The family of the original owners of Greenleaves was wiped out during a yellow fever epidemic, the entire family filling one grave. Eventually Greenleaves was bought by George Washington Koontz of Pennsylvania, who became a leading influence, financially and socially, in Natchez. Children of the present occupants of Greenleaves are the fourth generation of the Koontz family to enjoy this luxurious home.
Mr. Beltzhoover’s ownership of this property is shared with his sister, Mrs. Guy Robinson, who is a resident of New York state.
Legend:
Under the giant liveoaks at the rear of Greenleaves the Natchez tribe of Indians held their annual pow-wows and decided all momentous questions.
Longwood
Longwood stands in a moss-tangled forest. It is a monument to a dream that was interrupted by the tragedy of the War Between the States in 1861-’65. It was to have been a gorgeous structure of Moorish design, planned by Sloan of Philadelphia, who in those days had no equal as artist-architect.
Longwood was being built for Dr. Haller Nutt. Landscape gardeners came from abroad, and even today rare imported shrubs and trees form a part of the dense growth around the unfinished gardens.
When the house reached its present point of construction, with more than a hundred thousand dollars already invested, there came the cry of war and the call to arms. Workmen laid down their tools and took their guns and never returned to the task of completing Longwood.
The deep concrete foundation, the outside framework, and some of the trimmings of the house were well under way. Today there are huge sections of carved moulding, old paint buckets and brushes, tool boxes, and carpenter’s implements scattered about the upper floors—just as they were left almost 75 years ago.