Gulfport’s original Grass Lawn Mansion was lost to Hurricane Katrina. Why was a replica built?
While the Mississippi Coast is home to dozens of historical locations, many of the original buildings have been damaged or disappeared over the years. But the Grass Lawn mansion is one of the few to be destroyed and rebuilt again.
Grass Lawn’s story began in 1836 when Dr. Hiram Alexander Roberts, a surgeon from Port Gibson, Mississippi, decided to build a mansion on the Gulf Coast. He also owned a large sugarcane plantation business in Louisiana and desired a summer retreat that was close by.
Using his own creative and sturdy design, Dr. Roberts fashioned a unique Greek Revival structure of superior craftsmanship in Mississippi City, now Gulfport.
Grass Lawn was constructed with a wood-pegged foundation that supports its longleaf pine timber flooring and cypress walls. The three-meter-wide gallery wraps around three sides of the mansion on both levels and is supported by box columns.
Its interior features heart-pine floors, marble fireplace mantels and large 20-by-20-foot rooms on both floors, totaling more than 3,500 square feet.
With such an impressive construction, and being situated on a 235-acre estate overlooking the Mississippi Sound, Grass Lawn exuded antebellum Southern charm.
In 1904, the massive property was subdivided, with John Kennedy Milner purchasing the antebellum home. Milner later became the owner of Gulfport’s Coast Coca-Cola Bottling Company.
Joseph William Milner, who would become mayor of Gulfport in 1925, lived in the house until 1950. He would remain in office for more than 20 years, during which time he greatly expanded Gulfport and the surrounding areas.
Because of its prominent owners, the Grass Lawn mansion came to be known as the Milner House.
Modern history
Due to its historical charm, architectural uniqueness and prominent role in the Gulfport community, Grass Lawn was added to the National Register of Historic Places in July 1972.
The following year, the Milner Family entrusted the property to the city, beginning a new chapter in its history. Over the next three decades, Grass Lawn would host numerous private and public events.
In 1977, the National Park Service offered Gulfport a $20,000 Historic Preservation Fund grant to preserve the history of Grass Lawn. The Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) took several photographs of the mansion the following year.
Unfortunately, Grass Lawn was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. With few historic homes of the era still standing, the decision was made to have Grass Lawn rebuilt to preserve the Mississippi Gulf Coast’s unique history.
More than $1.6 million was collected through donations, insurance money and a congressional fund of $500,000 for restoration. However, the Gulfport City Council was hesitant to allow reconstruction of a building from the South’s slavery era. Public outcry and open support for rebuilding Grass Lawn led to council members changing their minds soon after.
However, this presented a unique set of challenges as Dr. Roberts built the mansion with his own design, forcing construction crews to rebuild without blueprints or guides. Construction teams and architects rebuilt the exterior as accurately as possible. But with limited photographs taken by the HABS to work from, the team was forced to be somewhat creative and stray from the original interior design.
These efforts ultimately took several costly years to complete, but this was one of the few cases of such a historic home being rebuilt brick-by-brick after being destroyed.
Nevertheless, Grass Lawn II was completed as a near replica and was officially dedicated to Gulfport on July 20, 2012. While the original furniture was gone, new pieces from the 1800s were purchased and used to redecorate the home. Over the next few years, Grass Lawn II would serve as a venue for city functions, weddings, receptions and various other events.
Grass Lawn II, at 720 Beach Blvd. remains a fascinating homage to one of Gulfport’s most historical locations.
