Unusual features for a home of that era include a French marble fountain in the front yard and colorful European flashed glass around the front door. The house contains three parlors and three bedrooms but no kitchen because Smith and his family always ate at the school. Nestled among rolling hills in a peaceful rural setting, this National Historic Landmark was built about 1845. It contains museum quality furnishings typical of a mid 19th century home. Beautiful gardens and an ice house, smoke house, and carriage house are on the grounds.
Lunch is served on the courtyard or verandah, weather permitting, or in a formal dining room.
From April to October an interpretive farm tour showing plantation life during the 1840s is available. Rippavilla Plantation was built in 1851 by Nathaniel F. Cheairs and is now restored to its 1860 splendor. Located in Spring Hill, which is now the home of the Saturn automobile plant, Rippavilla is deeply imbedded in Civil War history. Visitors can see heirlooms of the period in this classic Greek revival home. Special events in Maury County include the Spring Tour of Homes in May, the Majestic Middle Tennessee Fall Tour during the last weekend in September, and the Tennessee Plantation Christmas Tour during the first weekend in December.