McMinnville Mansion Wins National Restoration Award

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has named Falcon Rest in McMinnville as a first-prize winner of its 1997 Great American Home Award, presented annually to recognize outstanding home restorations.

"In the field of restoration, this is the 'Oscar,'" said George McGlothin, owner of the 1896 Victorian mansion which is open daily for history tours. "We've always felt that bringing this wonderful old building back to life was something special. Now, the organization that leads this country's preservation movement has given our efforts -- and their results -- a resounding confirmation."

"Winners of the Great American Home Awards, along with all homeowners who dedicate themselves to restoring their historic homes, are among the hardest-working frontline preservationists in the country," said Richard Moe, president of the National Trust. "The marvelous homes of the Great American Home Awards winners reward both the homeowners and the community, and will inspire others to make their next homes old homes."

This year the awards are being given in conjunction with Preservation Week, May 11-17, an annual event to showcase grassroots preservation activities in communities nationwide. Appropriately the theme of this years' Preservation Week is "Preservation Begins at Home."

The Restoration

Wealthy entrepreneur Clay Faulkner constructed his solid brick mansion in 1896. He promised to build his wife "the finest home in the county" if she would move next to the mill outside McMinnville where he made Gorilla Pants -- "so strong even a gorilla couldn't tear them apart."

But the building looked more like the victim of a terrorist bombing than the finest house in the county when McGlothin bought it at auction in 1989.

Faulkner's mansion been converted into a hospital and nursing home in the middle part of this century. In 1968, the doctor closed the medical facility and later stripped out much of the woodwork in an unsuccessful attempt to tear down the building. It was abandoned for 15 years, then a new owner began five years of restoration. After redoing several rooms upstairs and partially demolishing hospital additions, he was unable to continue the rehabilitation.

"We had been restoring old houses for about 13 years, but the first time I showed my wife that half-dismantled disaster, she took one look at it and said, 'You put a mortgage on MY house for THIS?'" McGlothin recalled.

"We spent 4-1/2 years completing the restoration, doing about 95 percent of the work ourselves. With both the mansion's decor and our extensive collection of Victorian antiques, we've tried to authentically recreate Clay Faulkner's 1890s."

Today, according to local octogenarians who remember the mansion in its heyday, Falcon Rest is even more beautiful than it was in Faulkner's time.

Open to Public by Popular Demand

"I had no intention of either buying a house or opening a business when I went to that auction eight years ago," McGlothin admitted. "I just offered $50 more than the opening bid, and the auctioneer said, 'Going once, going twice, sold to that sucker over there.'"

"Having bought what looked like a big white elephant, George decided we'd just work on restoring it as we had time and then retire there," remembers McGlothin's wife Charlien, who says she's still amazed anyone would think of 'retiring' to a 10,000-square-foot house with a three-acre lawn!

"It didn't take us long, though, to realize that this place has a friendly elegance and warmth that draws people to it. Even when we were just beginning the restoration, folks were stopping to ask for tours. We concluded this would always be a public place, whatever our intentions, so we made it official by opening Falcon Rest to the public in 1993."

The mansion was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992, and it was designated as a historic site on Tennessee's Heritage Trail in 1996.