Rippa Villa

Rippa Villa. An American Story in Maury County. , In 1847, Nat Cheairs purchased nearly 500 acres of land along Columbia Turpike. (You are standing in the northwest corner of that property). That same year construction began on a smokehouse and two-story interim brick home, which was later converted into a kitchen. By 1851 or 1852, construction of the main home you see today was completed in the Greek-Revival style. Enslaved Africans were the primary labor force for the entire multi-year project. As Rippa Villa expanded, slave quarters were constructed northeast of the main house, about 200-300 yards distant., During the American Civil War, the house was briefly the headquarters of U.S. Gen. William "Bull" Nelson as he moved toward Shiloh in late March 1862. As C.S. Gen. John Bell Hood's Tennessee Campaign advanced through Middle Tennessee, the Battle of Spring Hill unfolded late on November 29, 1864 near Rippa Villa. During the night the Federal army, commanded by Gen. John M. Schofield, stealthily marched north along the turnpike and escaped to Franklin, roughly 15 miles away., The following morning Hood and C.S. Gen. Benjamin F. Cheatham met in or near the home. It was a short and terse meeting. The Confederate army soon began a desperate pursuit of the Federal army, culminating in the devastating Battle of Franklin later that same day., Following the war, the Cheairs family lived at Rippa Villa for nearly half a century. Nat sold the property to his son, Will, in 1894. By 1920, the home was sold out of the family., Rippa Villa was saved as a historic site in the 1980s and opened to the public in the 1990s., (Captions): , John Bell Hood ca. 1862 , (Library of Congress) , Nat Cheairs ca. 1861 , (BOFT Archives) , Approximate area of 1847 land purchase , (BOFT Archives) , Rippa Villa and surrounding area ca. 1878 , (BOFT Archives)