Hatton Cottage is one of the oldest homes in Fayette County, the earliest available records show that it was owned by Edmund Winston (who also built “Reverie” in La Grange) and might be the house referred to in a letter written from La Grange dated October, 10, 1835, by James Gilmer and published by the American Philatelic Society in the Nov. 1983 issue: “Six years ago there was but one house in La Grange, and now it is a beautiful and uncommonly flourishing village…” Sometime after 1855, the house was used as Mrs. Slade’s School for Boys. The Hatton family purchased the house in 1883, and held title to the property for 75 years, hence the name. 

In 1970, Caya Philips of Memphis purchased the home and restored it. During the restoration, it was revealed that the house had originally been a two-room house with a “dog-trot”, for in the west wall of the northeast room were discovered two-window openings indicating that this must have been an outside wall. Mr. Philips made use of the architectural features and created two recessed niches to display small antiques.