Old Alabama Town Carriage House - Montgomery, AL - Barns on Waymarking.com

Old Alabama Town covers some four blocks in Montgomery. It is the home to restored buildings that have been moved to this location to serve as a museum of life in the 1800s in Alabama. This carriage house was one of their projects. Moved from its original site and restored in the 1980s, this carriage house reflects the Italianate style that was popular when it was built in 1855. It was a working building though, as it had room not only for the carriages but stalls for the horses and space for feed and equipment.

The following information is copied from "Old Alabama Town: An Illustrated Guide" by Mary Ann Neeley (ISBN 0-8173-1179-3) (pp. 35-37):

"The carriage house, although symmetrical in shape, bears witness to the period's fascination with Italianate adornment and was perhaps even more elegant for its purposes than the main house. Sporting a low hip roof with a cornice dripping with brackets on all elevations, the building proclaims its presence aided by the original colors: rich chocolate brown with pistachio-green trim. The board and beaded battens add other handsome, decorative touches. On the interior, the exposed mortise and tenon construction (pegged) demonstrates an ancient method. The floor boards, more than twelve inches wide, would quite adequately have supported the weight of the carriage and buggies.

The carriage house afforded secure, dry quarters for the carriage and other equipment, and there were also stalls for horses and the upstairs sheltered hay, feed, and extra harnesses. Stable boys and drivers spent long hours feeding and grooming the horses and polishing the vehicles which rolled out of the magnificent structure.

In 1955, the family sold the property to the Scottish Rites Masonic Order which in the 1980s donated the carriage house to Landmarks Foundation. With monetary support from the Junior League Sustainers, the Foundation moved the carriage house to Old Alabama Town in 1981 for restoration. Chemical analysis determined the original paint colors which make as vibrant a statement today as they did in the nineteenth century. The carriage dates from the turn of the century and belonged to L. B. Whitfield, a local manufacturer of the famous Alaga syrup and Whitfield pickles.

Later sale of the main house resulted in its demolition, although Landmarks Foundation and others made valiant efforts to save it."

Construction: Wood Is this a 'working' barn?: Other (describe below) Other: This combined properties of a stable and an equipment shed. Distinctive Features: Other (describe below) Other Distinctive Features: The carriage house was built in the Italianate style similar to that of the main house. Rating - Please Rate this Barn:

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