Ashley Elkins Oct 14, 1996 Comments

CATEGORY: Pontotoc County

AUTHOR: EILEEN

Bio box

Furr Home

- The Furr home was built in the 1870s by C.P. Mitchell. Historical information states that the home changed hands twice before being owned by William Theron Furr, whose descendants continued to live there until it was sold in March to Patsy and Dale Owen.

- The Furr family was originally from Meckelenburg County, North Carolina, and moved to Pontotoc County in 1840. The family settled on the Yocona Creek about 2 1/2 miles east of Toccopola. William Theron Furr's father and uncle helped established the town of Toccopola.

- Historical information states that the home was once lifted off the ground during a storm and moved several yards south of were it had originally been located, staying intact. It is believed that it was not damaged because it was put together with large wooden pegs.

- The two-story home has four bedrooms, a kitchen, formal dining room and living room.

- The home is not open to the public.

Houses with History

Furr Home

Pontotoc residence owned by one of county's founding families

By Eileen Bailey

Daily Journal

PONTOTOC - Patsy Owen said she never expected to own an older home. But in March she and her husband, Dale, purchased the Furr Home, circa 1870s, from the family that had owned it for more than 90 years.

"This is the first time I have lived in one of the older homes and I love it," she said. The Owens had lived in a modern home in Memphis before moving.

In the past 120 years the Furr Home, a sprawling 3,400-square-foot, two-story white home with teal shutters located on Oxford Street, has been remodeled but it still holds some of that Victorian charm.

The features include such items as bull's-eye molding over the doors and windows, transoms above the doors, tall ceilings upstairs and downstairs, beaded ceilings upstairs and a heart-of-pine staircase.

Owen said that planned renovations include removing carpet in some of the rooms to reveal the heart-of-pine floors and inserting gas logs in some of the house's six fireplaces. All the fireplaces have been boarded up because of deterioration.

Owen said she was also working on filling the four-bedroom home with antiques. Already in place are a bedroom suite and armoire. An antique quilt that belonged to Owen's family hangs over the bannister of the staircase.

The history

Rosalie Furr said her husband's grandfather purchased the home for the family in about 1900. In old pictures of the home elaborate gingerbread molding could be found on the outside of the home. "You wouldn't have recognized it," she said. There was a porch that once went all the way around the home.

Mary Margaret Ferguson, who sold the home to the Owen family, said there was some original gingerbread molding that once hung inside the home as room dividers. Those three pieces are sitting in Dale Owen's study. Patsy Owen said her husband is hoping to restore the pieces and rehang them.

It is believed that the home was built sometime in the 1870s, said one former owner. Historical information states that the home was possibly built by C.P. Mitchell. The home had two other owners before being purchased by William Theron Furr in the early 1900s.

According to information in "From These Hills," a historical look at Pontotoc County, Furr's family originally moved to the area in 1840, settling in Toccopola. William Theron Furr's grandfather and his uncle settled about 2 1/2 miles east of Toccopola. They purchased the property and laid out the town.