Tulip Grove

Tulip Grove. A Greek Revival Home. , In 1834, Andrew Jackson Donelson began plans for his eventual return to Tennessee when Jackson's presidency ended in 1837. Donelson chose to build a new home on his land adjoining The Hermitage. There he could be near Andrew Jackson, as he had been so much of his life., Under the supervision of master builders, skilled laborers and slaves completed Tulip Grove in 1836. Donelson originally named the plantation home Poplar Grove after the tulip poplar trees that surrounded it. In 1841, at the suggestion of President Martin Van Buren, he renamed it “Tulip Grove.” Donelson owned 85 enslaved laborers who worked on this 1000-acre plantation. In 1858, he sold the property, and he and his family moved to Memphis. Tulip Grove remained a private residence until 1964, when the Ladies' Hermitage Association acquired it., Tulip Grove's Greek Revival style reflects the desire of Americans to tie the United States, the first modern democracy, to the ancient democracy of Greece. Popular architectural pattern books, such as Asher Benjamin's The Architect, or Practical House Carpenter, spread the style and made it available to a wider audience. Some architectural historians have called Tulip Grove the finest example of Greek Revival architecture in Tennessee., Captions (clockwise from top right) , . Most of the design details for Tulip Grove come from Asher Benjamin's architectural pattern book. Tulip Grove's columns and entablature, the horizontal bands above the columns, came directly from Benjamin's drawings. The Doric columns, pediment, and cornice are original to the house. Other than the Victorian era fish scale shingles in the pediment, the triangular area at the top of the porch, Tulip Grove's exterior appears as it did in 1836. , . In the photograph of the front parlor today (at right), note that the mantelpiece also comes directly from the Asher Benjamin drawing below. , . Unlike The Hermitage, very little is known about the interior of Tulip Grove during Andrew Jackson Donelson's residence. These images show the interior today. , . This bill (above) to Andrew Jackson Donelson lists materials, costs and prices for the construction of Tulip Grove. The elliptical stairway (right) cost $300, and the front portico, $500.