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Boettcher Mansion – courtesy, Boettcher Mansion Facebook page – click to visit website - Click to enlarge


If you’ve visited the Boettcher Mansion on Lookout Mountain, you probably think of it as a fine craftsman home, beautifully preserved. It was not always thus.

51 Years Ago
The January 23, 1974 Golden Transcript announced that Jefferson County Commissioners had allocated $100,000 to begin restoring the building. The mansion had been built in 1917 as a summer home for the Boettcher family. In 1968, Charline Breeden, a granddaughter of the Boettchers and owner of the house, donated it–along with the surrounding 110 acres–to Jefferson County. The gift came with the stipulation that the County must keep it for public use and could not sell it.

The County wasn’t quite sure what to do with it, and during the several years they spent deciding, the house deteriorated and was vandalized. The 1974 Transcript article detailed some of the repairs needed: “roof, broken windows, plaster, heating system, electricity, plumbing, floors, carpeting, exterior and interior painting, new locks, drapes, ventilation, outside steps and porches.”

The house is now rented as a venue for meetings and social events. The grounds form the Lookout Mountain Nature Preserve. The Lookout Mountain Nature Center was originally housed in the mansion’s garage, but is now a stand-alone structure.

Highlights