Looking for a home with a story to tell? This is it!
Probably more so than any other home in Home Seekers’ Paradise, the Hardy House is iconic to Brookhaven. Built with red brick made on site, the Italianate Home on Natchez Avenue at South Jackson was built in 1877 and had not left the original family until 2006.
It was occupied by the immediate and extended family of original owner/builder Capt. Jack C. Hardy, a former ship captain who “hobnobbed with Presidents” and was one of the wealthiest men in the state of Mississippi at the time, being the top “turf man” and partner in the J.M Brown & Co. Horse Racing Firm.
Unusual for the times, the expansive home had an indoor bathroom on the first floor and featured built-in closets — luxuries for the day and age, since such items were often taxed at a much higher rate.
You may have heard of Talullah Ragsdale? The actress and writer lived in the Hardy House for many years. We found several postcards of her famous friends, including Greta Garbo, in the home.
She was the only child of the Confederate officer, James Lafayette Ragsdale, who died in battle during the American Civil War, when she was very young. Her mother, Martha Hooker Ragsdale was Ellen Hooker’s sister.
One of her ancestors was Nathaniel Hooker, a pilgrim father, whose immediate descendants settled in Virginia. Ragsdale received her early education from her mother.
At an early age, Ragsdale became an unsatisfiable reader, always seeking the weird, the unreal, the mystic, the vivid, the passionate, the glowing in prose and poetry. Read more about Lulah.
The Process of Saving a Brookhaven Icon
In 1994, Helen and I, along with our four young children moved to Brookhaven, MS and purchased a home on South Jackson Street that was built in 1899. Directly across the street from us was an old brick house, known to everyone in the area at the Captain Jack Hardy house. Most of us that have lived in Brookhaven have passed the Captain Jack Hardy home sorely wanted it to be saved.
Little did I know, that 22 years later, I would be the owner of this fine lady and would begin the restoration process to bring her back to life. It has been a wonderful experience over the last two years working with many fine folks starting with Hugh Mathis Construction and Paul Jackson for his encouragement. We started at the ground floor with a french drain that Signature Landcapes designed and then proceeded with 100% tuck point process of the interior and exterior mortar and brick repairs. The exterior mortar was analyzed in Connecticut for its texture and color and then was shipped in five gallon buckets back to Mississippi to be installed as it was done back in 1877.
Moving inside we added new electrical (Brookhaven Electric), new plumbing (Robbie Jackson), repaired plaster walls and ceilings (Upton Plaster), and began the process of removing plaster that was falling off the walls. Adding new reclaimed heart pine flooring downstairs (Derek Fulps) was needed due to the moisture issues of a non climatized house and damp course weeping up the bricks. Plenty of critters were enjoying living in the home but that was eradicated soon by the amount of demolition that was needed to reclaim the home. Four new HVAC systems (Southern Air) were added throughout the home along with smart technology. Final touches of high end kitchen appliances, mirrors (Hall & Co), and wall colors, hardware and plumbing choices (Ann Carter) pulled everything together.
Our local newspaper, the Daily Leader, penned this article about some of the things we found along the restoration, like antique poker chips and vials of blood!
The National Park Service visited in 2006 to determine the home’s eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places, which was earned in 2007.
Check out the application!
There are also many others who documented the Hardy House history through the years. Perhaps most enlightening, and just so much fun, is this interview with local historian, Henry Hobbs, who “dabbled with historical aspects of Brookhaven” and would interview different townspeople about local history as they remembered it.