Brief History
Built in the 1880's, the Millsaps Buie House was once home to one of Jackson's most important benefactors. Once a major in the Confederate Army, Reuben Webster Millsaps made his fortune in St. Louis after the Civil War. He returned to his home state of Mississippi and contributed the money needed to open Millsaps College in Jackson in 1892. Millsaps had attended Harvard but wanted to provide a place for Southern men to receive a quality education closer to home. Upon building his 6,000 + sq. foot Queen Anne Victorian on a hill overlooking the downtown skyline, Millsaps settled in Jackson for good. Ownership of the home has remained in the family ever since. Our Visit
We pulled up to the beautiful bed and breakfast late in the afternoon. The tall columns on the front porch are hard to miss. We were greeted upon entrance to the grand foyer and quickly shown to our rooms. We chose to stay in the Observatory Suite($175+tax/night+child charge) on the top floor. The light blue bedroom with 2 queen beds was originally attic space, but the Octagon Observation room was always used by the family to view the city of Jackson. This view is more obstructed today than it was in the 1800s, but the new state capital is easily seen, and the space is quite comfortable. This suite is a good choice if you are traveling with children (Very young kids strongly discouraged here. Our son is 8 though and was made welcome! $15 extra charge per night per child.) because you'll have two, separate TVs with basic cable. The suite's bathroom with its slanted roof is small, but the water pressure in the shower is strong and hot. We looked into several of the other rooms, some of which were very romantic---a good choice for the traveling couple. On all the floors except the top one, the rooms have 14 ft. high ceilings.
At one point we were given a quick tour of the house that proved extremely interesting. We learned about a vagrant who was routed from the property right before it was opened to the public in the 1980's. Apparently this man turned into an arsonist and tried to burn the home where he was scorned to the ground! The fire actually exposed the beautiful, original hardwood floors that had at some point been covered in veneer! Fortunately, the structure remained enough in tact to stay on the National Register of Historic Places.
After a wonderful night's sleep, we greatly enjoyed breakfast downstairs at a table in the library. Elegantly presented in silver dishes were an assortment of Southern breakfast favorites: creamy grits perfectly prepared with just the right amount of cheese, bacon, buttermilk biscuits, eggs, coffee....
Location
Many of the guests are repeat business travelers who return here again and again. However, Jackson tourists will find the B&B centrally located to area attractions. The staff is very friendly and helpful.
We enjoyed our stay.