Status: Preserved
Address: 919 Coward Place, Memphis
Built: ca. 1852
Architectural Style: Italianate
Original Function/Purpose: Residential
History: The Anderson-Coward House was built by Nathaniel Anderson, a cotton broker and banker in ca. 1852. After he retired in about 1856, he sold the property to H.M. Grosvenor, who, in order to finance his business, mortgaged the house to Samuel Coward. Grosvenor lost the house to Coward in 1867 and it passed down in the Coward family for generations. As Midtown Memphis expanded, the owners sold the estate’s extensive grounds until, eventually, the remains of the estate were sold to Dayton and Justine Smith. The house was renovated for use as a restaurant in 1958 and for 37 years housed “Justine’s,” one of Memphis’s finest restaurants. It was placed on the Tennessee Preservation Trust‘s Top 10 Most Endangered Historical Sites List in 2005. After years of vacancy, neglect and vandalism, the property was purchased in 2016 by Orgel Family LP “to try and save it,” in the words of a family spokesman.
City Council District: 6
Super District: 8
County Commission District: 8