NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A Madison neighborhood shows a glimpse into the 1950s, and some people there are fighting to ensure its history is preserved.
After over a year of work, the Metro Historical Commission will consider a proposal to protect the Marlin Meadows neighborhood.
“[It’s] a snapshot of the midcentury,” Metro Historic Zoning Administrator, Robin Zeigler, said.
Historian Robbie Jones said the neighborhood saw the most development primarily between 1952 and 1959, offering housing to middle-class residents. The architecture in the neighborhood has some distinguishing characteristics.
“A lot of straight lines would be the number one thing and, typically on the exterior, you are going to have a brick home [with] quite a few windows, [and] everything is pretty symmetrical,” TJ Anderson with TJ Anderson Homes of Benchmark Realty said.
“It’s mostly a ranch form — the housing stock — but in a lot of different styles,” Zeigler described. “Some of it is spec housing, and some of it is architect design, so it’s a real neat mix that really reflects the mix of people who were there.”
According to Jones’ research, the most notable home in the neighborhood is that of singer and Country Music Hall of Famer Ferlin Husky. Charming details, like a door chime and a classic door handle, are still featured in the architecture of the home.
“If you can get a good one, you will have really nice Tiffany lighting in the home,” Anderson said. “A lot of them — they have what’s coming back in style: the Formica countertops with the metal inlay.”
In 2023, several community members requested that the history of the primarily middle-class neighborhood be preserved without pricing residents out of their homes through a conservation overlay.
The goal, according to Metro Councilmember for the area Tonya Hancock, was to follow in the footsteps of Haynes Heights in North Nashville, which was the first conservation overlay for a mid-century neighborhood in Nashville.
“This overlay will allow for a review of new construction, demolition, and relocation of homes before they happen,” Hancock said in a statement.
“They come to us and they ask for it. They say, ‘We recognize the historic character of this neighborhood; we love it. That’s why we bought here and we want to preserve that,'” Zeigler said. “The conservation overlay is a tool to do that.”
“We don’t prevent change, but we guide change in a manner that preserves that historic character,” Zeigler added.
As of publication, the Metro Historic Zoning Commission is scheduled to review the proposal Wednesday at 2 p.m. to determine if it is ready for a recommendation to the council.
“It’s not so much that the features stand out as much as collectively they tell a story, and that’s what is so important,” Zeigler said.
