The Galleries — home of Lee Davis and Jane Thames — is nothing less than grand and elegant. From the beautiful architecture found throughout to its manicured gardens tended by Jane, the home will easily take one back to a time when hoop skirts and frock coats were en vogue.

Built on land originally described as “considerably south of the village of Vicksburg,” The Galleries’ location now, with the growth of the River City, is right in the center of town.

“The house was built somewhere around 1840 as a wedding gift to the daughter and son-in-law of the folks (John Alexander and Elizabeth Klein) who lived in Cedar Grove. They built this house for them and gave them about 3,000 acres of land going to the river,” Lee said.

As the father of three daughters, Lee laughed when he added that his girls, Kendall, Weesie and Holly, wondered why he and Jane had not done the same for them!

The Louisiana raised cottage architectural style home was given its name because of its two-story galleries with brick pillars on the first floor and wooden columns on the second floor.

When Lee bought the house in 1963 for $4,000, it had been sitting vacant after subsequently being turned into apartments.

All of the original fireplaces in the home had been covered over, he said, and because it had been used as multi-family living, the interior of the house had to be completely redone.

“I spent a year working weekends just gutting the house.”

Originally, the upper level of the home was the main entrance, evidenced by the 14-foot ceilings and more elaborate moldings compared to 11-foot ceilings and less decorative moldings on the first floor. Today, the main living space in the house is located on the lower level and when you step inside the 38-foot tall entryway, it is remarkable to view the oval stairway, which curves all the way to the third floor.

Lee credits local architect Skippy Tuminello, who he calls a genius, in helping the couple return the home to its former glory. Bowmar Dabney, whose family had also lived in the house at one time also aided in the renovation. He described the “configuration” of the original stairway in the home as he had remembered it, Lee said.

Lower level of the home

The dining room is the only room in the home that still serves its original purpose, with the couple altering the remainder of the house around modern convention.

Lee praised his wife for aiding in the massive renovations, as it was not only the intent to restore its history, but to also make it functional.

“Jane has worked real hard to adapt it — the décor and everything. There were nine of us in the house when the children were here, so we tried to be true to the architectural integrity with Skippy’s help and then just make it comfortable for kids growing up and now grandkids.”

The walls of the dining room, like so many in the home, have beautiful pieces of art hanging and a corner cabinet from New England displays a collection of Rose Medallion china.

Kitchens were not located within the walls of a home when The Galleries was built, so what was used as the warming room, where food would be brought in from the kitchen, is now the couple’s kitchen.

“I am told the kitchen burned about three times, so it is just as well that it was outside,” Lee said.

However, modern amenities dictate an interior kitchen, and the Thames chose to use pecky cypress on its interior walls.

“Pecky cypress comes out of the knees of the cypress tree, and this came out of a barn and some other structures on our plantation at Eagle Lake,” Lee said. He said, that in its earliest days, Eagle Lake was an isolated area of the Delta and was only accessible by steamboat — that was of course until his grandfather built what is now Highway 465, “so boys could come up and see my mother.”

The pecky cypress adds a unique feature to the room, as does Jane’s basket collection that hangs from the ceiling.

“Our boys were notorious when living here for throwing cans into the baskets. This was usually while we were travelling, and part of the game was see how long it took Jane to figure out there was something in there.”

Though grand in size, Lee was truthful when giving credit to his wife for making the house a home, and it was most evident in a room located in the rear of the home.

“This room is the heart and soul of the house where I am concerned,” Lee said.

With its wood burning fireplace, over-sized windows radiating light, heirloom furniture pieces from both sides of their families and floor to ceiling bookcases, which hold Lee’s extensive book collection, there is no doubt why the couple gravitate to the space.

“Those books up on the top shelf, those are all of William Faulkner’s books in first edition.”

Other first editions housed in what he called the literature section of the bookcases included works by Eudora Welty along with other favorite Southern writers, with additional shelving in the room holding favorite collections on politics and theology.

 

Upper levels of the home

Originally, The Galleries was only a two-story home, but with seven children, the couple needed more space, so a third level was opened and converted into two bedrooms for the couple’s four sons.

Obviously, carpet was installed to keep down on the noise!

In one of the third floor bedrooms is a photograph of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower with a hand-written note addressed to Lee.

“He came to Vicksburg in 1947 for the first time we celebrated the Fourth of July since the Civil War. He stayed out at the Waterways Experiment Station quarters one, and the general there then was a good friend of my Dad’s. They played poker there every Monday night, and so he took me out and Eisenhower wrote this to me.”

The second level of the home is where the master bedroom and the three bedrooms for the girls is located, one of which has been converted into an office for Lee Davis since retiring from practicing law for the past 56 years. He also served in the military retiring from the Army with the rank of Brig. General.

The girls’ bedrooms each have a tester bed in them and are decorated with lace and silks fabrics that would be fitting for any Southern Belle.

Like their daughters’ rooms, the couple’s master bedroom also has a tester, which was originally from Lee’s family plantation at Eagle Lake. Unfortunately, the bed did sustain some injury during the siege, and one can even see evidence where a soldier had tried to cut into one of the wood posts with his saber.

“Sherman sent a search party up there to try and find a way to get around Vicksburg so he wouldn’t have to run in front of the cannons,” Lee said. “He went up Steele Bayou and came down past our place.”

The bed was torn down and thrown into a bonfire, Lee said, but luckily his grandfather was able to retrieve two of the post from demise and they were later used as the foot posts to the current bed.

 

The Gardens

The gardens at The Galleries are Jane’s pride and joy. “I work in my yard every day. It’s my therapy,” she said.

With more than 400 yellow and orange daylilies planted in her parterre gardens, one would have to be dedicated to maintaining the grounds.

Growing up in Colonial Williamsburg Virginia, Jane said she has always loved formal gardens, and with the help of Tuminello, succeeded in accomplishing her vision.

The couple has also acquired property around their home through the years, allowing her to expand the vision and feed her passion.

Of course, because of her expansive gardening projects, she said when her children were younger she assigned them each a spot to keep up.

“All the children had a plot in the yard, and Monday night was garden night,” she said, where they had to do weeding.

Obviously, there was some flack from the girls when boyfriends would drive by, Lee said.

 

Pilgrimage

From the exquisite art to period antique furniture pieces, The Galleries is a showpiece for Vicksburg, and at one time, the family did open their home for tours.

“We started the pilgrimage,” Lee said, back in 1971 or 1972 along with the Tuminello, Ivy and Burns families, who owned Floweree, the Corners and Anchuca, respectively.

Lee Davis and Jane relayed a funny story about one of their home tours. The family was returning home from a ski trip and did not realize there had been a change in the tour schedule. A note was attached to their door, telling them that a candlelight tour would ensue that evening.

“We had started unloading the car,” Jane said, but after realizing, they would be receiving guest in their home that night suitcases went back in the car.

“The girls wore hoop skirts and they gave the tour,” Lee said. “So they raced up and put on their skirts. They probably had their ski boots on underneath,” he laughed. “And the boys were relegated to the third floor to stay out of the way.

Purchasing a historic home may have come with a lot of work, but with foresight and fortitude, the couple revived a part of Vicksburg’s history.