The 2 story brick French Regency home stands at 104 Lynwood Blvd with large acreage at the corner of Lynwood and Harding Rd.
Image from State of TN Warner family files
Edwin and Susan Warner bought the property in 1913 from the estate of Matt Gardner of Lynwood farm. They planned to move from Elmington when the new home was built. Edwin was son of James Warner and brother to Percy Warner and involved in Warner Iron Works among other business ventures.
By 1923, the Warners had built their mansion, and had changed the entrance because Lynwood Blvd had been constructed. It was across Sugartree Creek from his brother Percy’s Royal Oaks. From 1904-1922, Edwin managed the stock and bond department of Nashville Trust Co. In the 1920s, he was invested in the street railway businesses in the Southeast including Nashville Railway & Light Co. He was a trustee of George Peabody College and a member of the Board of Directors of the National Life and Accident Insurance Co. After Percy died in 1927, Edwin took his place on the Warner Parks board and helped continue the growth of the parks. By 1939, he was elected chairman. He had served as chairman of the Davidson County Highway Commission, and was a member of the board of National Life and Accident Insurance Co. Later, because of his service and financial contributions, part of Percy Warner Park was named for him. Edwin died in 1945; Susan died in a car accident 2 years later that also claimed the lives of other friends and rocked Nashville society.
The Warner children sold the estate to Ralph “Peck” Owen (1905-1983) and Lulu Estelle Hampton Owen (1905-1992). The Owens married in 1929. Owen had worked as a bond salesman at First National Corp. In 1930, he co-founded Equitable Securities Corporation with Brownlee Currey and several others and served as president from 1952 to 1968. It was an investment bank which offered credit cards, and travel and banking services. In 1968, Equitable merged with American Express and Owen served as the Chairman of American Express. He was also a director with Nashville Gas Company, the R.C. Owen Co., Tennessee Natural Gas Lines, Inc. and his alma mater, Vanderbilt University.
Lulu’s parents, E.L. and Charlotte Robbins Hampton had moved to Lynwood BL in 1925. Her sister, Elizabeth “Pinkie” and Brownlee Currey lived across the street. Her brother Stanlee and Charlotte Hampton lived nearby on Lynwood Terrace.
After Lulu died, Richard J. Eskind (1930-pres) and Jane Greenebaum Eskind (1933-2016) purchased Brook Hill in 1996 and have lived there since. Richard is a financial advisor with Wells Fargo Bank. Jane was a trailblazing politician who was the first woman to win a statewide election in Tennessee (a seat on the Public Service Commission - and later as commission chair) as well as the first female to chair the state Democratic Party in 1994. The Warners named the house Brook Hill. See Elmington, Lynnwood
Sources:
Nashville: A Short History and Selected Buildings
Nashville Pikes Vol. 3 150 Years Along Harding Pike, p. 166
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