Sturdivant Hall
Sturdivant Hall or as Watts - Parkman - Gillman Home is a known classical manor house in Selma, Alabama in the United States. There is now a historical museum in it. The 1856 completed building was designed by Thomas Helm Lee for Colonel Edward T. Watts. It was added because of its architectural significance on 18 January 1973 in the National Register of Historic Places. Edward Vason Jones, who was responsible for remodeling the interior of the White House in the 1960s and 1970s, described the building as one of the finest neo-classical mansions dating from the Antebellum in the southeastern United States.
History
The construction of what is now known as Sturdivant Hall building began in 1852 but was only completed in 1856. After the completion of Edward Watts and his family lived in the house until it was sold in 1864, when the family moved to Texas. From Watts the house was acquired by the LN banker John McGee Parkman, of it (in today's prices, 1,034,000 U.S. dollars) paid the sum of $ 65,000 on February 12, 1864. After the end of the Civil War was Parkman President of the First National Bank of Selma. This bank was involved in speculation on the cotton market and amassed huge losses from. The military governor of Alabama, Wager Swayne, was used for the Reconstruction authorities, the bank seize and arrest Parkman. He was detained in the former Castle Morgan in Cahaba. Supported by his friends, Parkman tried to escape from prison on 23 May 1867 but was killed in the attempt.
The house was sold in an auction in January 1870 at a price of $ 12,500 ( in today's prices $ 239,000 ) to Emile Gillman. This was a well known local businessman. The Gillman family owned the house until she sold it in 1957 for $ 75,000 ( in today's prices $ 645,000 ) to the City of Selma. A large part of the purchase price came from a donation by the estate of Robert Daniel Sturdivant, who was linked with the condition, setting up a museum in Selma. The manor house has been converted into a museum after the purchase and received the Sturdivants. The administrations of the City and County and the Sturdivant Museum Association entertain to this day in the house is a museum.
Architecture
The house is a two storey building of brick; these are provided with stucco to give the whole the appearance of stone. The front is dominated by a monumental portico in the style of a Greek temple, its Corinthian columns have a height of nine meters. Access under the portico is also from the second floor of a balcony resting on cantilever beams with elaborate wrought-iron railings. Identical doors on both levels of the front are surrounded by elaborate neo-classical features, full Corinthian columns sit on both sides of the doors. On one side of the house there is a small balcony, on the other hand is located on the ground floor a wide porch that is shaded by a balcony. Both use ornate cast-iron structural and decorative elements. The rear facade is dominated by a monumental portico with Doric columns in antis two. A kitchen, smokehouse and a two story servants' quarters are at right angles to the rear portico, forming a semi- closed like backyard. A low pyramidisches gable roof covers the main building and the two porticoes. On the top of the roof sits a small dome.
The interior of Sturdivant Hall reflects the increasing tendency to opulent interiors in the United States during the 1850s. The ground floor is provided with stucco work and carpentry, the most expensive are the gentlemen's room and the ladies' salon. In both rooms, the door frames are designed as Corinthian columns, sits above a cornice of stucco. The main entrance leads into an L- shaped entrance hall, constructed on cantilever beams stairs at the side of the hall leads to the top. Other rooms on the ground floor are the dining room, the master bedroom and the heat room. Upstairs find a T-shaped hallway and four bedrooms. From there, a further staircase rises up to a staircase landing in Attica, where up a spiral staircase around a central pillar leads to the dome.