Belmont Mansion

Belmont Mansion, also known as Acklen Hall, and originally known as Belle Monte, Belle Mont or Belmont, is a historic mansion located in Nashville, Tennessee on the campus of Belmont University that today functions as a museum. In 1849, Adelicia Hayes Franklin married Joseph Alexander Smith Acklen, a young attorney from Alabama, and they immediately began construction of Belle Monte (Belmont) on 180 acres (73 ha) in Davidson County. It was completed by 1853 as an Italian villa style summer home. Adelicia and Joseph used Belmont as a summer home to escape from the heat of Adelicia's seven Louisiana cotton plantations, which totaled 8,600 acres (3,500 ha). The Acklens built, furnished, and landscaped one of the most elaborate antebellum...