County of site: Gibson County
Location of house: E. Eaton St., Trenton
Year Built: 1871
Original Owner: Julius Freed
Current Owner: City of Trenton
Phone: (731) 571-1660
For tours or reservations please call
"The Julius Freed House is located on a well-landscaped city lot
of 1.81 acres on Eaton Street west of the county courthouse in
Trenton, Gibson County, Tennessee. Built in circa 1871-72, the
weatherboarded frame two-story dwelling, with asphalt shingle
roof and brick foundation, exhibits the vernacular architectural
form categorized as upright and wing (sometimes referred to as a
gabled ell), with a prominent side gable extension on the western
side of the main (north) façade. The house exhibits a strong
degree of historic architectural integrity and has two
contributing outbuildings standing south of the dwelling.
"The north façade has three bays. The center bay contains the
front entrance on the first floor, with the original single leaf
wooden Eastlake-styled door now protected by a modern storm door.
On the second floor is a companion doorway, again with the
historic Eastlake-styled door intact that leads to a second story
balcony. It, however, has an early twentieth century screen
door. The windows of this façade all feature arched window
hoods. The west bay has an one over one window, with original
hardware intact, on the first floor while a double window of one
over one lights is on the second floor. The eastern bay contains
an Italianate-influenced and three-canted bay window on the first
floor. An air-conditioner has been placed in the center window.
These windows, too, are one over one, with the original glass
intact. The first floor bay window is topped by a mansard-styled
flat roof. Directly above is a double window, in the same style
as the west bay, that leads to a tiny second floor balcony over
the first floor bay window.
"Unlike the typical upright and wing dwelling found in Tennessee,
the front (north) façade of the Freed House has prominent gables,
with returns, on both its west and east ends. Both gables have a
small original ventilation grill. An original dormer window lies
above the center bay and allowed light into the second floor
center hallway. Connecting the gables is a wide cornice with
regularly spaced pairs of of delicately cut brackets, typical of
Italianate style. The bay window also has brackets immediately
above its windows which are then topped by a wide cornice with
much heavier, classically oriented brackets supporting the
mansard roof of decorative cut shingles over the bay window. The
front porch continues with the same paired bracket design found
on the roof line, again supporting a mansard type roof of
decorative cut shingles. Both mansard roofs over the bay window
and the porch have original cast-iron railings, but in the mid-twentieth century an unknown family member added the distinctive
cast iron cut-out figures of two cats on the bay window balcony.
The original wooden porch, with delicate Victorian supports, was
replaced between 1905 and 1910 with a concrete porch, supported
by squared, paneled columns more in line with the Classical
Revival then sweeping the country. Perhaps the most eye-catching
element is the original rain gutter at the northwest corner of
the dwelling. This metal gutter features a metal cut-out of a
bird nesting at its very top.
"The property has two contributing outbuildings. Immediately
south of the dwelling is a weatherboard frame tool house (C) that dates to circa 1920. This building was the service area for the
property's once extensive gardens. On the southern border is a
weatherboard frame garage (C) that was built circa 1920.
"Remaining elements of the early twentieth century landscaped
gardens constitute a contributing site, (C) in this
nomination. For example, in the early 1900s, the family would
plant some five to ten thousand tulips throughout the large lot.
Implanted concrete walks, Celtic cross designs, and planters can
still be found throughout the yard, suggesting the basic outlines
of the gardens.
"Defining the northern border of the property, separating the yard
from the sidewalk, is a cast-iron fence that dates to at least
1900. This fence (C) is a second contributing structure in this
nomination." ~ NRHP Nomination Form