Linden Terrace was built in 1844 by Frances Shumake, a local Holly Springs merchant who lived here until 1853, when the house was sold to Dr. Gray Washington Smith, a physician and planter from Lamar, who used Linden Terrace as his town house. Between 1860 and 1866 the property was briefly owned by local architect Spires Bolling, as collateral for a new house to be built for Dr. Smith. The Civil War halted the construction of the new house, and the property reverted back to the Smiths.
Between 1879 and 1880 the house was owned by General Henry E. Williamson (1826-1907), who was Mayor of Holly Springs and planted many of the trees around town. The house received its name “Linden Terrace” during Williamson’s tenure here, named after the new Linden trees planted outside the house and the terrace which once surrounded the house.
In 1880 the house was bought by Raphael Shumaker (1842-1924), a prominent Jewish merchant who, with his sons, owned a store on the Holly Springs square. In 1910 Shumaker built an indoor kitchen in the house. The Shumakers lived in the house for nearly 50 years, until 1927, when Raphael’s widow Flora sold the house to the Mississippi Synodical College, the Presbyterian women’s college located across the street. During this period, the bottom floor of Linden Terrace was used by the President of the College, and the top floor was used as a women’s dormitory. After the Synodical College was closed in 1939, the house was owned by a series of owners, including Katherine Mattison (1939-1941), Isabel Tyson (1941-1975), Randolph Holt (1975-1979), Doctor Edward Bonds (1979-1982), and Frank Wallace (1982-1990). In 1990 the house was bought by Jim and Sofia Dunworth, who have slowly and painstakingly renovated the house.
During the late 19th century, the sidewalks outside the house was known as “The Roost”, where young gentlemen would sit and watch the girls attending the girls schools located across the street.
Linden Terrace is one of the last Federal style houses built in Holly Springs. It is a two-story hip-roof brick house, with corbeled cornice and frieze, tripart windows, and an entrance with sidelights and a unique elliptical fanlight over the entrances. The solid brick walls of the house are two feet thick at the ground. The house originally had an observatory with a balustrade and Victorian porches were added in the late 19th century but removed long ago.
Hill Country History 
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