1906 West End Ave. Nashville, TN
Circa 1908. Beautiful 3-story stone building in American Foursquare style
Photo by Andrew Jameson
It was owned by Joseph “Joe”/ “Papa Joe” Lightman (1864-1928), a prominent stone mason and construction contractor, and his wife, Fannie Newworth Lightman (1871-1940). He owned and operated a candy business, a saloon, and a dry goods store. He and a son, Morris A. “M.A.” Lightman built the Hillsboro Theater in 1925. (See Hillsboro/ Belcourt Theatre versus Belmont Theatre blog.) M.A. created Malco Amusement Company with movie theatres, bowling alleys and amusement venues across the Southeast in 1915. Malco continues to run entertainment complexes regionally focused in the Memphis, TN area, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Kentucky. The Lightman family and others were part of the migration of affluent families to the west of Nashville along West End Ave. and further to the soon to be developed Belle Meade.
Just 3 years later, in 1911, (Abraham) Harris Gilbert (1848-1916), a prosperous clothing merchant, and Pauline Nelkin Nelliem Gilbert (1856-1915) purchased the property. Harris opened his first store, Gilbert’s, on the Public Square in 1872. They wed In 1865.
Then his son, Leon Gilbert (1892-1981), inherited the place and resided there until the late 1970s. He was a prominent lawyer, and in 1952, was chairman of the Nashville Electric Power Board. In 1950, Leon purchased over 550 acres of land beside what has become Beaman Park; subsequently in 2015, the Gilbert family sold the land to Metro Nashville government to enlarge the Beaman Park tract. It is now second only to the Warner Parks size in West Nashville.
Stanley Dean Lindsey (1938-2014) and Elizabeth Lindsey were the owners of the house in 1979. Stanley was an engineer and started his structural engineering company Stanley D. Lindsey and Associates soon after earning his degrees. He renovated the building and added space to the rear for his business. His family lived in Nashville for about 20 years, and at some point, they sold the home and moved to Savannah, GA.
Since 1996, the same law firm has owned the Gilbert Mansion, currently called Riley & Jacobson. The house was originally only a few blocks from the second TN Governor’s Mansion (2118 West End Ave.) and remains one of the few remaining grand homes from the early part of the twentieth century. NRHP 1979
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