Built by the Lea family, New England-based publishers, the Pillars was the first brick home in Bolivar. The original furnishings came to Bolivar via steamboat along the Hatchie River and may still be seen during the tour. The modest original home was purchased in 1837 by regional cotton magnate Major John Houston Bills (of Hazlegrove House) and was enlarged to its present configuration. There are two additional structures on the property. On the north side of the house is a one-room wood frame cottage with fireplace built during the Civil War for daughter Evalina McNeal Bills (Mrs. Marshall T. Polk) to reside in while her husband was in the Confederate Army. On Bills St. (south side) is a two-story building with kitchen and dairy on the ground floor and cook's room and sewing workroom on the 2nd floor. The old ice house is south of the kitchen and underground. The Pillars features a priceless collection of artifacts and copies of Bills's diaries. This home is the property of the Association for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities (A.P.T.A.).