The Rippavilla Plantation

The Rippavilla Plantation is located in Spring Hill on Highway 31. Nathaniel F.

Cheairs was the man to build the house in 1851. The family actually bought the house in 1811.

He chose to build the house out of brick because he wanted it to stand for 100 years and

because his wife’s father was a rich bricklayer at the time. So for their wedding gift he let

them use all the bricks they wanted to build their house. Nathaniel actually had the walls tore

down three times so they would meet his standards. The funny thing was that Nathaniel’s

father didn’t want Nathaniel to marry the woman he had fallen in love. The reason for this was

because her name was not Sarah. Nathaniel was fourth in line to have a wife with the name

Sarah. He still married the woman named Susan. Nathaniel was a Confederate Major during the

Civil War. The house was actually completed in 1855 and has been standing for over 150 years.

Rippavilla was restored in 1985. This is the time when the Saturn Company first came

to Spring Hill. The company decided to buy a lot of the land surrounding Rippavilla. Saturn

ended up donating a million dollars of work on the house, and then they donated all the land to

the Maury County Historical Alliance in 1994. The Alliance did some work on the mansion and

in April 1997, the first tours