Located at 1710 East Main St (originally Woodbury Pike) in Murfreesboro, the Arnold-Harrell House was built about 1860.
Capt. Edwin A. Arnold (1818-1884) and Harriett N. McLanahan Arnold (1820-1895) built the 2 story brick Greek Revival/ Italianate home. The house is notable for the transitional architectural style. They wed in 1841 and twenty years later built their home on 435 acres. The farm was eventually increased to 650 acres. Edwin was a building contractor in Murfreesboro pre-and post- Civil War and constructed many of the town’s brick structures. He also served as sheriff of Murfreesboro from 1873-76. After Edwin died, Harriet remained until her death. There seems to be a connection between an ancestor, Sir Edwin Arnold, and Sir Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poetic work, Locksley Hall.
David Christopher "DC" Batey (1834-1920) and Sallie Wheeler Hunt Batey (1843-1920) purchased the home in 1896 - then called Locksley Hall. They owned substantial lands around Murfreesboro
About 1900, the Bateys built a new house near what is now Thompson Lane and US 231 north of Murfreesboro.
They sold Locksley Hall about 1895 to Reuben C. Harrell (1827-1899) and Catherine Hastings Harrell with 435 acres of farm land. Because of an incident involving being denied credit in his younger years, Harrell always paid cash and did not use banks. Per land records, Harrell became a large landowner with a number of farms between Bradyville and Murfreesboro. The Harrell family kept the house in the family for forty-five years.
In 1940, Reuben’s grandson, Henry Harrell, took ownership of the property. From 1940-55, he sold off plots to create a subdivision development. Evidently, Harrell or the developer liked Roman mythology because the streets of the new community are named Jupiter PL, Minerva Dr. and Apollo Dr. The City of Murfreesboro bought a southwestern portion of the land to build Hobgood Elementary School.
By 1992, 2.8 acres of land remained with the house with Mary Hart Harrell as owner. From 1998-2012, Kirby Randolph McNabb (1957-2012) and Sarah McNabb owned the former Arnold-Harrell home. They renamed it Daffodil Hill and made great efforts to renovate the home and grounds. Kirby was a local businessman, interior designer, and served for a time as president of Oaklands Historic House Museum. They planted scores of daffodil bulbs on the property.
In 2014, the property was purchased by Dena Young and Michael Humnicky. Daffodil Hill is on the market as of Feb. 2020.
Four years later, in 2018, William and Patricia Wade became the new owners of the property. NRHP 1992
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