photograph by vance lauderdale
Dear Vance: Why does the large house at 1701 North Parkway have “EVERGREEN PEAK” carved in stone above the entrance? — B.A., Memphis.
Dear B.A.: When this beautiful residence was constructed in 1922, it stood — as it still does today — on a terraced hill on the south side of North Parkway. The developer determined this was actually the highest point in that part of the city — almost as high as Mt. Moriah in East Memphis — so he gave the home its distinctive name, based on the “peak” where it stands and the adjacent street, Evergreen.
The building, set on a 100-by-150-foot lot, has never been a single-family home, by the way. It was originally constructed as a duplex, with a common entrance, though one side was soon converted into four separate apartments.
photograph by vance lauderdale
North Parkway is lined with lovely homes, but this one really stands out, partly because of the impressive flight of concrete steps, punctuated by a stone fountain midway down, that stretch from the front porch all the way to the street corner. Featured in a 1922 Commercial Appeal story as “a design leaning toward the New England Colonial type,” the house is constructed of blocks of white limestone, and originally carried a red tile roof. Well, that’s according to one account. In a later story from November 1922, when the house was completed, that same newspaper reported that it had a green tile roof, and “in design, the house takes on the Italian.”
The architect was Hubert T. McGee (1864-1946), who had an impressive portfolio. He created the original Pink Palace mansion as well as the Greenstone Apartments on Poplar and several historic churches here, including First Methodist and Trinity United Methodist. He designed 1701 North Parkway for Elwood D. Sanders, president of Sanders & Company, a high-end clothing establishment at 177 South Main, offering “Correct Clothing for Men, Women, and Children.”
In 1944, when the property changed owners, The Commercial Appeal claimed the original construction cost was $40,000 — an enormous sum in the 1920s (equal to $600,000 today) — and it was “one of the original mansion-type duplexes in Memphis.”
The newspaper noted that the matching halves of the home, as originally designed, “include a large living room with fireplace, trimmed in red gum, and a stairway leading to the second floor. French doors open from the living room to both the tiled sun parlor and the dining room, back of which is a cozy breakfast room, butler’s pantry, and terrazzo-tiled kitchen.”
Upstairs were three bedrooms, “one of which may be converted into a sleeping porch, and a built-in tiled bath with separate toilet.” The bedrooms featured red cedar woodwork and cedar-lined closets. Facing Evergreen was a two-car garage, “designed in keeping with the house, with servants’ quarters above.” A pagoda and “ornamental plantings” decorated the backyard.
In the 1920s and ’30, Sanders handled the apartment rentals, in newspaper ads calling his residence “one of the prettiest in the city.” He also claimed there was “nothing like it this side of Chicago.” Another ad said it was “something out of the ordinary.” Years later, when Hobson-Kerns took over the property, the real-estate agency promoted it as “charming, possessing all the modern improvements, and located on a beautiful terraced corner lot.”
In 1944, when the property changed owners, The Commercial Appeal claimed the original construction cost was $40,000 — an enormous sum in the 1920s (equal to $600,000 today) — and it was “one of the original mansion-type duplexes in Memphis.” The current appraisal is considerably higher than 20 grand, and more than a century after it opened, Evergreen Peak remains one of the most impressive homes along North Parkway.
Got a question for Vance?
EMAIL: askvance@memphismagazine.com
MAIL: Vance Lauderdale, Memphis Magazine, P.O. Box 1738, Memphis, TN 38101
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