Story by: Lee Rennick | Photos by: Erin Kosko and Lee Rennick
“What brought us here is my great-great granddaddy was a Union Soldier who fought and was injured in the Civil War at Stones River Battlefield,” explained Denise Carter. “We came here to tour the battlefield and Murfreesboro. After the tour, we ended up finding Alley on Main on the square. While eating dinner, we were looking at houses on Zillow for fun. I have always wanted to renovate an old house. Spencer found all these lovely old houses, and he told me he would bring me back in the morning so we could walk around and look at them.
“Even though it was a freezing February morning, we parked down at City Café and walked up Main Street. At that time, this house was for sale. Luck of the draw, our agent was able to get us in.” “To me the stars aligned,” said Denise’s husband Spencer Carter. “We called the listing agent. She said she had to call the owner, who had to call the tenant. We got an appointment at 2:00 p.m. and our plane left at 3:00 p.m. to take us back home.”
Not sure what to do until their appointment, they were standing outside of the home they now own with their realtor, Drew Kilgour, when this guy stepped out of the side porch door.
He says, “Something I can help you with?”
“We thought we were in some kind of trouble,” added Spencer. “But he said, ‘Are you my two o’clock appointment?’”
“As a matter of fact, we are,” replied Spencer.
“Do you want to see it now?”
“As a matter of fact, we do.”
Denise walked in. Teared up, and said. “Honey, this is our house.”
They bought it, and moved before they had planned to, in July 2022. Originally, thinking they would wait until their grandson, who is a sophomore in high school, graduated, they rented it as an Airbnb for about eight months. But they quickly fell in love with Murfreesboro almost immediately and were lured here by the friendly people.
“We love everybody we have met” said Spencer. “It is great to be around people who love God and love their country.”
Neighbors Charlene and Ron Taylor invited the couple over for banana pudding, not too long after they moved in. One time, Denise’s father was visiting from Utah and joined them at the Taylor home. He and Ron, who both served in Vietnam, have been great friends ever since.
The people are just part of what drew the Carters to the former Darrow-Woods-Hastings home. They fell in love with the history of the home as well. It was built in 1910 by George and Tempe Darrow, who were living in Oaklands Mansion at the time. The Darrows had Nashville Architects Fletcher & Bell create it as a summer home where they could entertain their friends without having to run carriages out another mile and a half to Oaklands for a party. When the Darrow family purchased the property, there was a small cottage on the land facing Main Street. They had the cottage moved to where it now sits on the corner of Highland and Vine.
By 1912, the Darrow family had sold Oaklands and moved into the Main Street home full-time. The neo-classical style home offers elegant entertainment areas including a lot of space for seating and a large dining area with built in storage for fine china. They had the third floor built as a ballroom with space for a small band and a raised dais for chaperones to watch over the young ladies.
“We are fascinated by the home’s history,” said Denise. “We have learned a lot from James Manning at Oaklands, a book we weregiven and our neighbors. We are always interested in learning more.”
After the Darrow family, the house was owned by the Woods family. Ms. Woods lived there until she was in her 90s. Denny and Thesa Hastings purchased the home from the Woods family. You can imagine the condition it was in when they bought it. They are the ones who spent a lot of time restoring it and updating neglected structural elements.
“The Hastings bought it in early 1992,” said Denise. “They are the last people who made significant updates, and they did spectacular work. A lot of structural work. They took every piece of brass off and took it to Nashville to have it re-finished. It took using dental tools to get all the layers of paint off of the details of the fireplaces.”
“Most of the lathe and plaster in the ceilings was gone as they put in new wiring and new plumbing. And they had the original radiator heaters taken out,” added Spencer. “They put in an elevator.”
“It has good, strong bones,” added Denise. “Which is something we really like about the house.”
“However, there have not been any major changes in 30 years,” noted Spencer. “There are things about the house that are amazing, but I am a general contractor, so all I see is the work. This will be our dream home when we have completed all we intend to do.”
There are two other houses on the property that have been turned into Airbnbs. The yellow house and a small brick one, which was the original carriage house. The previous owner had wanted to rip down those two houses because they were in more disrepair than the main house. The historical committee said no. So, he decided to sell the houses.
“When we moved in,” explained Denise, “we made those two houses the priority. Now, we have those completely done, which we rent on Airbnb, and we have done substantial work to the yard of the main house. We were just getting ready to work on the interior of our house when we purchased Maude Butler Mcclain’s house out on Broad Street. It was built in 1895. Then in 1950, they added a second floor.”
Because the Hastings had done a marvelous job of remodeling, although the home had not been updated in 30 years, the Carters were able to just make small changes to get them moved in.
“We have six children,” said Denise, “from ages 34 to 16, but only two were living at home and moved with us. One of the two is now in college in Utah.
”The house currently has four bedrooms, three full bathrooms and one half baths. Their plan is to turn it into a four bedroom and four-and-a-half-bathroom home. The last thing they plan to update is the very small and choppy kitchen, using some space in the currently over-sized laundry room.
While it is very much a work in progress, Denise and Spencer have used their skills in design and contracting to make it very livable, even as they make changes. Denise is the designer and Spencer is the contractor. Denise has an eye for blending the old and new to make sure the home keeps its original character.
“Mostly, because our house is a work in progress, I buy things I like and then I work out how to make them fit,” laughs Denise. “I call in my friends Marimae White and Birdie Donnell to help me. Birdie has a fantastic garden; she consults with me on our yard. I do not know how many times we have been to Sparta, McMinnville, Nashville and Franklin purchasing plants for the yard.”
“Also, we are the only ones in both of our families with a historic home,” said Spencer, “so both of our parents have been generously giving, ‘have this old thing, have that old thing.’ All of the heirlooms are gravitating towards us.”
They have slowly been acquiring things. The only piece that came with them from their previous home is a vintage dress from the late Victorian period that is displayed on a mannequin in the sitting room. It will soon have company in the form of a Civil War uniform that Denise recently received from her father.
Many of the details are original, including the leaded glass windows, the fireplaces, the light fixtures in the living and dining room, the inlay floors on the second floor and the push button light switches. In the original built-in china cabinet in the dining room, Denise has a display of fine Rajah Haviland Limoges china from Maude Butler’s estate.
Acquiring multiple items from online auctions, and Denise’s favorite store in Murfreesboro, M & J Home on Spring Street, as well as a what is trickling down through the families, the Carter’s home is comfortably furnished, while maintaining the stateliness of a more formal age.
With 400 square foot bedrooms, each room has a king or California king bed, including the bedroom known as the Bishop’s Room. In this room, the ceiling was built a foot taller than the rest of the house because the Darrow family brought over a beautiful Teester canopy bed they had at Oaklands to put into this room. It was also the room that the Bishop of St. Paul’s Episcopal
Church used when he’d come to Murfreesboro and stay. Thus, the name.
“Now, our one daughter is sleeping in a twin bed in a dorm room,” chuckled Spencer.
The Carter’s have spent an equal amount of time focused on the outside garden, as well as the two outbuildings.The former carriage house is a small brick structure that has been turned into a 1920s speakeasy themed rental featuring an old bar front from Peabody Hotel in Memphis. It is a hit with many of their visitors having a bachelorette weekend.
Once Denny Hastings’ office, the yellow cottage has had several remodels over time, but the most outstanding feature is the louvered doors that he had imported from Monaco. They are a stand out, as are the five-paned glass doors opening into the living room. The space is airy and light filled.
Furnished with a blend of antique, vintage and modern, the cottage still offers the latest conveniences in the kitchen and bathrooms. As part of the décor, Denise even has a framed sample of some of the old hand- painted wallpapers that once graced the space.
The garden is a haven in the summer, shaded by large trees and filled with new plantings of indigenous flowers, bushes and trees like DD Blanchard Magnolias.
“It’s been a fun adventure,” said Denise.