Maplewood at Lynchburg

The house is a two-story, three bay I-house with Greek Revival influences seen in the two-story portico, sash windows, and doorway. External brick chimneys flank both the north and south gable ends of the house, and a central hall plan is one room in depth, with a two-story ell from the east façade.

A two-story portico dominates the central bay of the front façade. This portico is composed of four fluted square columns and topped with a square roof. Pilasters identical in detail and proportion flank the portico. A band of dentils decorate the cornice of the portico and the main dwelling.

Central double doors are located on both the first and second floor levels. On either side of the doors are sidelights consisting of three rectangular lights above a recessed wooden panel. A four light transom tops the doors and sidelights. The first floor doorway is distinguished by a decorative grapevine motif along the frieze. The second balcony has an iron balustrade and handrail.

To either side of the portico are paired, shuttered, double-hung, sash windows on both the first and second floor. Simple Doric-style pilasters frame each corner of this façade.

Among the interesting features of the house’s interior are the eight landscape paintings on the living room wainscoting by artist Fred Swanton. It is the only documented work of its kind in Tennessee. Each landscape measures approximately 14” X 36”. The paintings include scenes of a waterfall, a cornfield and a small cottage, a fantasy castle, and a bridge over a river. Swanton incorporated a broken tree limb into each landscape; a design motif attributed to his artistry. Swanton, originally from Buffalo, New York, was a painter of scenes for circuses traveling around America in the late Victorian era. These large circuses often visited small Tennessee towns, and the “Great International Menagerie, Museum, Aquarium, and Circus” came to Lynchburg in the summer of 1873. Skilled painters were in great demand because circuses used intricate and colorful designs in their displays, wagons, carousels, and sideshow banners for publicity. Swanton sought commissions from local prominent families. A recovering alcoholic, he first moved in with the families exchanging his talents as an art teacher for his room and board. His drinking, however, made private teaching impossible so Swanton began to accept individual commissions to paint house interiors. Fred Swanton died in the Bedford County jail in 1888 where the Shelbyville Gazette called him “one of the finest painters in the whole country (who) would have made a name for himself had it not been for his inordinate thirst for liquor.” The coroner’s report ruled that he died from “the long and continued use of ardent spirits”.

During the course of the extensive restoration, several drawings were discovered when the wallpaper was pulled from the walls. One drawing is on display in the Money home today and is available for viewing in the sitting room.

It shows a simple line drawing of a stick figure wearing a hat and riding a horse. The child signed and dated his picture. It reads, “W. F. Evans, I made this picture in 1888 July. I am thirteen years of age, W. F. Evans.”