The original flanking wings with octagonal bays and gable-end balconies represent the concession of the builder to the popular taste of the 1860s.

[5] In addition to their plantations in Mississippi, Pierre Surget's sons owned vast tracts of farm land in Louisiana and Arkansas as well.

After the death of Pierre Surget, Cherry Grove was efficiently managed by his wife Catherine and eventually became the property of their son James.

[6] Cherry Grove is owned today by descendants of the granddaughter of James Surget, Jr., Mrs. Douglas MacNeil, philanthropist and former national president of the Girl Scouts of the USA.

[7] In September 1861, a group of planters rounded up slaves after hearing rumors they schemed to “kill their masters”, and “ravish”, “ride” and “take the ladies for wives”.

Cherry Grove is a one-and-a-half story frame residence set upon a fully raised brick basement.

Each of the flanking wings features an octagonal bay whose windows are set over molded panels and a gable-end cantilevered balcony with the entablature of the balcony roof supported by bracketed, chamfered posts linked by a railing composed of diagonal boards forming Xs, whose point of intersection is enframed by boards forming rectangles.

The northwesterly facade of the five-bay central block is fronted by a gallery recessed under the front slope of the roof, and access from ground level to the gallery is provided by a pair of graceful, elliptical stairways with turned newels and rectangular- sectioned balusters that terminate in a central landing.

The gallery roof fs supported by tapered, paneled, and molded box columns that are echoed on the front wall of the house by pilasters.

All window openings of the house are filled with six-over-six, double-hung sash and are closed by shutter blinds, almost all of which are original.

The interior of this wing has symmetrically molded door and window surrounds with corner blocks, and the mantel pieces are typical compositions of the 1880s period.

This tall addition was added to the tenpin alley in the late nineteenth century and was used by the children of the family as a gymnasium.