The Red House

by Gary Gerhart

The Red (Reed) House, completed sometime between 1777 and 1796, is located on the north side of East Main St. in Jonesborough, Tennessee (133 to 135 E. Main). It was constructed on Lot thirty-one of the original plan for the town of Jonesborough in accordance with the instructions laid down by the state of North Carolina. Lot thirty-one was one of the most contested pieces of ground in Jonesborough's colorful history.

The name Red House is a corruption of "Reed House" and was used interchangeably in early deed history. James Reed, an early Jonesborough settler and Revolutionary War soldier at Kings Mountain, seems to have had to purchase the property multiple times. In 1796, newspaper notices carried an announcement stating that a meeting was to be held "in the house of James Reed" to end the confusion concerning who owned which lots in the new town of Jonesborough. On May 20, 1796, the first court under the new Tennessee government ordered "that James Reed have leave to keep a tavern in the town of Jonesborough and have given John Bean and John McAllister his security in the sum of twenty-five hundred dollars."

In 1800, Mr. Reed sold lot thirty-one to John Tipton, who shortly thereafter sold it to Abraham Tipton. By 1804 Colonel Matthew Aiken, a hatter, had his residence there. Colonel Aiken then purchased a number of lots that the Town of Jonesborough had made available in "the commons" to the east of the town line. The Red House was located near the original eastern border of the town. Colonel Aiken's holdings soon extended from what is now Duncan Meadows, to the mill near Spring and Lincoln streets. In 1836, James H. Jones purchased from Matthew Aiken, "the house in which he now lives, known as The Red House." Mr Jones, a respected merchant, and his wife Louisa Maria (Sevier) Jones occupied the house and had their business next door, now 129 E. Main. Jones, heavily in debt, fled the state in the 1840's and disappeared. Louisa Maria 's sister Elizabeth and her husband James S. Johnson purchased the house soon thereafter. After the Civil War, James Atkinson, a jeweler, and his wife lived and worked there. After his death she had a millinery shop down stairs and lived and taught art classes upstairs. Doctor J. S. Stuart and his family made their home there after the turn of the twentieth century.

The construction of the home is such that it has survived over two hundred years in remarkable condition. Originally built as a half Georgian home, the entrance on the left side opened into a full foyer containing a beautifully delicate eighteenth century staircase. The stairwell gave an unobstructed view from the first floor foyer to the third floor ceiling. As is typical with early half Georgian homes the layout is "two on two" with two rectangular rooms entered from the right of the foyer on the first and second floors. The third floor is one large finished room built into the peak of the roof.

The construction materials were all available on site (or very nearby) with the exception of the window glass and doorknobs. The very short list of materials is as follows; brick clay dug from the site, lime for mortar and plaster obtained nearby and burnt on site, sand also nearby for mortar and plaster, hog or horse hair for plaster, yellow poplar for joists, rafters, trim, doors, and windows, hard pine for the floors and some trim, oak for the roof shakes and iron mined locally for nails and hardware.

Many additions have been added and removed over the centuries but most of the original Georgian stairway and much of the beautifully designed interior trim and plaster still function today. The second and third floors are currently being restored as faithfully as possible for future use.

Graphics above: Illustration by Harpers Bazaar writer David Strouthers -- nom de plume 'Pont Crayon' -- for an article entitled "Winter in the South," 1857. Click on lower one for enlargement.

graphic: Phoenix, oil on canvas by John Charles, Kingsport TN

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Gary Gerhart is a booking agent, who also researches and restores old buildings, and a degreed artisan. For many years, he owned a pottery shop on Main Street which displayed uniquely creative work of diverse artists, including himself, and taught classes in working with clay. He's also a bass musician and past band leader well-known in the region.