Step inside The Towers historic house and gardens and prepare to become immersed in decadent elegance. Take a personal tour with the owners, learning about the mansion’s three architectural periods and viewing owner Ginger Hyland’s vast collections of period antiques and decorative art objects.
Hyland hails from Michigan but always had fond memories of trips with her parents to Natchez to visit friends. Life took her from Michigan to California to Santa Fe before she finally realized her dream of buying an old home in Natchez around seventeen years ago. “This is a new chapter in my life,” said Hyland. “I love the property, and I enjoy showing it to people.”
The home’s beginnings date back to 1790, when it was built in a West Indies-style complete with barge-board elements taken from the river boats coming to Natchez’s port. In 1826, a row of square columns was added around the entire house, and the floor plan shifted to Neo-Classical style. Visitors can today see the original columns on the side and rear porches. By 1858, the third expansion was completed and showcased an enormous Italian Villa-Renaissance Revival façade. The addition included a pair of third-story rooms on the front corners of the house, which resembled towers. In the 1920s, the north tower was damaged by a fire, and both towers were dismantled. They remained down for ninety years, until Hyland renovated the house to its former glory, returning both towers to their rightful locations in 2018-19.
An opulent display of antique jewels and tiaras at the Towers in Natchez, Mississippi
Today, visitors will find exquisite furnishings by John Henry Belter, Alexander Roux, and J.J. Meeks, among others. Rotating collections displayed throughout the home include antique laces, beaded purses, crowns and tiaras, Moser glass, Vaseline glass, inkwells, gentlemen's watch fobs, mother of pearl gaming counters, and unusual objects used in everyday Victorian life. Hyland has also acquired a collection of props and original costumes from Andrew Lloyd Webber's 2004 movie The Phantom of the Opera. Plus, the seven acres of beautiful gardens and ancient oak trees are the perfect setting for twenty-four, life-size wildlife bronzes from New Mexico.
House tours are offered February through November, on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 2 pm or by appointment. The Towers’ special Christmas tour, which features elaborate decorations made up of thousands of pieces of sparkly, costume jewelry, run November 15 through December 31. Tours last an hour to an hour and a half and can be booked online or by calling 601-446-6890. Visitors can also take home their own sparkly souvenir from the home’s gift shop.
