The Trunnell House as it appears today. It has had several owners over the years. In the 1940's the owners at that time bricked over the wooden exterior and removed the front porch. The only thing on the exterior that remained original were the fireplaces on both ends of the house. The shutters and federal entrance were new additions. The present owners have done a great deal of work on the home and most of the interior is beautifully restored. They have been very gracious and have allowed visitors see the home.
The Trunnell house viewed from the back garden. The back yard slopes gently down to a lower garden area with Long Lick Creek flowing at the bottom of the yard. It is a beautiful setting with nice landscaping and gardens. When the Trunnells lived there, most of the food was grown on the premises. (From Lizzies story) " The backyard was more informal as most backyards are. Yet it was pleasantly arranged. Negro mammys scurried to and fro. Each had a task to do. There the washing was done, while the fowls chattered in their everyday way. Below the backyard was a big garden. Long rows of gooseberries, strawberries and grapevines lined across it. Old Ed was our gardener, and he was a good one. He raised the finest celery that I ever ate and many other good things".
The Original Kitchen Fireplace
There was originally a kitchen that extended out from the house with a large fireplace and chimney on the back wall. It must have been a fairly large kitchen with an eating area in the room. The present kitchen was made from a veranda that ran along the back of the house. This chimney now stands 15-20 feet behind the house.
Original Trunnell Bowman House, abt 1940
This is how the original house looked, at least 90 years after it was built. "Lizzie" Trunnell Pottinger wrote her story of growing up in this house from 1849 to 1871. "As I sit here on this dear old front porch I can picture the broad, dirt road that led up to our large two story house..... There was a white plank fence that came straight up to the front lawn and then parted, circling right by the carriage shed and turning to the left to wind by a row of cabins and into the woods beyond. There was an old-style block on the edge of the front lawn where I mounted well-groomed horses to pleasantly ride away with my girlfriends. We children played beneath the many trees through the hot summer hours".
This is another view of the Trunnell house in the 1940's. The fence is no longer there. The Cruise and Gordon families both lived in the house, but more research needs to be done on it's inhabitants and the dates that they occupied the home. It is said that both Union generals, Grant and Sherman, stayed at the house on their march South. Confederate General Braxton Bragg was also there in early Oct 1862.
