot (1943) in Nashville.23Gardner also maintained ties to Walter Hancock and Cannon County, as he accompanied a group of the county’s civic leaders, including Hancock, to view the Robertson County Courthouse in 1934. Though there is no indication Gardner participated in the design or construction of the Cannon County Courthouse (1935-1936), in 1934, The Tennessee annoted, “A spokesman for the committee [Cannon County committee of which Gardner and Hancock were a part] said the group was delighted with the courthouse here [Springfield], and would recommend the construction of one of similar type at Woodbury, but some smaller.”24 Gardner remained busy designing schools, churches, and to a lesser extent, residences, until his death in 1952.
Located at 110 West Water Street in Woodbury, Cannon County, Tennessee, the Brown-Hancock House is a two-story, brick I-house with end chimneys, capped by a side gable roof with slate shingles.1 The vast majority of the house’s stylistic elements are typical local expressions of the Greek Revival style: a low-pitched side-gabled roof, prominent full-height pedimented portico, sidelights and transom around the doorway. Also present are brackets reminiscent of the Italianate style. Originally constructed c. 1869, Nashville architect Thomas W. Gardner significantly expanded the home from 1916 to 1918 with the addition of a two-story ell on the rear, north elevation and a solarium on the east. The retention of the c.1869 Greek Revival elements and addition of the Classically-styled solarium enabled the home to fit neatly into the Classical-Revival style popular during the early 20thcentury. The property contains one other contributing building—a detached, single vehicle garage that was built during the c.1916-1918 expansion of the house. There are two structures on the property: a contributing brick cistern dug during the house expansion and located immediately to the rear (north) of the ell; and non-contributing remnants of a dry stack, stone retaining wall located at the northwest corner of the property. Located just off the northeast corner of the Cannon County square, the siting of the house retains its historic proximity to the civic and commercial heart of the county as well as its access to the East Fork of the Stones River to its north. The Brown-Hancock House remains an intact example of the vernacular Greek Revival architectural style prevalent in the region during the mid-19thcentury and the Classical Revival style in fashion during the early 20th century. The Brown-Hancock House retains a high degree of integrity in the original design, setting, and decorative millwork and brickwork, as the property has seen minimal changes.
The Brown-Hancock property is bound to the south by Water Street, the terminus of Cannon Street and a Regions Bank building to the west, the east fork of the Stones River to the north, and a residential parcel with bungalow to the east. The house faces the north elevation of a mid-century commercial building that fronts Cannon Street. While not on the courthouse square proper, the house sits immediately off the square at the northeast corner higher than but within the viewshed of the c.1935 National Register-listed Cannon County courthouse to the southwest. A line of manicured bushes runs northward from the western end chimney, creating a privacy barrier between the west portion of the yard and the drive that serves the bank.
This line of bushes ends where a gravel drive begins at the bank parking lot. The gravel drive runs east across the backyard of the property to the detached garage that sits northeast of the house. A brick cistern that has been capped with concrete sits immediately north of the house’s ell. A manicured yard slopes downward from the rear of the house and is bisected horizontally by the gravel drive. The yard continues to slope downward toward the river fork and is bound on the northwest corner by remnants of a dry stack retaining wall. The rear (north side) of the property is bound by the East Fork of the Stones River. The viewshed from the back of the property across the fork includes the public greenspace of city-owned Dillon Park. The core of the bungalow-style home to the east of the Brown-Hancock property was originally the detached kitchen that served the c.1869 home. The kitchen building was moved to its current location (now, a legally separate property not included in this nomination) during the c.1916-1918 expansion when a kitchen space was built into the new ell addition. While many of the commercial buildings near the Brown-Hancock House are of modern, mid-20thcentury construction (the bank building to the west, the furniture store and utility buildings across the street), the setting retains integrity in its prominent, elevated siting overlooking the county’s civic and commercial seat.
The Brown-Hancock House’s basic c.1869 I-house form was maintained during the 1916-1918 addition of a two-story ell to the north (rear) elevation of the house and a solarium to the east elevation. An extant patio was also enclosed and now supports the westernmost sleeping porch above. During the addition, much care was taken to reproduce matching bricks and continue the original common bond pattern throughout the exterior walls. The entire house sits on a continuous foundation of block-cut limestone, perforated by metal air vents. A low-pitched side gable roof with slate shingles caps the c.1869 portion of the house, while a hipped roof of similar pitch and slate shingles caps the ell addition. The façade (south elevation) is expressive of the Greek Revival order with its symmetrical three-bay design and centered, full-height pedimented portico with balcony that rests on a 24’ 2’’ wide and 7.5’ deep limestone porch below. A wide band of trim with dentil molding underneath forms the triangular pediment within the gable of the portico. Below the pediment, an elaborate frieze with alternating Italianate brackets and decorative raised panels run the perimeter of the portico and continue to crown the entire south elevation below the roofline. The portico is supported by four free-standing, square wooden columns, all with limestone bases. Two matching square pilasters, also with limestone bases, flank the entryway. The main entrance to the house contains a single-leaf, six-paneled door (protected by a modern glass storm door) surrounded by a three-part transom above and four-part sidelights on either side, all of which are located beneath a limestone lintel that mimics those above the windows. The second-floor wood balcony of the portico is accessible from the interior via glass-paned double doors located beneath a lintel and flanked by two-part sidelights. A screen door protects the double doors. A wooden balustrade with vertical, v-shaped balusters runs the perimeter of the balcony. The portico ceilings on both levels are wood paneled. One original six-over-six, double-hung wood sash window is situated in each bay on both the first and second floors, all beneath matching lintels and above limestone sills. A rowlock brick course caps the lintels on the two ground-level windows. The continuous limestone foundation is visible on the westernmost portion of the façade due to the incline of the land toward the east. To the east of the main entrance is a c. 1918 solarium crowned with the same style balustrade found on the portico balcony. A pronounced cornice and frieze crowns the entire solarium. In the center of the solarium’s south elevation is a wooden double-door entry with three glass panes aligned vertically on each door and eight-pane transom above. Flanking this entrance are two six-pane windows. Two pilasters located near the corners of the solarium’s south façade rame the entry and fenestration, with the easternmost pilaster creating the southeast corner of the building. The solarium’s continuous brick foundation is visible on its south elevation, as are two limestone steps leading from the yard to said entrance. The west elevation, described from south to north, is comprised of the gable end of the original main block of the house, featuring a shouldered exterior end chimney. The elaborate cornice and frieze from the façade are continued directly underneath the gabled roofline and end in matching cornice returns. To the north of the chimney is a frame patio that was enclosed with wood siding during the c. 1918 expansion. Above this space is a second-floor sleeping porch with four, eight-pane casement windows, also added during the c.1918 expansion. The two levels of this frame addition are demarcated horizontally by a projecting cornice and plain frieze that wrap the corner, cap the enclosed patio, and are met by three gently pitched siding boards from above to shed rainwater past the projecting cornice. This frame addition sits atop a rowlock brick course above its limestone foundation. The west elevation of the brick ell addition is capped by a cornice and plain frieze. The common bond brick pattern from the original portion of the house is continued in the ell. Fenestration includes an asymmetrical arrangement of six-over-six wood sash double-hung windows – two on the first floor and one on the second--each featuring a partial wood lintel framed by double rowlock brick arches above and sills that mimic those found elsewhere on the house. North of this fenestration is a frame porch area enclosed with lattice. Above this is a second sleeping porch with six eight-pane casement windows that make up the entire western wall of the porch. Similar to the aforementioned sleeping porch and enclosed area beneath, the two levels of this frame addition are demarcated horizontally by a projecting cornice and plain frieze that wrap the corner, cap the enclosed porch, and are met by three gently pitched siding boards from above to shed rainwater. The mortared limestone foundation is increasingly visible on the west elevation as the land gently declines toward the rear (north) of the property. The west side of a mortared, limestone block stair wall that serves the lattice-enclosed porch and modern concrete slab with HVAC units atop is visible from this elevation. The north (rear) elevation features the c. 1918 additions to the house. From east to west, this elevation includes the rears of the one-story solarium, the ell addition, and enclosed patio and sleeping porch near the western gable end of the house’s main block. The solarium’s north (rear) elevation is identical to its south (façade) elevation (described previously) with the exception of double screen storm doors protecting the glass-paned double-doors that lead to the back yard. Due to the decline of the yard to the north, a larger portion of the solarium’s brick foundation is exposed on its north elevation than on its south elevation (façade). The north elevation of the brick ell includes an interior brick chimney rising from the roof, two six-over-six double-hung windows on the ground level, and one smaller six-over-six double-hung window on the second level. All three windows have partial wood lintel framing beneath double rowlock brick arches above and sills that mimic those found elsewhere on the house. To the west of the brick portion of this elevation is the aforementioned frame porch enclosed with lattice and the second sleeping porch directly above. The transition from the brick to frame portion of the ell is further indicated by a slightly lower roofline on the latter. A single-leaf lattice door into the lattice-enclosed porch serves as the rear entrance to the house. Seven concrete steps with stair walls of mortared, block-cut limestone lead from the yard up to this entry. The sleeping porch above contains two northward-facing eight-pane casement windows. The unfinished basement is accessed through the limestone portion of the rear (north) ell wall, just to the east of the limestone stair wall. The limestone foundation of this elevation is more visible due to the northward decline of the lot.Moving westward on the north elevation, the enclosed frame addition to the main block of the house with sleeping porch above is visible. This enclosed area is accessed from the backyard up two concrete steps through wood-framed, eighteen-pane double doors. One six-over-six double-hung window perforates the wall between the doors and the brick ell wall. The second floor features the sleeping porch with four, eight-pane casement windows and one six-over-six double-hung window. The demarcation of the two levels by projecting corner and plain frieze continues from the frame addition’s west elevation. Also continuing from the west elevation of this frame addition is the rowlock brick course atop the limestone foundation. The east elevation, described from south to north consists of the gable end of the original main block of the house, featuring a shouldered exterior end chimney. The elaborate cornice and frieze from the façade continue directly underneath the gabled roofline and end in matching cornice returns. One six-over-six double hung window with lintel and sill that mimics those found on the facade is located to the north of the chimney, within the original main block of the house. The east elevation of the solarium consists of two bays, each with three six-pane casement windows underneath a six-pane transom. These bays are divided by two pilasters. Additionally, two pilasters of the same style are located near the two corners of the solarium’s east façade, with the southernmost and northernmost pilasters creating the southeast and northeast corners of the building. The solarium’s brick foundation is slightly more visible on this east elevation than on its south (façade) elevation due to the northward decline of the lot. Moving northward, the east elevation of the brick ell addition contains two six-over-six double-hung windows with partial wooden lintels framed by double rowlock brick arches on the second floor and a contiguous row of three six-over-six double-hung windows perforating a 16’ section of protruding brick wall on the ground level. A cornice and frieze that mimic those found on the south (façade) elevation of the house cap the protruding portion of the wall. An interior chimney rises from the eastern field of the hipped roof ell addition. The remaining fenestration of the ell includes one four-over-four and one six-over-six double hung window on each floor, all of which have partial wooden lintels framed by double rowlock brick arches above and limestone sills underneath. A rectangular, wood frame 3-pane basement window perforates the limestone foundation underneath a partial wooden lintel and soldier course brick arches. The limestone foundation on the east elevation of the house is increasingly visible moving northward due to the decline of the lot. INTERIOR The original c. 1869 interior of the Brown-Hancock House featured a typical I-House floor plan with a central hall flanked by single-pile of rooms. Per the architect’s original blue prints, the expansion between 1916 and 1918 added a one-story solarium to the east of the main block, and a two-story rear addition which elongated the original central hall and included a formal dining room, pantry, kitchen, and bathroom on the first floor, and two sleeping porches, two bathrooms, and two bedrooms on the second floor. Both phases of the house maintain their original spatial organization and defining features.3 During the expansion, the woodwork in the original portion of the house was replicated throughout the additional spaces for consistency of design. Both phases of the house retain this original woodwork. The original floors and floors of the new spaces were covered with oak during the c.1916-1918 expansion and are retained throughout all areas of the house. The tiled areas such as the solariumlooring and wainscoting as well. The current floorplan reflects that drawn by Gardner and his associates c.1916-1918, retaining the intelligent design of the house, with its naturally-lit interior spaces and thoughtful division of public and private areas.First floor Through the main doorway on the south elevation of the house is the original central hall with restored plaster walls and original molded baseboards, cornice, and simple door surrounds. The baseboards are relatively simple with a flattened shoe and semicircular head. When the house was expanded in the 20thcentury, the original millwork of the main block was replicated in the new spaces for continuity of design. Narrow-width oak flooring in the central hallway continues throughout the house and dates to the 1916-1918 work on the house. Adding to the formality of the space, the floor of the central hall is accented by three narrow-width boards that are darker than the others and run the perimeter of the space. According to the current property owner, the original ash and chestnut wide boards remain underneath the oak flooring. The central hall contains a half-turn staircase which begins rising on the east wall of the hall, contains a landing, and continues rising southward along the west wall, leading to the center hall of the second floor. The baseboards of the center hall continue as stringer board along the stair wall, throughout the landing, and the remaining stairs thereafter. There is a four-panel door in the north wall accessed at the landing that opens to a landing of the staircase on the other side of the wall. The turned balusters, handrails, and newel posts of the staircase are walnut. The open stringer board on the staircase contains decorative scroll brackets beneath each tread. Raised paneling covers the space beneath the open stringer board, adding to the formality of the staircase. A single-leaf, four-panel door (leading to storage) is located beneath the stairway, perpendicular to the rear (north) wall of the central hall, while an identical, adjacent door pierces the central hall’s rear (north) wall, leading to the rear addition. A doorway (with door identical to the others) in the center hall’s west wall leads to the west parlor, while a doorway (with door identical to the others) in the center hall’s east wall leads to the east parlor. The flooring, baseboards, and door surrounds of the central hall continue into the east parlor. The room lacks a cornice but is crowned by a picture rail located approximately six inches from the ceiling. A fireplace with marble firebox surround and hearth is located in the center of the room’s east wall, between two doors that lead to the solarium. The mantle is classically styled with fluted, square Doric pilasters on plinths that flank either side of the firebox. A paneled architrave is located below the mantle cornice. One six-over-six double hung window with stool and apron pierces the south wall of the room. Two identical wooden doors, each with twelve glass panes, flank the fireplace and lead from the east parlor into the solarium addition. The baseboards in this space are less formal than those found throughout the rest of the house and the room’s slender cornice is similar to the picture rail found in the preceding parlor. The shape and massing of the woodwork trimming the solarium’s fenestration is similar to that found in the rest of the house. The solarium’s northern, eastern, and southern walls are almost entirely comprised of fenestration. The north wall contains a centrally located double-leaf door that leads outside, each leaf with three vertically-aligned glass panes, beneath an eight-pane transom. One fixed, six-pane window flanks either side of the doorway. The east wall is divided into two bays, each with three fixed, six-pane windows beneath an eight-pane transom. The southern wall is identical to the northern wall. The space retains its original tile flooring.
A wide doorway with original pocket doors divides the east parlor from the dining room to the north. The flooring, door and window trim, and picture rail of the dining room match that of the east parlor. A chair rail with paneled wainscoting beneath runs the perimeter of the dining room. A fireplace is located at the center of the dining room’s north (rear) wall. The fireplace and chimney structure is not flush with the interior dining room wall but extends outward into the floorplan. The firebox surround and hearth is made of Tennessee pink marble. The mantle is classically-styled with round, slightly-tapered Doric columns resting on plinths that flank either side of the firebox. A paneled architrave is located below the mantle cornice. A series of three six-over-six, double-hung windows pierces the dining room’s east wall. A single-leaf, four-panel door on the room’s western wall leads to the hallway of the rear addition. A single-leaf, four-panel swinging door piercing the dining room’s north (rear) wall to the west of the fireplace leads to the pantry. The flooring and door and window surrounds of the pantry match that of the rest of the house. There is no cornice in this room. The space is rectangular with the length running west-east. There are built in storage cabinets above and below counter space, all of which take up the entire length of the room’s east wall. Above the cabinets on the east wall are two fixed, eight-pane windows aligned horizontally that look into the adjacent laundry room. The south wall of the space contains the doorway to the dining room on the east and a doorway to the hall on the west portion of the wall. A single square, center-pivot window with privacy glass is situated above eye level on the west wall of the room and looks into a bathroom on the other side of the wall. On the north wall of the pantry is a six-over-six double hung window that looks into the latticed porch area and adjacent four-panel door that leads into the kitchen. The flooring and door and window trim of the kitchen match that of the rest of the house. The west wall of the kitchen contains a doorway with a four-panel door that leads to the latticed porch area. The north wall contains two six-over-six double-hung windows that flank a section of wall not flush with the rest of the wall and formerly served by the chimney that rises above the kitchen roof. The east wall of the room contains one six-over-six double-hung window. The north wall contains a doorway with four-panel door that leads to the laundry room. The flooring and window and door trim in the laundry room match that of the rest of the house. The east wall contains one four-over-four double hung window. The west wall of the room contains the two previously mentioned fixed, eight-pane windows aligned horizontally that look into the pantry. The center hall in the rear of the house is accessed back through the pantry. The flooring and window and door trim in the rear center hall match that of the rest of the house. The hall contains a half-turn staircase that begins rising on the east wall, contains a landing, and turns to rise along the west wall leading to a hallway on the second floor. There is a four-panel door in the south wall accessed at the landing that opens to the landing of the staircase on the other side of the wall. The design of the closed stringer boards is consistent with the baseboards of the space and match those of the staircase in the front central hallway. The staircase has plain, squared balusters and square, classically inspired newel posts. In the east wall of the rear central hall is a doorway with four-panel door that leads into the previously described dining room. The south wall is pierced by a four-panel door that leads to the front center hall (the original c.1869 portion of the house). One six-over-six window is located on the west wall near the northwestern corner of the hall. A bathroom original to the c.1918 addition is accessed through a door on the rear center hall north wall, adjacent to the butler’s pantry doorway. The bathroom retains the original commode, pedestal sink, black and white checkered floor tile, and subway tile wainscoting. One four-over-four double-hung window, with trim, stool, and apron consistent with the rest of the house’s windows, pierces the west wall. The single square, center-pivot window with privacy glass that looks into the butler’s pantry pierces the east wall. A half-glass (made of six individual panes) wooden door located in the west wall of the rear center hall leads to the enclosed patio room. The window and door trim of this room match that of the rest of the house. The baseboards in this room are less formal than those throughout the rest of the house and match those in the solarium. The room retains the tile floor original to the c.1918 expansion of the house. A recessed double doorway on the room’s south wall leads into the west parlor of the original c.1869 portion of the house. A set of double doors, each with eighteen glass panes, and one six-over-six double hung window pierce the north wall. The west parlor (original to the c.1869 portion of the house) is accessed through the west wall of the original center hall (as well as through the double doors of the above described patio enclosure). The window and door trim, flooring, and picture rail of the west parlor matches those of the rest of the house. The baseboards are the same shape as those in the rest of the house but boast restored faux marbling. Matching faux marbling adorns the fireplace mantle located in the middle of the room’s west wall. The mantle is classically styled with square, Doric pilasters on plinths. The architrave below the cornice of the mantle is plain. One six-over-six double-hung window is located on the parlor’s south wall. Woodendouble doors, each with 15 glass panes, lead to the patio enclosure through the parlor’s north wall. Second floor At the top of the half-turn staircase is center hall of the second floor. On the south wall of this space is a double-leaf door leading to the second-floor portico seen on the main façade, each leaf containing eight glass panes. Four-part sidelights flank the doorway. The narrow-width oak flooring, simple baseboards with a flattened shoe and semicircular head, and door surrounds of the first floor continue into the front center hall space on the second floor. A four-panel door in the north wall of the central hall provides access to the c. 1918 upstairs addition. The flooring, baseboards, door and window surrounds match those of the c. 1869 central hall. The rear staircase is less formal than the c. 1869 staircase in the front half of the house, yet retains the features of Victorian-era staircases, such as square paneled posts and simple square balusters. The western wall of the central hall expansion contains a door into the west bathroom, as well as a single, six-over-six double hung window. Through the western wall of the second floor’s front central hall is the southwest bedroom. The flooring and window and door surrounds of the upper central hall continue into the west bedroom. The baseboards in this space are less formal than those found in much of the rest of the house, lacking the semicircular head that characterizes the more formal baseboards throughout the house. In the center of the room’s west wall is a classically-styled fireplace mantle with square, Doric pilasters on plinths. The architrave below the cornice of the mantle is plain. A four-panel wood door leads to a sleeping porch through the bedroom’s north wall. A six-pane double-hung window is centrally located on the room’s south wall.The c. 1918 sleeping porch is accessible through the southwest bedroom. The flooring, baseboards, door and window surrounds of the west bedroom continue into the sleeping porch. The northern and western walls of the sleeping porch are entirely comprised of fenestration. The western wall is comprised of four eight-pane casement windows. The northern wall is identical to the western wall.
A bathroom adjacent to the sleeping porch is accessed through the northern wall of the southwest bedroom, to the east of the sleeping porch doorway. The bathroom retains the original c.1918 fixtures: bathtub, commode, pedestal sink, and subway tile wainscoting, consistent with the first-floor bathroom. The original blue tile flooring remains intact. A medicine cabinet with stool and apron beneath is located on the bathroom’s west wall. One six-over-six, double-hung window perforates the north wall and is surrounded by trim consistent with that of the rest of the house. A four-panel door located in the east wall leads into the rear central hall. Across the front central hall from the southwest bedroom is the southeast bedroom, accessed through a four-panel wood door consistent with those in the rest of the house. The flooring, baseboards, window and door surrounds, and fireplace mantle of this bedroom are consistent with the southwest bedroom. The fireplace mantle is located in the center of the room’s east wall with one six-over-six, double-hung window to its north. One six-over-six window is located in the south wall. The southeast bedroom also contains access to the attic on the ceiling near the west wall. On the north wall is a four-panel door leading to the first of two bedrooms added during the c.1916-1918 expansion. Also on the north wall, west of the previously mentioned door, is a four-panel door that opens into a closet. The first of the two bedrooms original to the c.1916-1918 expansion is accessed through the original southeast bedroom’s north wall. The flooring, baseboards, door and window surrounds, and fireplace mantle are consistent with the southwest and southeast bedrooms. There is a closet located in the southeast corner of the room, the space of which extends into the floorplan of the bedroom. The closet space is accessed through a four-panel door. Two six-over-six, double hung windows are located on the east wall. The fireplace is located on the north wall. The chimney and fireplace structure are not flush with the wall but extend out into the room’s floorplan. A four-panel door on the room’s west wall opens into the second floor’s rear central hallway. Above this door is an awning window with original operating crank. The rear central hallway on the second floor contains flooring, baseboards, window and door surrounds consistent with the bedrooms. This space is also accessed by the half-turn staircase (located near the space’s south wall) rising from the rear central hall of the first floor. The west wall of the rear central hallway contains the doorway to the previously described bathroom accessed through the southwest bedroom. North of this bathroom doorway is one six-over-six, double hung window in the west wall. At the northwest corner of the rear central hallway is a storage closet accessed by a four-panel door located in the hall’s north wall. To the east of the storage closet is a doorway to a rear hallway passage that leads to a second sleeping porch (not pictured) located on the northwest rear corner of the c. 1918 addition. Similar to the other sleeping porch, the northern and western walls are entirely comprised of fenestration. The western wall is comprised of six eight-pane, casement windows. The northern wall is comprised of four eight-pane, casement windows. The east wall contains a four-panel door that leads into the northeast bedroom. A storage closet is accessed through the southern wall to the west of the entry into the sleeping porch from the rear hallway passage. The northeast bedroom (not pictured), the second bedroom added during the c.1916-1918 expansion, is accessed through the north wall of the rear hallway passage. The flooring, baseboards, window and door surrounds, and fireplace mantle are consistent with the rest of the bedrooms. The northeast bedroom’s west wall contains the doorway to the second sleeping porch. A fireplace is located in the center of the north wall with one six-over-six double hung window located to the east. One six-over-six window is located on the east wall. A closet is accessed through a four-panel door on the south wall.
The third bathroom (not pictured) of the house is located between the two bedrooms of the c.1916-1918 addition, on the east side of the rear hallway passage. The bathroom retains the original c.1918 fixtures: bathtub, commode, and pedestal sink as well as the tile flooring and subway tile wainscoting. One four-over-four window perforates the east wall of the bathroom. 2. Detached garage (c.1916-1918, C) The one-bay, 15 x 28’ common bond brick garage was added to the property as part of the c.1916-1918 expansion. The garage has a continuous block-cut limestone foundation that is increasingly visible as the property slopes downward to the north. Due to the building site’s grade, the limestone foundation is visible along nearly the entire west elevation. A single-leaf, double plank wood door beneath a flat segmental arch is located near the garage’s northwest corner on its west wall. Due to the change in elevation, the door provides access to an interior space slightly lower than the space created for the vehicle. The east and west walls of the garage extend above the roofline to form a three-level, stair step parapet on each that descends to the north. A higher parapet with decorative brick corbeling below the cornice crowns the south elevation/façade. A modern garage door is located beneath a flat segmental arch that matches the one above the doorway on the west elevation. A fallen tree damaged the building in 2010, after which it was repaired using the original brick.43. Cistern (c.1916-1918, C) The cistern located immediately to the northeast of the house’s ell addition was dug during the c.1916-1918 expansion of the house and is lined with the same bricks used for the addition to the house and new garage. The cistern was capped with concrete at an unknown date. 4. Remnants of rock wall (n.d., NC) There are remnants of a dry stack stone retaining wall (running north-south) located at the northwest corner of the property.
The Brown-Hancock property is bound to the south by Water Street, the terminus of Cannon Street and a Regions Bank building to the west, the east fork of the Stones River to the north, and a residential parcel with bungalow to the east. The house faces the north elevation of a mid-century commercial building that fronts Cannon Street. While not on the courthouse square proper, the house sits immediately off the square at the northeast corner higher than but within the viewshed of the c.1935 National Register-listed Cannon County courthouse to the southwest. A line of manicured bushes runs northward from the western end chimney, creating a privacy barrier between the west portion of the yard and the drive that serves the bank.
This line of bushes ends where a gravel drive begins at the bank parking lot. The gravel drive runs east across the backyard of the property to the detached garage that sits northeast of the house. A brick cistern that has been capped with concrete sits immediately north of the house’s ell. A manicured yard slopes downward from the rear of the house and is bisected horizontally by the gravel drive. The yard continues to slope downward toward the river fork and is bound on the northwest corner by remnants of a dry stack retaining wall. The rear (north side) of the property is bound by the East Fork of the Stones River. The viewshed from the back of the property across the fork includes the public greenspace of city-owned Dillon Park. The core of the bungalow-style home to the east of the Brown-Hancock property was originally the detached kitchen that served the c.1869 home. The kitchen building was moved to its current location (now, a legally separate property not included in this nomination) during the c.1916-1918 expansion when a kitchen space was built into the new ell addition. While many of the commercial buildings near the Brown-Hancock House are of modern, mid-20thcentury construction (the bank building to the west, the furniture store and utility buildings across the street), the setting retains integrity in its prominent, elevated siting overlooking the county’s civic and commercial seat.
The Brown-Hancock House’s basic c.1869 I-house form was maintained during the 1916-1918 addition of a two-story ell to the north (rear) elevation of the house and a solarium to the east elevation. An extant patio was also enclosed and now supports the westernmost sleeping porch above. During the addition, much care was taken to reproduce matching bricks and continue the original common bond pattern throughout the exterior walls. The entire house sits on a continuous foundation of block-cut limestone, perforated by metal air vents. A low-pitched side gable roof with slate shingles caps the c.1869 portion of the house, while a hipped roof of similar pitch and slate shingles caps the ell addition. The façade (south elevation) is expressive of the Greek Revival order with its symmetrical three-bay design and centered, full-height pedimented portico with balcony that rests on a 24’ 2’’ wide and 7.5’ deep limestone porch below. A wide band of trim with dentil molding underneath forms the triangular pediment within the gable of the portico. Below the pediment, an elaborate frieze with alternating Italianate brackets and decorative raised panels run the perimeter of the portico and continue to crown the entire south elevation below the roofline. The portico is supported by four free-standing, square wooden columns, all with limestone bases. Two matching square pilasters, also with limestone bases, flank the entryway. The main entrance to the house contains a single-leaf, six-paneled door (protected by a modern glass storm door) surrounded by a three-part transom above and four-part sidelights on either side, all of which are located beneath a limestone lintel that mimics those above the windows. The second-floor wood balcony of the portico is accessible from the interior via glass-paned double doors located beneath a lintel and flanked by two-part sidelights. A screen door protects the double doors. A wooden balustrade with vertical, v-shaped balusters runs the perimeter of the balcony. The portico ceilings on both levels are wood paneled. One original six-over-six, double-hung wood sash window is situated in each bay on both the first and second floors, all beneath matching lintels and above limestone sills. A rowlock brick course caps the lintels on the two ground-level windows. The continuous limestone foundation is visible on the westernmost portion of the façade due to the incline of the land toward the east. To the east of the main entrance is a c. 1918 solarium crowned with the same style balustrade found on the portico balcony. A pronounced cornice and frieze crowns the entire solarium. In the center of the solarium’s south elevation is a wooden double-door entry with three glass panes aligned vertically on each door and eight-pane transom above. Flanking this entrance are two six-pane windows. Two pilasters located near the corners of the solarium’s south façade rame the entry and fenestration, with the easternmost pilaster creating the southeast corner of the building. The solarium’s continuous brick foundation is visible on its south elevation, as are two limestone steps leading from the yard to said entrance. The west elevation, described from south to north, is comprised of the gable end of the original main block of the house, featuring a shouldered exterior end chimney. The elaborate cornice and frieze from the façade are continued directly underneath the gabled roofline and end in matching cornice returns. To the north of the chimney is a frame patio that was enclosed with wood siding during the c. 1918 expansion. Above this space is a second-floor sleeping porch with four, eight-pane casement windows, also added during the c.1918 expansion. The two levels of this frame addition are demarcated horizontally by a projecting cornice and plain frieze that wrap the corner, cap the enclosed patio, and are met by three gently pitched siding boards from above to shed rainwater past the projecting cornice. This frame addition sits atop a rowlock brick course above its limestone foundation. The west elevation of the brick ell addition is capped by a cornice and plain frieze. The common bond brick pattern from the original portion of the house is continued in the ell. Fenestration includes an asymmetrical arrangement of six-over-six wood sash double-hung windows – two on the first floor and one on the second--each featuring a partial wood lintel framed by double rowlock brick arches above and sills that mimic those found elsewhere on the house. North of this fenestration is a frame porch area enclosed with lattice. Above this is a second sleeping porch with six eight-pane casement windows that make up the entire western wall of the porch. Similar to the aforementioned sleeping porch and enclosed area beneath, the two levels of this frame addition are demarcated horizontally by a projecting cornice and plain frieze that wrap the corner, cap the enclosed porch, and are met by three gently pitched siding boards from above to shed rainwater. The mortared limestone foundation is increasingly visible on the west elevation as the land gently declines toward the rear (north) of the property. The west side of a mortared, limestone block stair wall that serves the lattice-enclosed porch and modern concrete slab with HVAC units atop is visible from this elevation. The north (rear) elevation features the c. 1918 additions to the house. From east to west, this elevation includes the rears of the one-story solarium, the ell addition, and enclosed patio and sleeping porch near the western gable end of the house’s main block. The solarium’s north (rear) elevation is identical to its south (façade) elevation (described previously) with the exception of double screen storm doors protecting the glass-paned double-doors that lead to the back yard. Due to the decline of the yard to the north, a larger portion of the solarium’s brick foundation is exposed on its north elevation than on its south elevation (façade). The north elevation of the brick ell includes an interior brick chimney rising from the roof, two six-over-six double-hung windows on the ground level, and one smaller six-over-six double-hung window on the second level. All three windows have partial wood lintel framing beneath double rowlock brick arches above and sills that mimic those found elsewhere on the house. To the west of the brick portion of this elevation is the aforementioned frame porch enclosed with lattice and the second sleeping porch directly above. The transition from the brick to frame portion of the ell is further indicated by a slightly lower roofline on the latter. A single-leaf lattice door into the lattice-enclosed porch serves as the rear entrance to the house. Seven concrete steps with stair walls of mortared, block-cut limestone lead from the yard up to this entry. The sleeping porch above contains two northward-facing eight-pane casement windows. The unfinished basement is accessed through the limestone portion of the rear (north) ell wall, just to the east of the limestone stair wall. The limestone foundation of this elevation is more visible due to the northward decline of the lot.Moving westward on the north elevation, the enclosed frame addition to the main block of the house with sleeping porch above is visible. This enclosed area is accessed from the backyard up two concrete steps through wood-framed, eighteen-pane double doors. One six-over-six double-hung window perforates the wall between the doors and the brick ell wall. The second floor features the sleeping porch with four, eight-pane casement windows and one six-over-six double-hung window. The demarcation of the two levels by projecting corner and plain frieze continues from the frame addition’s west elevation. Also continuing from the west elevation of this frame addition is the rowlock brick course atop the limestone foundation. The east elevation, described from south to north consists of the gable end of the original main block of the house, featuring a shouldered exterior end chimney. The elaborate cornice and frieze from the façade continue directly underneath the gabled roofline and end in matching cornice returns. One six-over-six double hung window with lintel and sill that mimics those found on the facade is located to the north of the chimney, within the original main block of the house. The east elevation of the solarium consists of two bays, each with three six-pane casement windows underneath a six-pane transom. These bays are divided by two pilasters. Additionally, two pilasters of the same style are located near the two corners of the solarium’s east façade, with the southernmost and northernmost pilasters creating the southeast and northeast corners of the building. The solarium’s brick foundation is slightly more visible on this east elevation than on its south (façade) elevation due to the northward decline of the lot. Moving northward, the east elevation of the brick ell addition contains two six-over-six double-hung windows with partial wooden lintels framed by double rowlock brick arches on the second floor and a contiguous row of three six-over-six double-hung windows perforating a 16’ section of protruding brick wall on the ground level. A cornice and frieze that mimic those found on the south (façade) elevation of the house cap the protruding portion of the wall. An interior chimney rises from the eastern field of the hipped roof ell addition. The remaining fenestration of the ell includes one four-over-four and one six-over-six double hung window on each floor, all of which have partial wooden lintels framed by double rowlock brick arches above and limestone sills underneath. A rectangular, wood frame 3-pane basement window perforates the limestone foundation underneath a partial wooden lintel and soldier course brick arches. The limestone foundation on the east elevation of the house is increasingly visible moving northward due to the decline of the lot. INTERIOR The original c. 1869 interior of the Brown-Hancock House featured a typical I-House floor plan with a central hall flanked by single-pile of rooms. Per the architect’s original blue prints, the expansion between 1916 and 1918 added a one-story solarium to the east of the main block, and a two-story rear addition which elongated the original central hall and included a formal dining room, pantry, kitchen, and bathroom on the first floor, and two sleeping porches, two bathrooms, and two bedrooms on the second floor. Both phases of the house maintain their original spatial organization and defining features.3 During the expansion, the woodwork in the original portion of the house was replicated throughout the additional spaces for consistency of design. Both phases of the house retain this original woodwork. The original floors and floors of the new spaces were covered with oak during the c.1916-1918 expansion and are retained throughout all areas of the house. The tiled areas such as the solariumlooring and wainscoting as well. The current floorplan reflects that drawn by Gardner and his associates c.1916-1918, retaining the intelligent design of the house, with its naturally-lit interior spaces and thoughtful division of public and private areas.First floor Through the main doorway on the south elevation of the house is the original central hall with restored plaster walls and original molded baseboards, cornice, and simple door surrounds. The baseboards are relatively simple with a flattened shoe and semicircular head. When the house was expanded in the 20thcentury, the original millwork of the main block was replicated in the new spaces for continuity of design. Narrow-width oak flooring in the central hallway continues throughout the house and dates to the 1916-1918 work on the house. Adding to the formality of the space, the floor of the central hall is accented by three narrow-width boards that are darker than the others and run the perimeter of the space. According to the current property owner, the original ash and chestnut wide boards remain underneath the oak flooring. The central hall contains a half-turn staircase which begins rising on the east wall of the hall, contains a landing, and continues rising southward along the west wall, leading to the center hall of the second floor. The baseboards of the center hall continue as stringer board along the stair wall, throughout the landing, and the remaining stairs thereafter. There is a four-panel door in the north wall accessed at the landing that opens to a landing of the staircase on the other side of the wall. The turned balusters, handrails, and newel posts of the staircase are walnut. The open stringer board on the staircase contains decorative scroll brackets beneath each tread. Raised paneling covers the space beneath the open stringer board, adding to the formality of the staircase. A single-leaf, four-panel door (leading to storage) is located beneath the stairway, perpendicular to the rear (north) wall of the central hall, while an identical, adjacent door pierces the central hall’s rear (north) wall, leading to the rear addition. A doorway (with door identical to the others) in the center hall’s west wall leads to the west parlor, while a doorway (with door identical to the others) in the center hall’s east wall leads to the east parlor. The flooring, baseboards, and door surrounds of the central hall continue into the east parlor. The room lacks a cornice but is crowned by a picture rail located approximately six inches from the ceiling. A fireplace with marble firebox surround and hearth is located in the center of the room’s east wall, between two doors that lead to the solarium. The mantle is classically styled with fluted, square Doric pilasters on plinths that flank either side of the firebox. A paneled architrave is located below the mantle cornice. One six-over-six double hung window with stool and apron pierces the south wall of the room. Two identical wooden doors, each with twelve glass panes, flank the fireplace and lead from the east parlor into the solarium addition. The baseboards in this space are less formal than those found throughout the rest of the house and the room’s slender cornice is similar to the picture rail found in the preceding parlor. The shape and massing of the woodwork trimming the solarium’s fenestration is similar to that found in the rest of the house. The solarium’s northern, eastern, and southern walls are almost entirely comprised of fenestration. The north wall contains a centrally located double-leaf door that leads outside, each leaf with three vertically-aligned glass panes, beneath an eight-pane transom. One fixed, six-pane window flanks either side of the doorway. The east wall is divided into two bays, each with three fixed, six-pane windows beneath an eight-pane transom. The southern wall is identical to the northern wall. The space retains its original tile flooring.
A wide doorway with original pocket doors divides the east parlor from the dining room to the north. The flooring, door and window trim, and picture rail of the dining room match that of the east parlor. A chair rail with paneled wainscoting beneath runs the perimeter of the dining room. A fireplace is located at the center of the dining room’s north (rear) wall. The fireplace and chimney structure is not flush with the interior dining room wall but extends outward into the floorplan. The firebox surround and hearth is made of Tennessee pink marble. The mantle is classically-styled with round, slightly-tapered Doric columns resting on plinths that flank either side of the firebox. A paneled architrave is located below the mantle cornice. A series of three six-over-six, double-hung windows pierces the dining room’s east wall. A single-leaf, four-panel door on the room’s western wall leads to the hallway of the rear addition. A single-leaf, four-panel swinging door piercing the dining room’s north (rear) wall to the west of the fireplace leads to the pantry. The flooring and door and window surrounds of the pantry match that of the rest of the house. There is no cornice in this room. The space is rectangular with the length running west-east. There are built in storage cabinets above and below counter space, all of which take up the entire length of the room’s east wall. Above the cabinets on the east wall are two fixed, eight-pane windows aligned horizontally that look into the adjacent laundry room. The south wall of the space contains the doorway to the dining room on the east and a doorway to the hall on the west portion of the wall. A single square, center-pivot window with privacy glass is situated above eye level on the west wall of the room and looks into a bathroom on the other side of the wall. On the north wall of the pantry is a six-over-six double hung window that looks into the latticed porch area and adjacent four-panel door that leads into the kitchen. The flooring and door and window trim of the kitchen match that of the rest of the house. The west wall of the kitchen contains a doorway with a four-panel door that leads to the latticed porch area. The north wall contains two six-over-six double-hung windows that flank a section of wall not flush with the rest of the wall and formerly served by the chimney that rises above the kitchen roof. The east wall of the room contains one six-over-six double-hung window. The north wall contains a doorway with four-panel door that leads to the laundry room. The flooring and window and door trim in the laundry room match that of the rest of the house. The east wall contains one four-over-four double hung window. The west wall of the room contains the two previously mentioned fixed, eight-pane windows aligned horizontally that look into the pantry. The center hall in the rear of the house is accessed back through the pantry. The flooring and window and door trim in the rear center hall match that of the rest of the house. The hall contains a half-turn staircase that begins rising on the east wall, contains a landing, and turns to rise along the west wall leading to a hallway on the second floor. There is a four-panel door in the south wall accessed at the landing that opens to the landing of the staircase on the other side of the wall. The design of the closed stringer boards is consistent with the baseboards of the space and match those of the staircase in the front central hallway. The staircase has plain, squared balusters and square, classically inspired newel posts. In the east wall of the rear central hall is a doorway with four-panel door that leads into the previously described dining room. The south wall is pierced by a four-panel door that leads to the front center hall (the original c.1869 portion of the house). One six-over-six window is located on the west wall near the northwestern corner of the hall. A bathroom original to the c.1918 addition is accessed through a door on the rear center hall north wall, adjacent to the butler’s pantry doorway. The bathroom retains the original commode, pedestal sink, black and white checkered floor tile, and subway tile wainscoting. One four-over-four double-hung window, with trim, stool, and apron consistent with the rest of the house’s windows, pierces the west wall. The single square, center-pivot window with privacy glass that looks into the butler’s pantry pierces the east wall. A half-glass (made of six individual panes) wooden door located in the west wall of the rear center hall leads to the enclosed patio room. The window and door trim of this room match that of the rest of the house. The baseboards in this room are less formal than those throughout the rest of the house and match those in the solarium. The room retains the tile floor original to the c.1918 expansion of the house. A recessed double doorway on the room’s south wall leads into the west parlor of the original c.1869 portion of the house. A set of double doors, each with eighteen glass panes, and one six-over-six double hung window pierce the north wall. The west parlor (original to the c.1869 portion of the house) is accessed through the west wall of the original center hall (as well as through the double doors of the above described patio enclosure). The window and door trim, flooring, and picture rail of the west parlor matches those of the rest of the house. The baseboards are the same shape as those in the rest of the house but boast restored faux marbling. Matching faux marbling adorns the fireplace mantle located in the middle of the room’s west wall. The mantle is classically styled with square, Doric pilasters on plinths. The architrave below the cornice of the mantle is plain. One six-over-six double-hung window is located on the parlor’s south wall. Woodendouble doors, each with 15 glass panes, lead to the patio enclosure through the parlor’s north wall. Second floor At the top of the half-turn staircase is center hall of the second floor. On the south wall of this space is a double-leaf door leading to the second-floor portico seen on the main façade, each leaf containing eight glass panes. Four-part sidelights flank the doorway. The narrow-width oak flooring, simple baseboards with a flattened shoe and semicircular head, and door surrounds of the first floor continue into the front center hall space on the second floor. A four-panel door in the north wall of the central hall provides access to the c. 1918 upstairs addition. The flooring, baseboards, door and window surrounds match those of the c. 1869 central hall. The rear staircase is less formal than the c. 1869 staircase in the front half of the house, yet retains the features of Victorian-era staircases, such as square paneled posts and simple square balusters. The western wall of the central hall expansion contains a door into the west bathroom, as well as a single, six-over-six double hung window. Through the western wall of the second floor’s front central hall is the southwest bedroom. The flooring and window and door surrounds of the upper central hall continue into the west bedroom. The baseboards in this space are less formal than those found in much of the rest of the house, lacking the semicircular head that characterizes the more formal baseboards throughout the house. In the center of the room’s west wall is a classically-styled fireplace mantle with square, Doric pilasters on plinths. The architrave below the cornice of the mantle is plain. A four-panel wood door leads to a sleeping porch through the bedroom’s north wall. A six-pane double-hung window is centrally located on the room’s south wall.The c. 1918 sleeping porch is accessible through the southwest bedroom. The flooring, baseboards, door and window surrounds of the west bedroom continue into the sleeping porch. The northern and western walls of the sleeping porch are entirely comprised of fenestration. The western wall is comprised of four eight-pane casement windows. The northern wall is identical to the western wall.
A bathroom adjacent to the sleeping porch is accessed through the northern wall of the southwest bedroom, to the east of the sleeping porch doorway. The bathroom retains the original c.1918 fixtures: bathtub, commode, pedestal sink, and subway tile wainscoting, consistent with the first-floor bathroom. The original blue tile flooring remains intact. A medicine cabinet with stool and apron beneath is located on the bathroom’s west wall. One six-over-six, double-hung window perforates the north wall and is surrounded by trim consistent with that of the rest of the house. A four-panel door located in the east wall leads into the rear central hall. Across the front central hall from the southwest bedroom is the southeast bedroom, accessed through a four-panel wood door consistent with those in the rest of the house. The flooring, baseboards, window and door surrounds, and fireplace mantle of this bedroom are consistent with the southwest bedroom. The fireplace mantle is located in the center of the room’s east wall with one six-over-six, double-hung window to its north. One six-over-six window is located in the south wall. The southeast bedroom also contains access to the attic on the ceiling near the west wall. On the north wall is a four-panel door leading to the first of two bedrooms added during the c.1916-1918 expansion. Also on the north wall, west of the previously mentioned door, is a four-panel door that opens into a closet. The first of the two bedrooms original to the c.1916-1918 expansion is accessed through the original southeast bedroom’s north wall. The flooring, baseboards, door and window surrounds, and fireplace mantle are consistent with the southwest and southeast bedrooms. There is a closet located in the southeast corner of the room, the space of which extends into the floorplan of the bedroom. The closet space is accessed through a four-panel door. Two six-over-six, double hung windows are located on the east wall. The fireplace is located on the north wall. The chimney and fireplace structure are not flush with the wall but extend out into the room’s floorplan. A four-panel door on the room’s west wall opens into the second floor’s rear central hallway. Above this door is an awning window with original operating crank. The rear central hallway on the second floor contains flooring, baseboards, window and door surrounds consistent with the bedrooms. This space is also accessed by the half-turn staircase (located near the space’s south wall) rising from the rear central hall of the first floor. The west wall of the rear central hallway contains the doorway to the previously described bathroom accessed through the southwest bedroom. North of this bathroom doorway is one six-over-six, double hung window in the west wall. At the northwest corner of the rear central hallway is a storage closet accessed by a four-panel door located in the hall’s north wall. To the east of the storage closet is a doorway to a rear hallway passage that leads to a second sleeping porch (not pictured) located on the northwest rear corner of the c. 1918 addition. Similar to the other sleeping porch, the northern and western walls are entirely comprised of fenestration. The western wall is comprised of six eight-pane, casement windows. The northern wall is comprised of four eight-pane, casement windows. The east wall contains a four-panel door that leads into the northeast bedroom. A storage closet is accessed through the southern wall to the west of the entry into the sleeping porch from the rear hallway passage. The northeast bedroom (not pictured), the second bedroom added during the c.1916-1918 expansion, is accessed through the north wall of the rear hallway passage. The flooring, baseboards, window and door surrounds, and fireplace mantle are consistent with the rest of the bedrooms. The northeast bedroom’s west wall contains the doorway to the second sleeping porch. A fireplace is located in the center of the north wall with one six-over-six double hung window located to the east. One six-over-six window is located on the east wall. A closet is accessed through a four-panel door on the south wall.
The third bathroom (not pictured) of the house is located between the two bedrooms of the c.1916-1918 addition, on the east side of the rear hallway passage. The bathroom retains the original c.1918 fixtures: bathtub, commode, and pedestal sink as well as the tile flooring and subway tile wainscoting. One four-over-four window perforates the east wall of the bathroom. 2. Detached garage (c.1916-1918, C) The one-bay, 15 x 28’ common bond brick garage was added to the property as part of the c.1916-1918 expansion. The garage has a continuous block-cut limestone foundation that is increasingly visible as the property slopes downward to the north. Due to the building site’s grade, the limestone foundation is visible along nearly the entire west elevation. A single-leaf, double plank wood door beneath a flat segmental arch is located near the garage’s northwest corner on its west wall. Due to the change in elevation, the door provides access to an interior space slightly lower than the space created for the vehicle. The east and west walls of the garage extend above the roofline to form a three-level, stair step parapet on each that descends to the north. A higher parapet with decorative brick corbeling below the cornice crowns the south elevation/façade. A modern garage door is located beneath a flat segmental arch that matches the one above the doorway on the west elevation. A fallen tree damaged the building in 2010, after which it was repaired using the original brick.43. Cistern (c.1916-1918, C) The cistern located immediately to the northeast of the house’s ell addition was dug during the c.1916-1918 expansion of the house and is lined with the same bricks used for the addition to the house and new garage. The cistern was capped with concrete at an unknown date. 4. Remnants of rock wall (n.d., NC) There are remnants of a dry stack stone retaining wall (running north-south) located at the northwest corner of the property.