Gimme Shelter 2018: Riverwood Mansion

Tucked away in East Nashville’s Inglewood neighborhood, Riverwood Mansion — listed as one of the Metropolitan Historical Commission’s most significant historic structures — is among the city’s oldest homes. It was built in the late 1790s and was originally part of a 2,500-acre plot. The house, which is now a wedding and event venue on eight acres of the original property, is still in remarkable shape: All of the original hardwood floors remain, and much of the ornate furniture inside has been in the mansion for more than 150 years.

And one of its owners was a murderer.

Duncan Brown Cooper, who inherited Riverwood Mansion from his brother William, engaged in a feud that ended in 1908 with Cooper shooting and killing newspaperman Edward Carmack. The latter was the editor of the newly created Nashville Tennessean (today known as The Tennessean). Carmack reportedly first shot at Cooper’s son, and Cooper retaliated by killing Carmack. The elder Cooper was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison, but never served a day of his sentence. It’s believed the original feud arose, naturally, over something Carmack had published in the newspaper.

When Cooper died in 1922, his daughter Sarah took over the property. She later married Dr. Lucius Burch, who was the dean of the Vanderbilt School of Medicine. The couple became known for their lavish Christmas parties: An invitation to their annual event was highly sought after in Nashville social and political circles. That’s according to Megan Sanders, Riverwood Mansion’s planner and coordinator.

“It’s really interesting to see who’s come through here,” Sanders says. “It’s everyone from friends of the families who lived here, to presidents.”

According to ledgers kept by the families who lived at Riverwood, seven U.S. presidents visited the mansion: Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk, Franklin Pierce, Lyndon B. Johnson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Grover Cleveland and William Howard Taft were all said to have attended opulent parties on the property. It’s rumored that Jackson gave the owners a now-towering magnolia tree that stands strong in the front yard.

One of the mansion’s earliest owners was Alexander Porter, an Irish immigrant who had served as a state Supreme Court justice in Louisiana. Porter, whose name can be found on street signs all over the city, died shortly after purchasing the house. According to some, the ghost of Porter’s wife still haunts the grounds.

The Burches weren’t the only Riverwood inhabitants known for their parties — Sanders says various owners of the mansion were known for hosting grand events. But she says that after Sarah Cooper died in 1975, the home mostly sat empty — the city even talked about razing it at one point. Joe and Jackie Glynn bought the mansion in the late ’90s, as weddings in non-church venues were becoming more popular — and it was sold in 2015 to investors Debbie Sutton, Matt Wilson and Steven R. Shelton. The venue hosts about 60 weddings a year, as well as corporate events and fundraisers.

“For a while the house was going through a rough period, being vandalized, that sort of thing,” Sanders says. “The idea was to bring this place back to its former glory — to have people enjoy the space and the grounds. And that’s what we’ve been doing.”