Long Description:Cedar Grove Plantation, also known as the Charles Walker House, is
a Greek Revival plantation house located near Faunsdale, Marengo
County, Alabama. It is notable in having been the residence of
Nicola Marschall for a brief period while the Walker family owned
the property. The house was added to the National Register of
Historic Places on 13 July 1993 as a part of a multiple property
submission, "Plantation Houses of the Alabama Canebrake and Their
Associated Outbuildings"
The house had its beginnings in 1830 with the construction of a
two-story log house by Dougal and Malcolm McAlpin, two brothers
from Scotland. In 1848 Charles and Margaret Walker purchased the
property and hired a builder from Virginia, Theophilus Fowler, to
begin construction of the main house. The house served as the
center of the large plantation, Charles Walker owned 154 slaves in
1860. The former log house is believed to have been incorporated
into the main house to become the dining room and a bedroom. The
house remained under construction until 1858.
Nicola Marschall was a friend of the Walker family and lived
with them briefly at their home. The two-story schoolhouse behind
the main house is believed to have been used by him as a studio
during his time there. This schoolhouse served as a school for
children in the area until 1925. The house remained in the Walker
family until 1982.
The house is a two-story frame structure with a gabled roof and
double veranda. It is built in a vernacular Greek Revival style.
The original porch was altered in 1915 from a one-story design with
simple turned wooden columns, spanned by arched latticework, to the
multi-level configuration with paneled box columns seen today. -
Wikipedia