Tennessee Mansion Celebrates 20 Years of Restoration

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Easter Sunday 2009 marks 20 years since the restoration of Falcon Rest mansion in McMinnville, Tenn., began.  It transformed an abandoned building deemed hopeless by the locals into the historic tourist attraction known far and wide as “Tennessee’s Biltmore” and “the Victorian mansion where history is fun.”

“The metamorphosis amazes even me,” said George McGlothin, better known as The Victorian Gentleman.  “In this time of changing economy, it’s encouraging to remember that hard work and imagination can transform something that seems hopeless into a treasure."

“Gorilla Pants” manufacturer Clay Faulkner had promised his wife the grandest mansion in Tennessee when he built Falcon Rest in 1896.  But it was far from grand the first time McGlothin showed it to his wife Charlien that fateful Easter Sunday 1989, after buying it almost by accident at an auction a few days before.  It had been converted into a hospital for over 20 years, then abandoned for 15 after an unsuccessful attempt to tear it down.  Charlien recovered from her initial shock at the enormity of the task, and the couple spent 4-1/2 years restoring the building, doing the large majority of the work themselves.  Their efforts won the National Trust’s Great American Home Award for outstanding restoration in 1997.

It turns out that the restoration of the mansion itself was only the first step of the transformation. 

Area group leaders soon discovered Falcon Rest and began asking for tours.  George’s flair for entertainment enabled him to turn the group tours into a fun-loving history stage show.  The groups wanted good food on their trip, so the Victorian Carriage House dining room and a mouth-watering menu were added.  Their desire for Victorian souvenirs was met with a 2,000-item gift shop, recently named the most unusual retail establishment in the Upper Cumberland region.  And in 2001, the entertainment became interactive with the introduction of “Murder at the Mansion.”  Two more interactive history-based shows, featuring the mansion’s ghosts and local Civil War history, now round out the options for making group members stars of the show.

The most recent chapter in Falcon Rest’s transformation is an ambitious landscaping project.  Around 400 shrubs and ornamental trees have been added in the last couple of years, and that’s just the beginning.  The goal is to make its gardens some of the most magnificent in the South and a showplace for McMinnville, “the nursery capital of the world.”  Weather permitting, every school group that tours Falcon Rest in the upcoming year will participate in the landscaping effort by planting a bush or tree to commemorate their visit.

A year-long celebration of the restoration anniversary will kick off with a special Easter Sunday dinner buffet in the Victorian Carriage House at Falcon Rest on April 12 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.  Everyone is welcome, but advance reservations are requested.

Falcon Rest is open seven days a week for individual guided mansion tours, lunch in the Victorian Tea Room, and shopping in the Victorian Gift Shop.  It also hosts weddings, reunions, and special events.  For more information, go to www.falconrest.com or call 931-668-4444.

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