The mantels in Homewood attracted much attention because of their delicate beauty and apparent value. In the drawing room the mantel was of white marble, while in the dining room stood one of pink marble with deep rose tracings. Homewood had no historic interest but it was an outstanding example of the advanced architectural ideas of the builders of Southern ante-bellum homes. It was built for a gift from David Hunt to his daughter, Catherine, and her husband, William L. Balfour. The most recent owners, Mr. and Mrs. Kingsly Swan, spared no expense in maintaining this magnificent home and its spacious grounds in model perfection. Homewood was the scene of the famous double wedding so effectively described in Stark Young’s _So Red the Rose_. [Illustration: MAJESTIC RUINS OF HOMEWOOD] _Inglewood_ [Illustration: Inglewood] A Southern planter’s typical home, “Inglewood” stands today as the perfection of a beautiful dream recalled from crumbling ruins of years long gone. More than a century ago this quaint old story-and-a-half house was built by Gustavus Calhoun, who practiced medicine in Natchez Territory in 1829—back in the days when calls were made on horseback and the doctor carried along his miniature drug store in his “saddle bags”. Dr. Calhoun was a friend and contemporary of Dr. Stephen Duncan of “Auburn”. In 1858 “Inglewood” became the home of Edward M. Blackburn through his marriage into the Calhoun family. It has been for many years known as “the old Blackburn place.” Here the last member of the Natchez Blackburn family lived until the old house was about to tumble down. Then the place was purchased by Dr. Wallace Smith, a young physician who came with his bride to reclaim and rebuild Inglewood along the exact lines of its original architectural design. The old gardens of Inglewood were once as famous for beauty as those of “Arlington” and “Melrose” but the gardens too passed with the old families. Doctor and Mrs. Smith are replanting, and are replacing walks and borders of old-fashioned boxwood, everything to conform as nearly as possible to original design. Inglewood, like all Natchez homes, is off the highway, secluded by forests, and only by careful observation can one glimpse the gleaming white outlines of this beautiful old plantation home. The approach to the house is marked at the public highway by a wrought iron replica of the old-fashioned doctor’s horse and buggy. Inglewood is today, as it was originally, the property of a practicing physician’s family. _Jefferson College_ [Illustration: Jefferson College] Founded in 1802, Jefferson Military College is the oldest college for boys in the State of Mississippi, and one of the oldest in the United States. It was here that the South’s beloved Jefferson Davis, who became President of the Confederacy, attended school when he was ten years old.