Merritt Mansion
- Jay Brothers
- Apr 16
- 2 min read
441 Humphreys St. Nashville, TN
Circa 1840s. 2-story Italianate style with original log home incorporated
The original log home was renovated into a Federal style home for Sarah"Sally" Rains Merritt (1793-1861), the youngest daughter of Capt. John and Christina Rains of Rains Station. The Rains family was a very early settler of Fort Nashborough. Capt. Rains started with a 640-acre land grant and enlarged his holdings considerably. Sally married Gibson Merritt1800-1873 in 1828). When her father died, Sally received about 43 acres on which her family would enlarge a log cabin on the site into their Federal style home. Their son Alfred Gowen Merritt (1832-1908) and Caroline Donelson Merritt (1841-1922) also lived there. The Rains/ Merritt/ Hagen family remained in the mansion until the 1920s.
Sally and Gibon's daughter Christina Merritt Hagen (1829-1908) and Francis "Frank" Hagen (1824-1890)(m.1852) owned the home after the Civil War. In 1874, the home was renovated with a lot of Italianate styling with 12 foot ceilings, a mahogany staircase, and 10 foot doors. The new additions made the home nicer and reflected the family's success. Their descendant Anna Hagen Tate (1860-1936) sold the mansion to the Hargrove family - sadly out of the family.Anna was married to Robert Ford Tate.
Thomas Goodman Hargrove (1877-1958) and Berdie Estelle Smith Hargrove (1888-1979) purchased the property in 1921 and used it for farming and agriculture until the 1970s. The land was split among the Hargrove descendants which let to much of the land being sold for industrial use. The Hargrove granddaughter Elizabeth "Betty" Crawford (1905-1986) kept the home and her family resided there from the 1920s until about 2005. Her husband was Thomas Isaiah Crawford (1888-1975)(m.1921). The mansion fell into poor condition and was slated in 2003 for demolition by the City of Nashville.
In 2004, neighborhood advocates finally found entrepreneurs Holly Young and Patrick Murphy who purchased the home. They had experience "rehabbing" a couple other troubled properties. Merritt Mansion had just 2 acres remaining. Murphy owned the home until about 2020.
In 2020, the music group, Kings of Leon, purchased the home from Young and Murphy. Their recording studio was evidently in the neighborhood.
In 2021, the developers A. J. Capital Partners and Ben Weprin purchased the property for preservation and to incorporate the Merritt Mansion into their Wedgewood Village concept.
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