Have you ever driven by a once-stately, crumbling old home with an obviously proud heritage and wondered why it was left to the elements? Their windows stare forlornly, often hiding ornate trims and woodwork behind them. Inside their walls are histories of dozens of families, including some famous Alabama residents such as F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald and Tallulah Bankhead, who experienced tragedies and triumphs across as many as 180 years.
Alabama is home to many beautifully preserved antebellum mansions from its earliest years of statehood. But for each one saved, hundreds of others have been lost to history.
Today, dozens are at risk of being demolished, or tumbling down from neglect. Here is a look at 10 endangered homes and 15 others we've lost.
Next Week's Odd Travels: Alabama's Existing Antebellum Mansions
Winter Place
Are you a romantic? Would you enjoy having tea in the very room where the beautiful and vivacious Montgomery native Zelda Sayre met the dashing, soon-to-be-famous author F. Scott Fitzgerald?
For the right price, you can. The home where the famed Jazz Age couple met, Winter Place, is for sale.
Joseph Winter Thorington, a former owner of the home, claimed Scott and Zelda were introduced by his aunt at a tea in the mansion's gallery. Zelda lived with her family up the street at 6 Pleasant Ave. at the time, according to a story on HuffingtonPost.com.
Winter Place was built in 1855 for Joseph Samual and Mary Elizabeth Winter, presumably by architect Samuel Sloan of Philadelphia, who designed Winter's first home. The complex also housed the first offices of the Confederate Army.
The property was listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage in 2005 and the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.
The conjoined homes on the property were listed on Alabama's Places in Peril in 2005. Today, the homes are unoccupied but were purchased in 2006 by Craig Drescher who had hopes of restoring the Italianate manor, the "North House," and its "fraternal twin" Second Empire-style home on the property, called the "South House."
Drescher began restoration and installed a new roof on the North House but is now offering the mansion for sale. He did not list a price but invited queries to be sent to his email address at info@historicwinterplace.com. "Much work has been done but there is more to do before someone can comfortably live in Winter Place," he said via email.
Get more information at HistoricWinterPlace.com.
Bride's Hill, aka Sunnybrook
County Road 43, Wheeler community, Lawrence County
Although it is difficult to tell by its fading facade, Bride's Hill Plantation was once a stately home and one of the earliest examples in the state of a Tidewater-type cottage, also known as a center-hall house, with "bookend" chimneys.
The home is thought to have been built circa 1825 by a member of the Dandridge family, who were cousins to Martha Washington. When it became part of the vast estate of the Gen. Joe Wheeler family in 1907, the year after his death, the home's name was changed to Sunnybrook.
It was listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage in 1985 and the National Register for Historic Places in 1986. It has been unoccupied since the 1980s.
Drish House
2300 17th St., Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa County
A home built by Dr. John R. Drish in Tuscaloosa in 1837 is not only one of the most distinctive historic homes in the state, with its mix of Greek Revival and Italianate architecture covered in stucco, it is also home to numerous legends and ghost tales. The home was featured in the late Katherine Tucker Windham's book "13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey."
The three-story tower was added to the home after the Civil War. Following the deaths of John Drish and his wife Sarah, the home was used as a school from 1906 to 1925 and was used as an auto parts warehouse for several years. Photographer Walker Evans took a photo in 1936 for the Farm Security Administration/Office of War that was later displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, according to the Library of Congress.
Elm Bluff Plantation
County Road 33, Orrville, Dallas County
A Greek Revival home overlooking the Alabama river built in about 1845 by John Jay Crocheron was once part of the vast Elm Bluff Plantation. The 2.5-story brick home is now in a state of decay. According to an entry on Wikipedia.com, much of the interior's wood trim has been removed or vandalized.
According to the Alabama Department of Archives and History website, Elm Bluff was used as a steamboat landing hotel in the late 1800s.
Fambro-Arthur Home
Old Cahawba Archaeological Site, Dallas County
The Fambro-Arthur Home was built circa-1841 by W.W. Fambro but a website for Old Cahawba, now a state archaeological site, says parts of the home could date back to the era when the town was the state's capital from 1820-1826.
The website states: "The Fambro house has been purchased on behalf of Alabama's citizens by the Alabama Historical Commission, but the structure is still at risk because of its deteriorated condition. Due to years of flooding and neglect, the tall foundation on which this building rests is shockingly fragile." The site accepts donations in hopes of renovating the home.
Goddard House (aka Oakendale Plantation)
7134 Redstone Road, Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville
The Goddard House is thought by historians to have been built in the 1830s on a 2,200-acre estate owned by James Manning, according to local historian John Rankin. The home became property of the U.S. Army when Redstone Arsenal was established in Huntsville in 1941. The home was moved in 1956 from a site near present-day Gate 9 on Research Park Boulevard to Redstone Road, Rankin said. He helped document the history of the home for the book, "The People Who Lived on the Land on Redstone Arsenal," by Beverly S. Curry.
The home, which is of wooden-peg construction and still has a hitching post, has been called Oakendale and the Chaney Home over the years, but under the Army's ownership it was named for rocket pioneer Robert Goddard, according to an April 1995 Huntsville Times article.
It was renovated in 1995 as living quarters for visiting dignitaries. Over the years secretaries of defense have visited, including Charles Wilson, Thomas Gates and Melvin Laird, as well Secretary of the Army Wilber Brucker, Edward R. Murrow, and film star Ilona Massey.
The house is in currently in need of repair and is no longer used. Its future is uncertain.
James Greer Bankhead Home
U.S. Highway 278, Sulligent, Lamar County
Built circa-1850, this home was built by James Greer Bankhead, great-grandfather of actress Tallulah Bankhead of Huntsville. Talullah's father, William, was born in the house, according to the Greer Bankhead Preservation and Restoration Project.
The home was listed as one of Alabama's Places in Peril in 2010 and the preservation group was formed to help save it. It is Lamar County's only site listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Oak Manor
Alabama Highway 28, Livingston, Sumter County
According to the Encyclopedia of Alabama, Oak Manor Plantation is abandoned. Built circa-1860 in Sumter County, the "I" type plantation house is fronted by a two-tiered veranda and topped by a rooftop observatory.
Rosemount Plantation
County Road 20, Forkland, Greene County
Rosemount Plantation was begun in the early 1830s by Allen Glover of Demopolis. His son, Williamson Allen Glover, inherited the home and expanded it to accommodate his 16 children. The home was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.
It was unoccupied for years and the vegetation was becoming overgrown. However, according to J.M. Brewer of the website PlantationTrail.com, efforts were begun by private owners in late 2013 to preserve the home.
Wesley Plattenburg House
601 Washington St., Selma, Dallas County
The Wesley Plattenburg House, currently owned by the Selma-Dallas County Historical Society which hopes to preserve it, was built in 1842 for Wesley Plattenburg, who came to Selma from Maryland to be a tailor and merchant. He eventually served on the city council. Once part of a vast estate, the combination Greek Revival and Italianate manor is set on a corner lot in town.
The home was named one of Alabama's Places in Peril in 2005. It was listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage in 1991 and the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.
Mansions lost to history
Kirkpatrick House, pre-Civil War, Old Cahawba, Dallas County
The antebellum Kirkpatrick home in Old Cahawba or Cahaba, burned in 1935. Its date of construction is unclear but the site director, Linda Derry, said it was shortly before the Civil War. A two-story slave quarters built by the Kirkpatricks is still standing. Cahaba was Alabama's capital from 1820-1826 but became a ghost town not long after the Civil War. It is now Old Cahawba Archaeological Park.
Cedar Haven, 1850, Faunsdale, Marengo County
Cedar Haven was built in 1850 by Phillip J. Weaver, a merchant and planter. It was listed to the National Register of Historic Places in 1993 but was demolished after 2000.
Dicksonia Plantation, c. 1830, Lowndesboro, Lowndes County
Dicksonia was begun in 1830 by David White as a one-story home but it was extensively remodeled in 1856 by its second owner Wiley Turner. That home, built of wood, burned in 1939 and was replaced by near-replica thought to be fireproof. The home made of cast-concrete and steel was completed 1940 but it also burned in 1964. See photos of its ruins, which are on private property, at AlabamaHeritage.com.
Dr. William Hughes home, 1845, Aliceville, Pickens County
According to the Wikipedia page "List of Plantations in Alabama," this home was built from 1845-50, and featured elaborate plaster work on its interior. It was demolished in 1939.
Forest Hall, 1857, Marion, Perry County
According to the Facebook page Historic Photos of Southwest Alabama, Forest Hall was built in 1857 and burned in the early 1900s.
Forks of Cypress, 1830, Florence, Lauderdale County
The Greek Revival mansion called Forks of Cypress was designed by architect William Nichols for James and Sally Moore Jackson. Completed in 1830, the home was the only Greek Revival house in Alabama to feature a two-story colonnade around all four sides and composed of 24 columns. It was struck by lightning and burned in 1966 but its owners allow tours by appointment.
Mount Ida, 1840, Talladega, Talladega County
Construction on Mount Ida was begun in 1840 by wealthy planter Walker Reynolds. The mansion was struck by lightning and burned in 1956 but portions of its brick-and-plaster columns remain.
Perine Mansion, c. 1852, Old Chawba, Dallas County
Originally built as a cotton factory in about 1852, the massive building was converted to a home by E.M. Perine, a New York merchant related to the Crocheron family. According to the website CivilWarAlbum,com, the home had the plentiful artesian water from a nearby well pumped through pipes installed in the walls of the house, cooling it in the summer months.
Pettway Plantation, c. 1820, Gee's Bend, Wilcox County
The tiny African-American settlement informally known as Gee's Bend was formed of freed slaves and became known for the quilt-making skills of its women. The home built by its white settler, Joseph Gee, sometime after his arrival in 1816 and later sold to their cousin Mark Pettway, no longer stands but the storied history of the community makes Gee's Bend, now called Boykin, a popular tourist destination. Read its story here.
Rocky Hill Castle, c. 1858, Town Creek, Lawrence County
Rocky Hill Castle, an Italianate mansion complete with a free-standing six-story Gothic tower, was built by James Edmonds Saunders between Courtland and Town Creek in Lawrence County. It was used as a Confederate hospital during the Civil War and is the subject of numerous ghost tales, including one recorded in Kathryn Tucker Windham's "13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey." Postcards were even created showing a photo and inscribed "Rocky Hill Castle." The home was demolished in the 1960s.
Chestnut Hill, c. 1820, King's Bend, Dallas County
Chestnut Hill was the estate of the country's only vice president from Alabama: William Rufus King. It was located in a grove of chestnut trees and is where King died. He is buried in Selma's Live Oak Cemetery. According to the Alabama Department of Archives and History, the home was built in about 1820 and burned in the 1920s.
Crocheron Mansion ruins, aka Crocheron Columns, 1847, Old Cahawba, Dallas County
A mansion built by Richard Conner Crocheron, a relative of Elm Bluff builder John Jay Crocheron, was located in the state's first capital city, now known as Old Cahawba Archaeological site. The home, built in 1847, burned in the early 1900s, leaving some of the columns, called the "Crocheron Columns." The columns likely survived because they were made of custom-shaped bricks, according to the Encyclopedia of Alabama, and could not be used to build other structures. Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forest and Union Gen. James Wilson discussed an exchange of prisoners captured during the Battle of Selma, according to ExploreSouthernHistory.com.
The Black Widow's House, aka Elizabeth Routt ruins, 1847, Madison County
Only the foundation remains of a home once owned by Elizabeth Evans Dale Gibbons Flannigan Jeffries High Brown Routt, known as the Black Widow of Hazel Green because she is believed to have poisoned her numerous husbands. According to legend, the home was built on an Indian mound one mile east of Hazel Green in Madison County. "Miss Elizabeth," as she was called in the book, "Alabama: One Big Front Porch," by Katheryn Tucker Windham, was widowed twice before she arrived in Madison County and would eventually have seven husbands, all of whom died prematurely. Since then, the site of the home is said by many locals to be haunted.
The Grove, c. 1815, Huntsville, Madison County
The Grove was built before 1840 and was possibly begun as early as 1815, depending on the source. The mansion on the corner of Gallatin and Williams Streets was likely built by Dr. James Manning and was the largest home in the state when it was completed. Originally, the estate encompassed 33 acres. It was owned by Gen. Bartley Martin Lowe, a cotton broker and bank president known as the "merchant prince" of Huntsville from 1839-1844. Local historian Jacque Reeves said The Grove was dismantled in the 1920s because "descendants could no longer afford to maintain it and they could not stand to see anyone else live in it." The property was still owned by descendants until 1944.
Umbria Plantation, c. 1830, Sawyerville, Hale County
Umbria Plantation was built in about 1830 by Samuel Pickens, according to the Encyclopedia of Alabama. It was destroyed by fire in 1973.
Updated June 6, 2014, to correct spelling of "Kirkpatrick" and clarify the owner of the Crocheron home whose ruins remain at Old Cahawba.
Join al.com reporter Kelly Kazek on her weekly journey through Alabama to record the region's quirky history, strange roadside attractions and tales of colorful characters. Call her at 256-701-0576 or find her on Facebook.