The Northcutt-Moffitt “Manor”

The Northcutt-Moffitt “Manor”. Town of Altamont. , An Elegant Mansion and an Eccentric Heiress , This 12-room, two-story home – a mansion by local standards – was built in 1885 by H.B. Northcutt, grandson of Grundy County pioneer Gen. Adrian Northcutt, who was born in 1799 and established a “stockade” in 1825 at what would later become Altamont. The stockade would go on to become a highly successful trading post and general store, and the nucleus of a growing family fortune that came to include as much as 12,000 acres of timber and coal land in this area., Fannie Moffitt, H.B. Northcutt’s granddaughter, lived here most of her life. Her mother, also named Fannie, but know as “Miss Tim”, was college educated, as was Fannie, a graduate of Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Fannie’s father had died when she was only three. She had two uncles, Jim and Tom, who ran the Northcutt General Store in Altamont until 1929, perhaps coincidentally, the year Miss Tim died. All of them lived together in this house. , Fannie was an avid reader, a talented piano player, but oddly tightfisted, showing immense generosity to some, and little to deserving others. Some who knew her referred to her as a “Robin Hood in reverse”, mainly helping those who didn’t need it. , After Jim and Tom passed, and their estate was settled in 1942, Fannie inherited entire Northcutt family fortune, said at the time to total a half million dollars (nearly six million in today’s dollars). The house quickly became known as “Moffitt Manor”, after its new owner. , Fannie never married, and had no will. When asked why not, she is said to have replied, “That’s alright. Let ‘em fight!” She died in 1955 at age 64. It is said that tens of thousands of dollars in cash and checks were found in the house, along with expensive jewelry and antiques. The entire Northcutt estate went on the auction block in December 1955. , In recent times, the home has been renovated and is now operated as a short-term rental property for reunions, weddings and other group gatherings. , [Caption:] “Moffitt Manor” and its eccentric heiress, Fannie Moffitt.