The Cottages of Walter Place Estate were once guest houses used to lodge Oscar Johnson’s friends from St. Louis who came south to hunt bear, deer and quail in the early 1900’s.

Far from rustic accommodations, the quaint raised-basement houses had undergone total redesign by Theodore Link, the architect who built the Mississippi Capitol. Johnson contracted with Link in 1903 to make Walter Place, the two cottages and the 15 acres of land between into a fabulous place to live and visit.

Before Johnson acquired the cottages, these residences had figured prominently in the history of early Holly Springs.

A log home had been built in 1834 on the site of Featherston Place by Alexander McEwen, a land agent who gave Holly Springs its name.

In 1858 McEwen’s daughter married Winfred Scott Featherston. Featherston returned to his house from the Civil War as a Brigadier General.

Across the circular drive is Polk Place which bears the name of its owner Thomas Polk, who was a cousin of U. S. President James K. Polk. Link lent his flair for design to an addition that includes a beautiful porch with a Palladian arch and Chippendale railings.

The architectural style of these houses, with the dining room and living areas below ground level, provided cool breezes on hot southern days.