Maxwelton is a historic single-story house in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

, that is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. It is the only extant example in Memphis of a Victorian piano box house. It is currently a private residence. The piano box house is a vernacular architectural style found in houses built in

Middle Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek ...

and

West Tennessee West Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee that roughly comprises the western quarter of the state. The region includes 21 counties between the Tennessee and Mississippi rivers, delineated by state law. Its geography consists ...

, from the mid-19th century into the early part of the 20th century. These one-story houses acquired the name "piano box" from their shape, which was seen to resemble that of a rectangular

grand piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

. Maxwelton was built around 1860 from Tennessee native Poplar and Cypress woods. It features a long recessed central porch between two flanking parlors. The interior of the home has ceilings. Its floors are made from pine boards. There are five fireplaces with wooden mantels and some have ornately tiled hearths. It is named after a famed estate Maxwelton House home of

Annie Laurie "Annie Laurie" is an old Scottish song based on a poem said to have been written by William Douglas (1672 - c1760 ) of Dumfriesshire, about his romance with Annie Laurie (1682–1764). The words were modified and the tune was added by Alicia Ann ...

in Dumfriesshire,

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Judge John Louis Taylor Sneed purchased the home in 1874. The home has been in the Sneed - Ewell family for four generations. Upon Judge Sneed's death, his wife inherited Maxwelton. Since the couple had no children, after her death the home was passed to her nephew, John Sneed Webb and then to Webb's daughter, Kathleen. In 1918 Kathleen was married in the home to Arthur Peyton Ewell and they had two sons, Arthur Webb Ewell and John Sneed Ewell, both of whom were born in Maxwelton's west bedroom. Maxwelton was placed on the

in 1980.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee Victorian architecture in Tennessee Houses in Memphis, Tennessee National Register of Historic Places in Memphis, Tennessee