Off Arno Rd. Williamson County, TN
Circa 1840-45. Large 4-story brick mansion
From lovelyfranklin.com
Highland Hall was built between 1845-50 by Priscilla McBride Halfacre and Henry Halfacre (1801-1853). They wed in 1834. Priscilla named the home in honor of her home country Scottish Highlands. Priscilla was a relation of the Jacksons of Belle Meade.
The Halfaces had purchased 600 acres of land in Williamson County and lived in Sugar Mound - built by the Hardeman family. It was home to the Halfacre, Reams and Fleming families. Highland was surrounded by 2,200 acres. At first, it had an entrance on Meridian Rd. Large 4 story brick home with Left off-center 2 story front portico entrance. When the Lewisburg-Franklin turnpike was built, a 2nd front porch was added to the west side or back. This property is near the current Berry Farms development in Williamson Co. It was reportedly one of the largest home in Middle Tennnessee in the mid-1800s.
The home sat on Peytonsville Rd. and Lewisburg Pike on a bluff north of the Berry Farms Town Center. The Berry family also owned a home in Franklin (was the Haynes-Berry House, now called the LeHew Mansion) near the current Franklin Grove at 230 3rd Ave. North. Haynes was a hardware store owner.
Then Cabell Rives Berry (1848-1910) and Mary Oden Berry (1854-1925) owned the country home. He had been elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives and then to the Tennessee Senate in 1885 where he was named Speaker. After that, he served three terms as the mayor of Franklin.
Their son Tyler Berry, Sr. (1883-1955) inherited the farm. His wife was (Elizabeth)Avalyn Fleming Berry (1891-1929)whom he wed in 1911. He was a prominent lawyer. His brother Reams Fleming and Beulah Fleming lived on a farm on Goose Creek Lane.
Tyler Rieves Berry, Jr. (1912-1996) and Sara McGavock Roberts Berry (1907-1979) were later heirs. They wed in 1931. His sister Emma Berry Canada also resided at Highland Hall. The widow Emma had been married to Col. John Walter Canada who was a lawyer and prominent businessman in Memphis with varied investments including railroads. He died in 1944. Tyler was the Williamson County Attorney from 1938-1967. Tyler helped craft legislation and established the route and construction of Interstate 65 from Kentucky to the Alabama line in 1958. Later, he became a propsperous grain and tobacco farm as well as raising Hereford and Black Angus cattle herds.
In the early 1960s, Highland Hall was in very poor condition, and by the mid-1960s, it was torn down. The family sold and developed Berry Farms. Berry Farms is owned by Berry and Roberts families through three parcels: rural Plains, Reams Fleming, and Chadwell Place.
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