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Enjoy a weekend of good food and good drink in Natchez. Guest chefs of regional and national renown prepare four-course meals Saturday evening at several antebellum mansions around Natchez. Other events include a biscuit bake-off, beer tasting, bocce ball tournament, and brunch on Sunday to wrap up the weekend. Make reservations for Saturday evening early as seating is limited.
Longwood is probably the most famous of the antebellum mansions in Natchez. It is the largest octagonal (eight-sided) house in the United States. Construction of Longwood was started in 1860. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, all of the workers (who were from Pennsylvania) returned to the north, leaving the house unfinished. Dr. Haller Nutt, the owner of the house, finished out the basement (6000 sq feet) for his family to live in. Dr. Nutt died of pneumonia in 1864 without ever having finished the house, and the upper floors of the house remain unfinished to this day. The house was donated to the Pilgrimage Garden Club in the 1970s and is on tour daily.