Belle Meade Plantation

  When we think about the southern United States, visions of ante bellum plantations spring to mind. Following the Civil War, many of those estates disappeared. Fortunately, for us, a few have been preserved as museums and tourist attractions. We found one such preserved plantation, i.e. Belle Meade, a short bus ride (on the number 5) from downtown Nashville. John Harding originally bought a cabin and 250 acres in 1807, but it quickly grew to over 5000 acres. What was surprising to us, when we arrived, was that it did not look like what we thought a typical cotton plantation should. There were no large open spaces with remnants of cotton plants and numerous slave cabins scattered about. That was because Belle Meade never grew cotton. Instead, it was devoted to the boarding and breeding of thoroughbred race horses. Over the years, the Harding family had become so successful at this endeavor, that bloodlines have carried into modern times (the famous race horse of the 20th century, "Sea Biscuit" could trace its ancestry back to Belle Meade's "Enquirer").Because of this, we could only imagine how different life on this plantation was from the more typical ones. While there are only 30 acres left, of the 5000 in its heyday, the grounds are beautiful. A long, winding driveway took us from the road up to the main house. Scattered around the grounds were several out buildings; the spacious carriage house and stables, a smoke house for curing meats, a grounds keepers house (with an attached greenhouse), remnants of the dairy barn, one lonely slave cabin, and the original two-room cabin that came with the property, when John Harding bought the first 250 acres. As we were exploring the carriage house and stables, we discovered a surprise out back, a croquet lawn and a bocce court ( we never would have guessed that bocce was known, let alone played, in southern America during the 1800's). There is just so much history here that we spent an entire day trying to absorb it all. See for yourself by visiting;

             bellemeadplantation.com

The sign along the road (known as the Natchez Trace Parkway) announcing the entrance to the plantation.

This is what we saw when we turned the corner onto the grounds. This picture doesn't really do justice to how truly beautiful the grounds are.

This is the cabin that stood on the original 250 acres that John Harding bought in 1807.

In later years, this original cabin became the home for Belle Meade's legendary horse hostler, Bob Green. Notice the newspapers used as wallpaper.

Old photo of head hostler, Bob Green sitting on his personal horse, Bob Taylor. Legend has it that when the plantation fell on hard times around the turn of the century, Green intended to sell his horse to help the family. At the auction, the horse sold for $25, at which time, the winning bidder returned the horse to Green, saying "He's yours."

The main house at Belle Meade was constructed in the Greek Revival style.

The spacious carriage house and stables complex sits adjacent to the main house.

The Harding family owned several carriages that each served a specific purpose. This one was called the Victoria (after Queen Victoria) and was used for special occasions.

The Hardings also maintained their own light artillery unit.

The very elegant entrance hall with a winding staircase leading to the second floor bedrooms.

The first floor family room off of the main entrance hallway.

This dining room was used for formal occasions. Normal, everyday dinners were taken either in the family room or in the kitchen area.

One of several bedrooms on the second floor.

In the late 1800's, the Hardings built this "Doll House" for the children of the family.

The only horse buried on the grounds, "Enquirer" is memorialized by this monument. It's bloodlines can be traced up to the 20th century legend "Sea Biscuit."

Out behind the mansion is this two-story smoke house.

Also out behind the mansion is the gardeners home, with an attached greenhouse.

The Hardings had this mausoleum built for members of the family. It was capable of holding 24 coffins. When the plantation was eventually sold, the bodies were relocated to a local cemetery.

The one remaining slave cabin on the property.

The two foot stone walls of the dairy barn allowed the Hardings to keep dairy products cool. A cold water stream next to the barn also helped to keep things cool.

Side view of the mansion taken from next to the dairy barn.