A Decorative Ceiling for the Billiard Room

Like most elements of the Billiard Room restoration, the decorative ceiling involved the work of multiple craftsmen. To be specific, it required masters in plasterwork and someone with experience in historic finishes.  

In the mansion’s early college era, decorative elements like the plaster cornice in the Billiard Room interfered with the modern uses of the room and were removed. Fortunately, traces of the size of the cornice remained to guide the current restoration. An architectural plan book from the 1850s provided a period appropriate cornice design. Early college photographs reveal painted ceilings throughout the downstairs. Using the research gathered from the existing ceiling, photographs, and lithographs of period rooms, Curator Jerry Trescott developed a plan for the restoration of this ceiling.  

We knew Grace Abernethy, an accomplished professional of historic finishes, could create a painted ceiling. She started with an 1850s period lithograph to create a design and found color inspiration in the original floorcloth remnant. Gilt work, which was typical of this 1850 period, added a finishing touch.  

As for the recreated plaster cornice, we went to Liddle Brothers Contractors, the only firm in Middle Tennessee or Nashville which still trains and employs craftsmen to do this work. Layer by layer, they built up this substantial cornice – all of plaster. It was fascinating to watch – take a look at the video from our website,  https://www.belmontmansion.com/the-billiard-room 

The total effect is stunning and is, yet again, evidence of how extraordinary this house was in 19th-century Nashville.