D.P. Montague Had Mission-Style Beauty High Atop Cameron Hill

The Dwight Preston Montagues had a Mission-style beauty high atop Cameron Hill that was outfitted from classical cities of Europe. Several other Montagues and their kin chose the heights of Cameron Hill for their elaborate homes. 

The first Montague to reach Chattanooga was Theodore Giles Montague, who joined with William Perry Rathburn to set up the First National Bank just months after the Civil War had ended. T.G. Montague fought with the 140th Ohio during the war.

T.G. Montague was one of the children of Theodore Langdon Montague and Catherine Stivers Montague. T.L. Montague was a direct descendant of Richard Montague, who came to America in 1634. T.L. Montague was born in Massachusetts, but he moved to Ohio as a young man. He lived for half a century near Pomeroy, Ohio, where he was a lawyer. The Montague parents followed T.G. Montague to Chattanooga and so did five of T.G. Montague's brothers and sisters.

Theodore L. Montague died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. W.S. Marshall, on McCallie Avenue in 1880. Catherine Stivers Montague was born at Homer, N.Y., in 1822, and she also went to Ohio at an early age. She lived for some years on Cameron Hill. She died in 1889.

Most of the Montagues gravitated to Cameron Hill, but T.G. Montague built a handsome home that took up most of the block between Fifth and Sixth streets and Walnut and Lookout streets. It was just north of the County Courthouse. The family had barns and stables as well as the stately home. T.G. Montague had married Mary Thayer of Boston in 1873. She was the daughter of Norton and Lucy Wales Thayer of Boston. The T.G. Montague children were Lucy Wales Montague, Norton Thayer Montague, Theodore Langdon Montague and Mary, who married George M. Guild. 

Dwight Preston Montague, younger brother of T.G. Montague, arrived in town in 1877 following his graduation from Cornell University. He was initially involved in the management of the Roane Iron Company. He was chosen president of the Roane Iron Company after the death of Capt. H.S. Chamberlain. 

Another brother, Langdon E. Montague, joined with Dwight P. Montague in operation of a brick and clay works on the west side of Cameron Hill. The plant produced brick, sewer pipe, drain tile, flue pipe and other similar products.

D.P. Montague in the 1870s lived on Chestnut Street, then boarded with Mrs. S.W. Nicklin on Cedar Street. Later, he boarded on McCallie Avenue. By 1887, he had built a new home at 49 East Terrace. His business partner, Langdon E. Montague, had built at 31 (931) East Terrace, between the Xenophon Wheeler and J.T. Arnold homes. The L.E. Montague home was later occupied many years by his sister, Katherine Montague Marshall, the widow of attorney William S. Marshall. 

D.P. Montague had married Genevieve Allan at Cincinnati on Sept. 21, 1882. She was born at Cincinnati, but she grew up on her father's plantation at Richmond, Va. She was the daughter of Patterson Allan and Caroline Wilson Allan. She attended the University of Cincinnati and came to Chattanooga as a bride in 1882. The D.P. Montagues had three daughters, Genevieve, Mildred and Caroline.

The D.P. Montagues about 1906 tore down their existing house on East Terrace and began work on their "Moorish castle".

The new house included magnificently carved stone around the windows and the cathedral door. They were reproduced from the windows and doors of the San Jose Mission. Prominent arches were a main feature - especially at the veranda and carriage porch.

A porte cochere was on one side of the house and a patio on the other overlooked the formal gardens that were a highlight of the showplace.

The foyer had a floor of Italian marble surrounding a marble fountain in the center. The hall was in white marble with the ceiling laid off in Spanish squares. There was a fountain and pool in the center of the hall where goldfish swam. Marble statues were placed around the home reminiscent of the ones at the Vatican in Rome.

At the rear of the foyer, wide marble stairs ascended and divided at a landing, where a pipe organ was situated. It was the largest pipe organ in Chattanooga and the only one in a private home. This dazzling staircase was copied from the Moorish stairway at the Alhambra. 

The house had about 25 rooms, including an elaborate drawing room on the first floor. A marble mantel dominated the drawing room - copied from one in a palace in Venice. Its walls were of Italian brocaded silk, in rose. The ceiling was in gold. The upholstered pieces of furniture were richly hand carved. 

Still another remarkable feature of the drawing room was the fireplace, which was about six feet high. The white marble mantel was also hand-carved. It was copied from the one in Dodge's palace. The mantel and most of the furniture in the Montague drawing room were imported from Venice. There were also stools of exquisite church embroidery that were copied from those in the Fitz gallery in Florence. A large statue of Apollo was in one corner of the room.

The living room was in the Florentine style with the same color scheme being used as in the drawing room. The walls were of the same shade of brocaded silk. The Italian marble chairs were upholstered in rose brocaded silk. The large marble mantel in the living room was a copy of the one in the Bishop's Palace at Aretzo. There were rare Italian walnut cabinets and two chairs taken from a convent in Florence. 

The library had a green and brown color scheme. It featured Italian silk hangings of green with cream lace curtains, green carpet and a polished hardwood floor. There was a library table and large chairs that were also from Italy and were hand-carved. The electric lamp and bronze statue were Pompeian. 

There was an elegant dining room with furniture of Georgian cherry. An old painting of Queen Anne that had been handed down to Mrs. Montague from her ancestors was above the mantel. There were chandeliers that were copied from old English ones as well as cabinets of Venetian glassware.

Each of the bedrooms had its own private bath with a marble floor. One of the bedroom suites was of Dutch maltresy and another was Florentine with a four poster gold bed and gold chairs. A daintily furnished bedroom was known as the Blue Room. Another bedroom was in green and white with matching rugs and hangings. It was said that more superb carving was never seen than in the Italian walnut bedroom suite.

There was a living room on the second floor with furnishings that were all Old English - called Adams furniture of George IV. One desk was an exact copy of one designed for George IV. There were many old English paintings in this room - some of which were over 100 years old.

Oriental rugs used throughout the house gave it "an indescribable air of richness." 

Nell C. Yarrington said, "Pen nor picture can give an adequate idea of the beauty and grandeur of this magnificent place. The most perfect taste prevails everywhere, and there is not an inharmonious note throughout."

The Olmsted brothers, John Charles Olmsted and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., drew up extensive landscaping plans for the D.P. Montague property. 

The D.P. Montagues introduced their daughters to the Italian nobility. Caroline Montague married Count Nerino Rasponi de la Teste. They resided at Florence, Italy. Their son was Count Lanfranco. Mildred Montague married Major Richard Huntington Kimball.

D.P. Montague sold the clay plant, and it was renamed the W.S. Dickey Clay Manufacturing Company. He continued active in a number of other Chattanooga enterprises, and he was one of the largest landowners in the area, controlling thousands of acres. His property included the Amnicola Farm as well as the Glenwood subdivision.

After the sudden death of D.P. Montague on May 25, 1921, the Richard Kimballs returned to Chattanooga. Col. Kimball, who had a 15-year military career, began to manage the large estate and the Kimballs lived at the "Moorish castle" at 949 East Terrace. Col. Kimball was born in 1882 at Kimball, Tex., the son of a lawyer and planter. He was appointed to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point after he had completed the University of Texas. He was married to Mildred Montague in Chattanooga on Sept. 10, 1912. Their daughter, Mildred Montague "Tweet" Kimball, was born in 1914. During his Army career, the Kimballs were stationed at various points, including Cuba and Hawaii. 

Theodore Langdon Montague, a son of banker T.G. Montague and nephew of D.P. Montague, also lived on the East Terrace, acquiring the former Sam Winchester home. He moved there from his former residence on Oak Street. T.L. Montague was active as a director in a number of local endeavors. He married Hazel Montgomery, sister of the wife of Ross Faxon, who built the home at Bluff View that became the Hunter Museum. The daughter of T.L. Montague and Hazel Montgomery Montague was Hazel Montague who married John L. Hutcheson Jr.

When the end came for the East Terrace, the former home of T.L. Montague was in use as the headquarters for the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Mental Health Association.

The home at 931 East Terrace that had been built by L.E. Montague had remained empty for many years after the last resident, Mrs. Merritt E. Bryan, left. It was also donated to the mental health group by Hazel Montague.

The Dwight P. Montague place, that had been carefully assembled from the far corners of Europe, was put up for auction because so many people asked about getting the handsome, over-sized bricks from the house. The winning bid of $1,350 was offered by the R.R. McKnight wrecking company. McKnight said he had a client who was interested in getting the hand-made, large bricks that appeared to be semi-glazed.

Carrington Montague said the elaborate gate was moved to the Cherokee Ranch property of "Tweet" Kimball in Colorado.

Mildred Montague Kimball, the widow of Richard Kimball, lived at the D.P. Montague place until 1950. The house had stood vacant since that time.