About Us
Belmont Mansion Association's Mission
The Belmont Mansion Association’s mission is to interpret, preserve, and restore the Mansion and share the story of those who lived and worked on the estate.
About the Association
Belmont Mansion was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. The following year a group of professors and students from the college working with community members formed a non-profit association to restore Belmont Mansion and turn it into a museum.
Today the Belmont Mansion Association operates as a 501(c)3 nonprofit to maintain the house as a museum, owns the collection, and shares this unique story of 19th century Nashville with visitors from across the globe. Operating revenues are generated through admissions, elopements, event fundraisers, and individual and company donations. A majority of rooms in Belmont Mansion have been meticulously restored, complete with original and period furniture, artwork and statuary.
About Belmont Mansion
Belmont Mansion is an Italian-villa style house constructed between 1850 and 1859. Through the years, it was the summer home for Nashville socialite Adelicia Acklen and her family, temporary headquarters of the Union army, and a women's college. One of the most elaborate antebellum homes in the South, the entire Belmont estate was built, furnished, and landscaped by the Acklens and included extensive gardens, an art gallery, a bowling alley, and a zoo.
The architecture of Belmont Mansion makes it one of the most significant homes of 19th century Tennessee. Sold by the Acklen family in 1887, the house went to a developer who began one of Nashville’s early suburbs. It was then purchased by two women who, in 1890, started a college which evolved into Belmont University.
