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Local Real Estate Agencies Merge Forming Strongest Brokerage in Tennessee

PILKERTON REALTORS® JOINS PARKS REALTY AND VILLAGE REAL ESTATE

Pilkerton Realtors®, a Nashville-based fullservice residential real estate brokerage, has merged with Parks Realty and Village Real Estate creating the largest residential real estate firm in the state with more than 1,400 agents and $6.5 billion in annual sales volume. The firm’s combined market share in Middle Tennessee equals 15%, nearly twice as much as the next competitor in the market.

Locally owned and operated for more than fifty years, Pilkerton is home to 180 real estate agents whose 2021 production totaled more than $900 million in sales volume. The Pilkerton brand will remain intact, and the company’s managing brokers and staff will continue serving in their current roles supporting its agents and clients throughout Middle Tennessee.

“We’re joining Village and Parks to collaborate and share resources, tools and locations,” said Jim Terrell, continuing as Pilkerton Managing Partner. “Partnering with a local group who I’ve known for many years allows our vision for Pilkerton to continue.”

Parks and Village merged in January 2021, and both companies realized their strongest production years in history, reaching $5.4 billion in sales volume and completing 11,750 transactions. The new partnership will enable the local firm to further invest in best-in-class staff, tools, training, and processes to add value for clients and help agents thrive.

“We are thrilled to partner with Pilkerton to continue growing and serving agents who are focused on the Middle Tennessee market,” said Chief Executive Officer Hunter Connelly. “Pilkerton, Parks and Village share a culture and core values that are attractive to the best real estate agents in our community. We are excited to work together with Jim and his team to continue improving our services to our agents and their clients.”

Over the past three years, the company has grown substantially, as recently positioned in the Nashville Business Journal’s Fastest Growing Private Companies, and now ranks in the top 25 brokerages nationally. Earlier this month, Lakeside REALTORS® joined Parks to bolster its Hendersonville and Sumner County presence. Parks Lakeside was formerly a Coldwell Banker franchise with over 70 real estate agents and staff.

PILKERTON REALTORS® Founded in 1969, Pilkerton Realtors® is one of Nashville’s most experienced and respected real estate brokerage firms with agents across four office locations – InTown, Nashville, Brentwood and Franklin. Pilkerton focuses on residential real estate brokerage, specializing in emerging, established, and luxury neighborhoods in Middle Tennessee. Throughout its 50year history, Pilkerton has always remained committed to a single mission: tirelessly working to maximize the outcome of its clients’ real estate investments, in a diligent, honest and conscientious manner. Everyone in the company cares deeply about preserving and promoting its culture of integrity and dedication, as originally established by Founder J. Fred Pilkerton and his son, the late Jimmy Pilkerton. Pilkerton is truly honored to serve its clients. More information is available at pilkerton.com.

PARKS REALTY The Parks family of REALTORS® is home to more than 800 agents in 14 offices across five counties, making it the largest locally owned real estate company in Middle Tennessee. Parks Realty, LLC frequently earns the top ranking in annual market share with home sales totaling in the billions. Parks is one of Nashville Business Journal’s top-ranked residential brokerage firms, at the top of the charts for national independent firms, and highly ranked in the Top 500 firms in transaction sides according to the Real Trends Top 500 Report. With a focus on staff and agents, Parks is often recognized as a Top Workplace by The Tennessean. More information is available at parksathome.com.

VILLAGE REAL ESTATE Village Real Estate was founded in Nashville in 1996 and has over 350 agents serving Middle Tennessee. Village has assisted in over 40,000 transactions, utilizing a team of experienced and knowledgeable agents focused on serving clients with the utmost care and commitment. The firm has built a culture and environment that attracts innovative and productive real estate professionals, whose dedication to their clients is reflected in every deal. Village has offices in Hillsboro Village, East Nashville and Franklin. More information is available at villagerealestate.com.

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615.370.8669 8119 Isabella Lane Ste 105 Brentwood, TN 37027

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BY SHELLY ROBERTSON BIRDSONG House WILLIAMSON COUNTY’S COMMUNITY From Our House to YOURS Growing up in Williamson County and as a lover of all things southern history, I viewed Carnton as representing all the ideals of history I was fascinated by. And it was right in my backyard! When I was in middle school, a friend and I decided we wanted to spend our summer at Carnton. One might say that sounds nice, but not happening. Luckily during this time, before the Battle of Franklin Trust, before The Widow of the South, and before Franklin truly hit the map when it comes to civil war significance; Carnton was, albeit a historically significant and beautiful pre-civil war structure and property, was by no means, the fully restored site seen today. My friend and I were able to march our spunky, history buff selves right into the office (at that time located inside the house where the actual dining room is) and announced that we would do anything if we could come and just BE there. We must have said something impressive because before I knew it, we were making the trek a few days a week to the house where we provided some mediocre, I am sure, cleaning services and greeting of tour-goers. Before the summer was out, thanks to the tutelage of the ladies onsite and in charge, the venerable Ms. Bernice Seiberling and Ms. Connie Clark, Sr., we learned the tour and began giving tours as part of our experience. Can you imagine? Thus began my love affair with Carnton. Our days were spent exploring the house and the property and learning more about our community’s history than we could have gleaned from a book. When archivists and historians visited and the archeologists who came for an entire summer to research and dig, we were there, inspecting every artifact as it was being uncovered. I can’t imagine more significant times in my childhood. And the gift of Carnton in my life continued for years as we got to volunteer and dress (complete with hoopskirt and gown) for the former annual Christmas High Tea, special tours and events and, of course, the great Battle of Franklin 125th Anniversary re-enactment that took over the town in 1989. Hard to imagine a time in our bustling and now very urban community once saw a full battlefield scene recreated on sites we now see covered in condos, golf courses and churches. There were encampments and “soldiers” on the grounds at Carnton, all during this exciting time and, as I recall, even a ball. In time, as I moved on to college and away from Franklin for a few years, it seemed like Carnton suddenly was on the fast track to greatness from semi-obscurity, as more historians and preservations realized its true significance and value to our historical story here in Franklin and the Civil War in general. The story of Carnton’s great mistress Carrie McGavock and the creation of the Confederate Cemetery on the property, immortalized by the international bestseller by Robert Hicks – “The Widow of the South;” the story of generals laying on the back veranda after the battle; yes a few famous ghost stories, all the new historical evidence of what took place during the short but hellish and interminable hours of the battle here in our town and Carnton’s role in the aftermath; all finally gave new life to this once-quiet place. Carnton is, in many ways, such a different place than it was when a wide-eyed girl came to stay for a

CARNTON bit. But no less a place remembered whenever you visit, or whenever you see it as you come up the drive - majestic, grand and full of so much life and history. Carnton’s history began when it was built in 1826 by the former Nashville mayor Randal McGavock (1768-1843). The McGavock’s were power players in the early years of Tennessee statehood, and throughout the nineteenth century, it was frequently visited by those shaping both Tennessee and American history. These guests of import included President Andrew Jackson. As a result, Carnton grew to become one of the premier farms in Williamson County. Randal McGavock’s son, John (1815-1893) inherited the farm upon his father’s death. John McGavock married Carrie Elizabeth Winder (1829-1905) in December 1848 and they had five children, three of whom died at young ages - Martha (1849-1862); Mary Elizabeth (1851-1858); and John Randal (1854). The surviving children were Winder (1857-1907) and Hattie (1855-1932). From a purely structural standpoint, some of the more interesting aspects of the house itself come from extensive research and restoration in recent decades to restore the home to its original glory. And to showcase it as it would have been on the day that it became fully ensconced in history, beyond just that of a grand home. All of the paint colors you see in the house are based upon a historic paint analysis, so what you see now is what they had on the walls in 1864. Beautifully ornate, deep and rich colors fill the rooms and showcase a collection of antiques

PHOTOGRAPHY BY PEYTON HOGE

Carnton 1345 Eastern Flank Circle Franklin, TN 37064 615. 794.0903 | boft.org

PHOTOGRAPHY BY PEYTON HOGE PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRUCE WOLF

both original to the home and returned, thankfully, over years of meticulous re-collecting and donations. Family portraits line the walls, and their regal countenance keeps watch over their house, each face sharing a story of residence within those walls.

One of the architectural features are the closets in the home. Most homes of the day did without built-in closets, but at Carnton, all of the bedrooms have two small, shallow closets, one on each side of the fireplaces found in every room. Original wallpaper fragments are visible on the third floor, and these scraps were used to make reproductions you see in the house today. Again, bright colors and patterns that offset the home’s contents beautifully include 19th century furniture and fixtures and original McGavock family items, all set out and in place to tell the family’s poignant story.

The affluent but normal bucolic existence on the farm outside of town must have been lived quite benignly until the Civil War took hold of the south and all of its inhabitants. Then, beginning at 4 p.m. on November 30, 1864, everything the McGavock family ever knew was forever changed.

The Confederate Army of Tennessee furiously assaulted the Federal army entrenched along the southern edge of Franklin. The resulting battle, believed to be the bloodiest hours of the Civil War, involved a massive frontal assault larger than Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg. The majority of the combat occurred in the dark and at close quarters. The Battle of Franklin lasted barely five hours and led to some 9,500 soldiers being killed, wounded, captured, or counted as missing. Nearly 7,000 of that number were Confederate troops. Carnton served as the largest field hospital in the area for hundreds of wounded and dying Confederate soldiers.

A staff officer wrote that “the wounded, in hundreds, were brought to the house during the battle, and all the night after. And when the noble old house could hold no more, the yard was appropriated until the wounded and dead filled that.”

On the morning of December 1, 1864, the bodies of four Confederate generals killed during the fighting, Patrick R. Cleburne, Hiram B. Granbury, John Adams, and Otho F. Strahl, lay on Carnton’s back porch. The floors of the restored house are still stained with the blood of the men who were treated here.

In early 1866, John and Carrie McGavock designated two acres of land adjacent to their family cemetery as a final burial place for nearly 1,500 Confederate soldiers killed during the Battle of Franklin. The exhumation of the bodies from the battlefield began in April 1866. A team of men were hired to remove the dead from the battlefield and rebury them in the Cemetery we see today. It is one of the largest privately-owned Confederate cemeteries in the country, with 1,481 men buried there who died at the Battle of Franklin, and then several more men were added over the years. The Cemetery is owned by a separate entity: The McGavock Confederate Cemetery Corporation, founded in 1911. The first stone marker was installed in the Cemetery and dedicated on July 4, 1866. The McGavock family-owned Carnton until 1911, when Susie Lee McGavock, widow of Winder McGavock, sold it. In 1973 Carnton was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and in 1977 the house and ten acres were donated to the Carnton Association, Inc. by Dr. and Mrs. W. D. Sugg. The house had suffered from years of neglect and disrepair by that time. Since then, the Association has been vital in restoring and maintaining the site through tours, gift shop sales, membership, special events, and generous donations.

Carnton the house, the grounds and Cemetery and the battlefield park are all available for anyone to enjoy and capture their own bit of Williamson County History. Stand on the back veranda and close your eyes, imagining an unusually warm autumn day and all that happened next. Walk the grounds and hear the voices of all those who lost their lives and spent their final moments in the embrace of Carnton. See a nursery set for the innocence of childhood, flanked by blood-stained floors and a surgeon’s table by the window. Williamson County’s house encapsulates the history of our community in ways no other site can and yet is but a piece of the overall story of our community’s place in American history. Visitors can tour the house and restored gardens, cemetery and battlefield park and participate in tours that combine additional significant sites in our area.

So whether a tourist visitor coming to hear the story of Franklin or a local who has never explored our community’s history - Plan your tour today.

The Glass of Life Overflowing

A TRIBUTE TO ROBERT HICKS

BY SHELLY ROBERTSON BIRDSONG

“Robert Hicks — renowned historic preservationist, art collector, music publisher, world-class raconteur and author of three novels, two of them national best-sellers — died Friday at his home near Franklin.” With those words from his obituary, a life had come to an end, and a light went out in our corner of the world. But an indelible legacy lives on in the history of Franklin and Williamson County.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY: NEIL WHITE

Upon hearing of Robert’s death, I was struck by the fact that I had just seen him. Out and about, doing Robert things, I assumed. I suppose we all have that moment of shock when we hear about someone who has died unexpectedly in our minds, especially when they are larger than life. I knew Robert Hicks but would never presume to label me as a friend, although after these last few weeks of reading and hearing the many tributes to him, perhaps I am wrong. I would be honored if so. I considered him an icon of our local community history and much more than local, as his reach and legacy went far beyond this county. As a history lover, I admired and respected him and his contributions to all I hold dear about our town. Also, as a writer, I saw him as someone to emulate. I could never do his tribute justice; however, I have pulled from those who knew him well and found that beyond the accolades and the many, many, many contributions – perhaps the things he would have found quiet joy from more than anything – would have more likely been the feel of his precious companion Grace and previously, Jake, the world’s greatest dog (who went with him everywhere); the taste of delicious pimento cheese or even the exhilaration of an excellent seersucker suit.

The Books

THE WIDOW OF THE SOUTH

2006 Tennessee, 1864. On a late autumn day, near a little town called Franklin, 10,000 men will soon lie dead or dying in a battle that will change many lives forever. None will be more changed than Carrie McGavock, who finds her home taken over by the Confederate army and turned into a field hospital. Taking charge, she finds the courage to face the horrors around her and, in doing so, finds a cause. In this extraordinary debut novel based on a true story, Robert Hicks has written an epic novel of love and heroism set against the madness of the American Civil War.

A SEPARATE COUNTRY

2009 Set in New Orleans in the years after the Civil War, A Separate Country is based on the incredible life of John Bell Hood, arguably one of the most controversial generals of the Confederate Army – and one of its most tragic figures. A Separate Country is the heartrending story of a decent and good man who struggled with his inability to admit his failures – and the story of those who taught him to love, and to be loved, and transformed him.

THE ORPHAN MOTHER

2017 An epic account of one remarkable woman’s quest for justice. In the years following the Civil War, Mariah Reddick, former slave to Carrie McGavock – the “Widow of the South”– has quietly built a new life for herself as a midwife to the women of Franklin, Tennessee. But when her ambitious, politically minded grown son, Theopolis, is murdered, Mariah – no stranger to loss – finds her world once more breaking apart. How could this happen? Who wanted him dead? Mariah’s journey to uncover the truth leads her to unexpected people.

Robert came to Tennessee in his early twenties from what he referred to as a small southern town, otherwise known as Palm Beach, Florida. He eventually worked in music publishing and with country music artists such as George Ducas, John Hiatt, Amy Grant and Vince Gill. Later, he partnered with B.B. King on the musician’s nationwide chain of blues clubs — for which he earned the title “Curator of Vibe” from the legendary bluesman.

Whether he was a “curator of vibe,” a “whiskey preservationist,” or a “national treasure,” all of which appear on his business card, he was someone no one forgot upon meeting, and for whom life was a gift he treasured and measured by the beautiful life well lived. His was filled with exemplary moments, tremendous personal success and profoundly significant successes in the things he championed for this community. His was a life of merit few men see, but he was not one to boast, only pass on his seemingly unlimited knowledge, wit, wisdom and gift of storytelling to anyone lucky enough to be his audience.

“He lived his life filled with gratitude…certainly over the last few years of his life,” Mindy Tate, a good friend, said upon his passing. “We’re just sad, and we’re going to miss him. But we want to live our lives in gratitude for his friendship and exemplify his life.”

Whether you knew Robert or not, his legacy can be seen all around us here in Williamson County. To enumerate a list of his contributions would be more pages than this piece would allow. But just to name a few:

Carnton: This historic house changed his life. Robert became fascinated with the 1864 Battle of Franklin — a desperate Confederate last stand at which some two thousand men died in a single afternoon — and with a dilapidated mansion that had served as a field hospital near the center of the fighting. In the battle’s aftermath, Carnton’s front garden became a burial ground where the graves of 1,481 Confederate dead were tended for decades by the plantation’s mistress, Carrie McGavock.

The Battlefield Bourbon

To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Franklin, in 2014, Hicks released the first small batch of his bourbon whiskey, Battlefield Bourbon. Each of the 1,864 bottles is numbered and signed by Hicks. He said his decision to release Battlefield Bourbon, “My decision to only produce 1,864 bottles of Battlefield Bourbon this year makes it pretty much the smallest batch of small-batch bourbon anywhere. Yet, it only seemed right as I promised myself that whatever I produced would be really good and really rare. Besides, as I am signing and numbering every bottle, I figured that I needed to protect the old signing hand, and 1,864 bottles seemed like enough. Of course, 1864 is the year of the Battle of Franklin, which this sesquicentennial commemoration is all about.

Hicks spearheaded the house’s restoration, and soon it was said of his service to this work that he was “the driving force in the restoration and preservation of Historic Carnton Plantation.”

Franklin’s Charge: “Our greatest legacy to this community will be that everyone will forget we did this and that what they will remember is what happened when those boys, men, came here on November 30, 1864. That’s hopefully what we are laying the foundation for. That someday there will be a seamless piece of land that tells that story,” said Robert as Co-founder and President of the battlefield reclamation effort known as Franklin’s Charge. He led the “charge” to secure and preserve both battlefields and other historic open space in Williamson County. Franklin’s Charge took on the massive mission of saving what remains of the eastern flank of the battlefield at Franklin – the largest remaining undeveloped fragment of the battlefield – and turning it into a public battlefield park. The American Battlefield Protection Program has called this endeavor “the largest battlefield reclamation in North American history.” By the end of 2005, Franklin’s Charge had already raised over 5 million dollars toward this goal, surpassing anything ever done within any other community in America to preserve battlefield open space. As Jim Lighthizer, President of the Civil War Preservation Trust, has said, “There is no ‘close second’ in any community in America to what Robert Hicks and Franklin’s Charge has done in Franklin.”