Built 1868 (1868) Opened 1868 Architectural style Italianate architecture | NRHP Reference # 77001267 Area 4,000 m² Added to NRHP 27 December 1977 | |
Location Off TN 48, Cumberland Furnace, Tennessee | ||
The Drouillard House is a historic house at Cumberland Furnace, Tennessee. Built in 1868-1870, the three-story house was a summer residence for Nashville socialite Florence Kirkman and her husband Captain James Pierre Drouillard. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since December 27, 1977.
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History
Florence Kirkman and her brother inherited land and the Cumberland Furnace iron works after their grandfather's death in 1863. She married Union Army Captain James Pierre Drouillard in 1864, a scandalous act in the southern state of Tennessee during the Civil War. None of her friends or family attended the wedding. Captain Drouillard reopened the furnace after the war, and operated it until it was sold in 1889. The Drouillards were eventually welcomed back into Nashville society.
The Drouillards built a church for the community as well as a parish school, the St. James Episcopal Church, is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Architecture
Completed in 1870, the Italianate style house is clapboard siding over frame, with a 10 foot deep veranda porch over 100 feet in length skirting the north facade. The house has two wings, the kitchen is in the east wing. A three-story spiral staircase reaching up to an observation deck is a notable interior feature.