A Sevier Returns Home

The last time a Sevier had lived here was the 1860s when Theodore Francis Sevier married Mary Douglass, and they lived on the property with their family. Almost 80 years later, the prodigal son returned. Mary and T.F.’s son, Colonel Granville Sevier, came back to Nashville and was drawn back to his family home. After Dr. Noel’s death, Granville purchased the house and 20.5 acres in 1927. As a military officer and a diplomat for the United States, Granville was initially stationed out of town, but his wife and mother immediately moved into the house. 

Colonel Sevier re-christened the house as “Sunnyside”—the name his mother had first given it in 1852. He also worked with architects Marr and Holman to add his own touches to the property. These 1920s and 1930s additions include the one-story brick wings on either side of the main house and a new stone building, which he used as an office. In an interesting case of history revisionism, Granville claimed the house was built in 1809. He also claimed that two log cabins on the property were the oldest permanent structures standing in Davidson County and had been built by French fur trappers and traders in the 1700s. Later archaeological and archival research proved these claims to be untrue.

Granville Sevier passed away in 1944. He was laid to rest in the Nashville City Cemetery, buried next to Mary Douglass Sevier, his mother. The Nashville City Cemetery, located at 1001 4th Ave. South, is also a Metro Park and is open to visitors.

Continue clockwise around the house to the next interpretive panel.