Location Information
(for the "Ammadelle")
Name:"Ammadelle" [Thomas Pegues House]
Address:637 Lamar Boulevard, North
City/County:Oxford, Lafayette County
Architectural Information
Construction Date:1859-61
Architectural Styles(s):Italianate
No. of Stories:2
Registration Information
NHL Listing Date:30 May 1974
NR Listing Date:30 May 1974
NR District Name:North Lamar (2007)
    NR Status:Contributing, Previously Listed
    Element No.:60
View National Register Nomination Form
Easement Information
Date Signed:12-14-2000
Easement Type:Conservation
Book/Vol. No.:DB 489, p. 537
Local Designation Information
Local District Name:North Lamar Historic District
click here for additional information on this district.
Context/Comments
"Built for Thomas Peagues, Ammadelle was designed by the English architect, Calvert Vaux. The house was begun in 1859, almost completed before the war, and nearly burned in 1864. It can be seen in the 1960 movie Home from the Hill" (see Oxford Walking Tour, p. 4). The asymmetrical façade, irregular floor plan, arched windows with canopies, balconies and balustrades are characteristic of the Italianate style. The house was dsignated a National Historic Landmark on 30 May 1974.

"Ammadelle" is included in "Shrines to Yesterday" (1968), "Historic Architecture in Mississippi" (1973) (pp.150-152), "Old Homes of Mississippi, Volume II: Columbus and the North" (1977) (pp. 100-101), "Architecture of the Old South: Mississippi – Alabama" (1989), "Great Houses of Mississippi" (2004) (pp.93-96), "The Majesty of Eastern Mississippi and the Coast" (2004) (pp.11-12), and "Buildings of Mississippi" (2020) (pp.152-153, NC21). It is mentioned, but not pictured, in "Architecture of the Old South" (summary volume) (1993) (p.311). [HABS: MS-251 (1975)]
Brief Description
c. 1859, two-story, four-bay (W,W, D,WWW), masonry, Italianate style
mansion. Asphalt shingle, complex gable roof with bracketed box cornice. A
centered ridge stucco chimney, two interior other chimneys, Windows are
1/1/1, and 2/2/2 triple-hung sashes, some in pairs, and 4/4 d.h. sashes; 2nd
floor ones are covered with bracketed hoods, some are set in semi-circular
architraves and some are fronted by turned stone balustrades, all have
functional shutters. Flat roof, one-story, incised front porch with turned stone
roof balustrade supported by segmental arch arcade; a side, one-bay, onestory
polygonal porch with flat roof and turned stone balustrade and
supported by a segmental arched arcade. Entry is recessed, and fronted by
three, semi-circular arches supported by brick piers, and contains a wood,
multillght door in an elliptical arched architrave.
Historic Information
Apparently the early 20th century architect Bem Price grew up in this house: http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/10618136/person/1028692124

Ammadelle is set on a landscaped 7-acre parcel on the west side of North
Lamar Boulevard.. It is a red brick , irregular plan building, w/white
Italianate trim and black shutters. The house was designed by Calvert Vaux
in 1857, and construction of the building took place between 1859 and 1861.
Final details were incomplete when the American Civil War started, and the
missing details (balconies across the rear, and a wine cellar) were never
finished.] Vaux was at the time of the commission just 34, and had recently
struck out on his own after having worked with Andrew Jackson Downing, a
major proponent of the Italianate style. That Vaux thought Ammadelle was
one of his best works is suggested by his inclusion of a similar design in the
second and third editions of his book "Villas and Cottages". The house was
built for Thomas E.B. Pegues. It has been very well preserved, with only
minor alterations. Vaux's original plans are with the owner of the building. It
was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1974.