The owners of Lansdowne are fifth generation descendants of George Matthews Marshall and Charlotte Hunt Marshall who built the house in 1853 on land presented to them as a wedding gift by Charlotte’s father David Hunt. Charlotte’s great grandfather Robert Dunbar bought the property and lived there in the 1780s and Lansdowne is built on the foundations of his house.
Margaret Marshall Colson (Marsha) will be your primary contact and your hostess. Marsha and her sister and first cousins grew up at Lansdowne with their parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents in the 1950s when Lansdowne was still a working cotton plantation. As children, we played all day in the woods and bayous (the local term for creeks or ravines.) Our family have always loved nature and enjoy walking in the woods and fields, picking muscadines, blackberries and dewberries, and spotting pileated woodpeckers, wood ducks, red-tailed hawks, great horned owls and cuckoos.
Our children and grandchildren grew up spending holidays and summer vacations here and are as committed as we are to preserving Lansdowne for our family, friends and visitors to enjoy. Lansdowne has been open to the public for tours since 1931 when the Natchez Pilgrimage tour of historic homes began.