| This imposing Greek Revival mansion is the only surviving Mississippi example of an antebellum mansion completely encircled by giant-order columns, a house form most frequently associated with Louisiana plantation houses along the Mississippi River. It was built in 1856-57 for Gen. Charles G. Dahlgren on the site of an earlier house, "Routhlands" (which was destroyed by fire in 1855). In later years this house was the residence of Aldred Vidal Davis and of the Carpenter family. Dunleith is surrounded by forty acres of green pastures and wooded bayous within the city limits of Natchez. Outbuildings include a three-story brick service wing, a greenhouse, carriage house with stables beneath, and a poultry house. Dunleith house was listed on the National Register on 14 September 1972 with 39.8 acres of surrounding land. It was designated a National Historic Landmark on 30 May 1974. It is included in "Shrines to Yesterday" (1968), "The Majesty of Natchez" (1969/1981/1986) (p. 52), "Ante-Bellum Houses of Natchez" (1970), "Historic Architecture in Mississippi" (1973) (pp. 36-37), "Old Homes of Mississippi, Volume I: Natchez and the South" (1977) (pp. 37-38), "Plantation Homes of Louisiana and the Natchez Area" (1982) (pp. 77-78), "The Great Houses of Natchez" (1986) (pp. 25-28), "Architecture of the Old South: Mississippi - Alabama" (1989), "Classic Natchez" (1996) (p. 34), "Natchez Images, 1880-1960" (2002) (p. 50), "Natchez: Houses and History …" (2003) (pp. 88, 146-151), Mary Carol Miller’s "Great Houses of Mississippi" (2004) (pp. 70-72), and "Buildings of Mississippi" (2020) (pp. 49-51, ND54). [HABS: MS-2 (five photos made by James Butters on 15 April 1936)] |