Green Hills Wow House: A Piece Of Nashville History

NASHVILLE, TN -- This home practically oozes with history. Built in 1920, 2006 Lombardy was the home of Ellen Stokes Wemyss, a woman whose biography is practically a 20th-century history of the city.

As a young woman, "Miss Ellen," as she was known, particularly later in life after she moved into Gallatin's Fairvue Mansion, marched in Nashville's early women's suffrage parades, was one of the first people in the city to fly in an airplane and was involved in Nashville's first car wreck. Her motoring companion that day was, by the way, Percy Warner.

The listing and Metro property records say the home was built in 1920, though the listing also assures us it was designed by Edwin Keeble, the famed Nashville architect, who designed, among other things, the L&C Tower downtown. Keeble was only 15 in 1920, so it would be unlikely he'd be designing homes then; however, the current structure — Three Terraces — was actually completed in the mid-1930s and was indeed designed by Keeble, by then in his mid-20s.

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Friend of governors from Austin Peay up until her death at 106 in 2001, she was one of the founding members of The Association for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities and, starting in 1960, spearheaded efforts to preserve historic homes, particularly in Sumner County: Cragfont, Traveler's Rest, the Hermitage, Wynnewood, the Bowen-Campbell home, Rock Castle, Rosemont and the Trousdale Home.

A woman not easily told no, she convinced her doctor to perform a knee replacement when she was 92 because she intended to dance at her 100th birthday party. She did, of course, take that spin on the dance floor at Belle Meade Country Club. Her partner? Gov. Don Sundquist.

The home befits such a wonderful life with French doors, iron-filigreed balconies and a "secret garden" complete with a pool.

• Address: 2006 Lombardy Ave, Nashville, Tennessee
• Price: $1,220,000
• Square Feet: 4304
• Bedrooms: 4
• Bathrooms: 4 Baths
• Built: 1920
• Features: The magic begins as you step through the classical Greek columns of the portico into the grand hall, continuing up a sweeping staircase leading to French doors onto an iron-filigree balcony overlooking a sparkling pool within the lushness of a secret garden. The actual home of Nashville's first suffragette, Miss Ellen Stokes!

This listing originally appeared on realtor.com. For more information and photos, click here.