Fine Decorative Arts Museum Tucked in what is now a bedroom community of Nashville, TN is the family heritage farm of General Andrew Jackson, former President of the United States, and former battle-hardened soldier and commander, who retired to this broad patch of land after government service. Guided tours are provided 7 days a week. Don't be put off by the intentional hokey style of the period dress and Southern manners of the house staff. They are well trained, sharp conservators of the collection, and will answer all questions that you have. The delight of the main house is that it contains one of the finest decorative arts collections in the South, with the majority of the original furniture and furnishings of the home. You see fully-furnished rooms just as they would have been used by the resident family and their servant staff during the pre-Civil-War era. There is a small museum on site (small and limited in scope). A detached kitchen and storerooms. As well as log cabin outbuildings and historical slave quarters homes. But the glory of the site is the 2-floor mansion built and enlarged over time to serve as the Jackson home. An Antebellum Tara-like structure that will be familiar in style to all who adore "Gone With the Wind." The grounds (which are extensive in acreage) were badly damaged by a tornado in the 1990's, resulting in destruction of roughly 50 percent of the 125-180 year old trees which were thick and lustrous on the property. Note that your Admission ticket includes unlimited admission to all aspects of the Hermitage property (with one upgrade for inclusion of the . When I take groups there, we go through the house once, tour the side rooms alone, and then start at the entrance again and trot through with a new group all over again. This gives a chance to pore over the beauty of the furniture and fabric and objects. And to spend more time with the glorious Dufour (Paris) late 18th century hand-printed and coloured wallpaper in the reception halls of the 1st and 2nd floors. There is a separate smaller Mansion on the property now open for tour, Tulip Grove (completed 1836), as well as a nicely preserved one-room brick early 19th century church. Welcoming family-style cafeteria on site, joined to a very nice gift shop, round out a special museum site that hosts people from all over the world each year. |