The Nunan Estate History

The Jeremiah Nunan House

“The Catalog House” is a distinctive Jacksonville treasure. It was built in 1892 by Jeremiah Nunan, a self-made local businessman, as a Christmas present for his wife Delia. This large, elegant home comes complete with a fascinating history. The estate has been described as an “exuberant” example of the American version of Queen Anne Victorian architecture, with lots of angles, gables, ornamentation and decoration.

Jeremiah Nunan, intrigued by the home designs of Knoxville, Tennessee, architect George Barber, who marketed his house plans nationwide through his catalog, eagerly ordered plans and a detailed material list for “Design No. 143.″ Nunan received the plans in April of 1892, and moved his family into their new home in time for Christmas of that same year. The reported cost of the home at that time was $7,800!

Stories abound that the home was a “kit” shipped to the site with materials pre-cut and numbered. Historians, architectural and otherwise, have been unable to validate this legend. Instead, they conclude that while some building materials may have come from outside the immediate area, the home was locally constructed and was most definitely not a “prefab.”

The home features some 16 rooms. It was among the first homes in Jacksonville (possibly the first) with running water and indoor plumbing. The main staircase was built using five different woods, the massive parlor doors are rare birds-eye pine, and the five mantelpieces were carved from white oak. The home includes an unusual “bulls-eye window” featured in many Barber-designed homes.

For more information on the history of The Nunan House please contact us.