There are just some houses that absolutely stun me and this is one of them! Cedarhurst is an 1857 Gothic Revival located in Holly Springs, Mississippi. In its 160 or so years, its only had 2 owners up until a couple of years ago when it sold to a third owner.
It was built for Dr. Charles Bonner and was occupied by troops during the Civil War. The eldest of 3 surviving children, daughter Katherine Sherwood Bonner, grew up in this home. She was an author and took the name Sherwood Bonner as pen name. Bonner married and had one child, but the marriage didn’t last. She went to Boston to pursue writing and ended up secretary for several notable writers, one being Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
She returned to Holly Springs in 1878 and helped nurse her daughter, father, and brother during the yellow fever epidemic. Both her father and brother succumbed to yellow fever. She survived, but sadly died of advanced breast cancer in 1883.
The home was sold to the Belk family in 1901 and they were the ones to name it Cedarhurst. This family held the home for at least 115 years until it just recently sold. Its held a place on the National Register of Historic Places since 1983.
