Fountain is in front of the Dent House
Closer view of the mansion
Original staircase
Another staircase view
Front hallway
Tall door with large transom window
Central hallway
Top of the stairs
View from upstairs
Bonny Oaks chapel now serves as church
Ornate woodwork inside the chapel
Worship area
Stained glass window
Handsome windows
Benches that are for sale
Russell King rings bell that was used as a call for dinner time
If you have always wanted an ante-bellum home steeped in history, then one is now available in Chattanooga.
The Dent House at Bonny Oaks is being shopped for $949,000.
The two-story mansion, that is now surrounded by an industrial park, has been used in recent years for the youth programs of the Chattanooga Church. That church, long pastored by Morty Lloyd, is making plans for two new church facilities that will put the youth closer to the main church.
The Chattanooga Church now meets in the former Bonny Oaks School chapel, but has acquired from Frito Lay six nearby acres fronting on Bonny Oaks Drive.
Russell King, a leader of the church, said, in addition to offering the mansion for sale, there are a number of wooden benches in the chapel that are for sale.
Built in the mid-1850s for railroad contractor Jarrett Dent, the mansion was a field hospital for wounded soldiers during the Civil War.
The Dent property was sold in 1898 for use as an orphanage and school. When combined with the adjacent Trimble farm that was donated by Z.C. Patten, the property included 324 acres.
The orphanage and school operated until 1988 when most of the land was partitioned by the county for industrial use.
The Dent House was later used as a bed and breakfast inn and wedding venue. When that venture failed, the nearby church bought it out of foreclosure.
There are 1.23 acres that go with the house, which has over 5,000 square feet.
The house looks much as it did when it was occupied by the Dent family, with the same staircase, large, high-ceilinged rooms and over-sized windows.
Attorney King says, "The Cravens House was burned during the war and rebuilt. We have Brown's Tavern, which has been sold to a developer. There's an old house on Snow Hill Road that is in a bombed-out condition. But this is the real thing. It's still in great shape."
The property is being marketed by the Raines Group at 240-4210.
Those interested in the church benches should call the church at 892-2888.