Dunlop Mansion owners sue city of Clarksville in hopes of demolishing 108-year-old home
A contentious fight over the future of a historic Clarksville home has reached federal court.
The owners of the Dunlop Mansion at 517 Madison Street in Clarksville are suing several city officials, who did not approve their requests to demolish the 100-year-old property earlier this year.
The lawsuit was filed by Gracey General Partnership, which is managed by Clarksville developer and realtor Jennifer Willoughby. The partnership purchased the property for $1.5 million on Aug. 29.
The Dunlop Mansion, also called the Dunlop House or Dunlop-Miller House, was built around 1915 and designed by architect Russell E. Hart, said Montgomery County Historical Society member Brenda Harper. Hart is known for several landmarks in Middle Tennessee, including the full-scale replica of the Parthenon in Nashville's Centennial Park, Tennessee governor's mansion, Dudley Field at Vanderbilt University and Tennessee's first international airport.
While the lawsuit says that “Gracey has no present development plan” for the property, Willoughby has previously told city officials she planned to build new apartments on the site after demolition, a proposal that was met with swift resistance from residents and local activists.
The owner says in the lawsuit that the home “is in bad condition” and is “unfinanceable in its current form.”
The owner further says that the house “has no recognized association to local, state or national history.”
Records attached to the lawsuit show that Willoughby applied for a demolition permit for the home on Aug. 30, one day after purchasing it from previous owner George Terrell. Terrell had also applied for a demolition permit a month before, which the city’s Common Design Review Board had unanimously denied.
After asking for a permit, Willoughby was told that her proposal would have to go before the board as it had just a month before.
But the thrust of the lawsuit’s claim is that the owners shouldn’t have to bring their case before the board at all, based on Clarksville’s own zoning ordinances.
Per the lawsuit, the home is zoned in a Downtown Design Overlay District. All properties in that district are subject to Design Review Guidelines and Standards, which require approval for demolition from the board — except for single-family homes, which are exempt from those guidelines and standards.
According to the lawsuit, Terrell, the previous owner, lived in the six-bedroom house as a single-family home for about 15 years.
The lawsuit says that if a property is exempt, the city ordinance requires “no further action of an owner to demolish a single-family residence other than applying for a general demolition permit.”
Instead, the plaintiff claims, the City of Clarksville refused to issue the permits as a “result of an improper motive created by public opposition, social media and active pressure for historic preservation of the dilapidated house.”
“The single-family house is dilapidated. It is believed that the City of Clarksville has contended the vacant single-family house located on ‘the property’ to be a ‘structure contributing to the historic downtown.’ No City of Clarksville Ordinance known to the Plaintiff confirms the City’s interpretation of its own ordinance. The defendants do not have discretion to deny the permits,” the lawsuit says.
City of Clarksville Communications Director Jimmy Settle said that the city does not comment on pending legal matters.
The lawsuit was filed on Nov. 13 by Gracey General Partnership in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. The named defendants are the City of Clarksville; Mayor Joe Pitts; David Smith, former director of the city's Buildings and Codes Department; and Deidre Ward, interim director of Buildings and Codes.
The partnership is represented by Dan Thomas of Hopkinsville, Kentucky. A message was left with Willoughby’s cell phone number seeking comment.
Willougby has been an active developer in Clarksville for years. Records show that she purchased the adjacent property at 518 Madison Street in 2021, and she then demolished the defunct gas station on that property to create a new apartment complex, The Classic.
Dunlop Mansion history
According to VisitClarksville.com, The American Red Cross leased the building from 1996 until 2012. The structure is a two-story Mediterranean Renaissance-style home built in 1914. Its prominent features include an arched entry and side portico.
Although demolition was denied this summer for the Dunlop Mansion, the importance of the building was shown by Clarksville residents.
"The Dunlop-Miller home is begging for your support... it is a part of the face of Clarksville and its memories," said a petition on change.org with over 2,000 signatures and musician Gary 'SannaBlue' Baker wrote "The Bricks of the Dunlop-Miller."
Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for The Tennessean. Contact him at emealins@gannett.com or follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @EvanMealins. Leaf Chronicle reporter Kenya Anderson can be reached at kanderson@nashvill.gannett.com or on X at KenyaAnderson32.
This article originally appeared on Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle: Dunlop Mansion owners sue city seeking demolition permit
