Built in 1847 by John Walker Jones, the Federal Style, two-story, ell-shaped frame house with a central passage typifies the affluent mid-19th century lifestyle so common in southwestern Tennessee during the antebellum period. Today’s Ames Manor was the second home of the Jones family who arrived in Fayette County in 1826.
After acquiring the home in 1901 Hobart Ames made significant changes to the original manor house which better suited the needs of the wealthy industrialist. The house was enlarged with the addition of a wing to provide accommodations for Ames’ servants. Other improvements made during the early 20th century, including the addition of electricity and a kerosene furnace to heat water for the heating system, made the Ames Manor one of the most refined homes in the region at that time.
Today the home remains little changed from that exciting time in the past when Hobart & Julia Ames spent a part of each year enjoying their southern retreat while hunting quail and entertaining.