Rose Terrace was built in the mid-1880s by coal operator James K. Butler and was sold in 1921 to Chris Ladd and wife Matilda. The Ladds' daughter Dora married Howard Baker, Sr., in a ceremony held at Rose Terrace. Howard Sr. embarked on a storied career in politics as a candidate for governor of Tennessee and then as an unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. Senate. He was elected as a U.S. Representative in 1950 and served until his death in 1964. His refusal to join the resistance to the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education helped pave the way for the desegregation of schools. The firstborn of Howard and Dora was Howard H. Baker, Jr., who became a U.S. Senator from Tennessee and later served as Chief of Staff for President Ronald Reagan and as the United States Ambassador to Japan.