Extreme Makeover Occurs Without Ty At Nashville Zoo's Historic Home

Ty Pennington’s TV show was not involved, but from March – June of this year, Nashville Zoo’s Historic Croft Home received an extreme makeover.

Besides a fresh coat of paint, the Home received a new kitchen floor, windows, chimney caps, lattice work along the bottom of the front porch, guttering, and a new roof for the adjacent smokehouse. All rotted wood was also replaced, including completely dismantling, repairing and replacing all of the spindles and railings on the upper and lower front porches. In addition, all shutters were repaired, brickwork in the kitchen and public restroom was cleaned and sealed, and the floor of the nearby cabin was refurbished.

This architectural facelift is the first major repair work for the Historic Home since the initial restoration for the 1998 public opening. Metro Nashville donated $100,000 for this capital project through the management of the Metro Historical Commission. Loyal Historic Home visitors also donated $15,000. All renovation work was done by Grau General Contracting, LLC, specialists in historic restoration.

“I'm so thankful to the Metropolitan Government of Nashville, the Historic Commission and our visitors for recognizing the significance of the Croft House and providing funding to help maintain it for future visitors to experience and enjoy,” said Historic Farm Manager Tori Mason. “Margaret and Elise Croft [former tenants of the Grassmere property] left an amazing legacy to the citizens of Nashville, and we need to be able to share that with all our visitors for years to come.”

Nashville Zoo’s Historic Croft Home was completed around 1810, making the Home the second oldest residence in Davidson County open to the public. Tours of the Home run daily on the half hour from 11 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Nashville Zoo is accredited by the prestigious Association of Zoos and Aquariums, assuring the highest standards of animal care and husbandry. The Zoo is a non-profit organization located at 3777 Nolensville Road and is open every day except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. The mission of Nashville Zoo is to inspire a culture of understanding and discovery of our natural world through conservation, innovation and leadership. For more information about Nashville Zoo, please call 615-833-1534 or visit our website at www.nashvillezoo.org.
 

Photo Credit: Tori Mason