Most of Brookhaven’s business and civic leaders built houses along S. Jackson Street and its side streets. Builder-architect A. E. Moreton lived at 425 S. Jackson and may have built many of the neighborhood’s houses. He bought plans from George F. Barber in order to construct the twin houses at 610 and 613 S. Jackson, both 1904, for his sons. The twin houses (c. 1905) at 536 and 544 ( pictured above) are one-story wooden asymmetrical designs with Ionic porches and Palladian windows built for the Cohn brothers, prominent merchants. Contractor Chris Larson probably built his own house (c. 1897; 427 S. Railroad) and the adjacent R. T. Scherck House (1896) at number 417, both confidently Queen Anne in their towers, wraparound porches, asymmetrical massing, and spindlework friezes.
Timber magnate C. S. Butterfield’s neoclassical revival house, Edgewood (1906–1912; 417 Storm Avenue), is the most magnificent house in the neighborhood. A monumental portico dominates and shelters the arched entrance and second-floor balcony. Inside, a grand central stair hall is surrounded by large rooms for entertaining, displaying a variety of local and exotic woods, including curly pine.
The two-story Captain Jack Hardy House (1870; 205 Natchez) terminates S. Jackson, far enough from downtown to have qualified as a suburban estate when it was built. The brick Italianate house has a one-story gallery with flattened arches springing from attenuated wooden posts and, inside, ornate plasterwork in its double parlor. While Moreton is not documented as the builder, his brick Storm Building (see SC9) is of the same vintage.