Hawthorne
Wilcox County, Alabama⁞19± ACRES
Beautifully Restored Antebellum Home in Pine Apple, Alabama. One of the most impressive historically significant properties in the Black Belt Region!
- Magnificently restored historic antebellum house on approximately 19 acres, known as Hawthorne
- Located in Pine Apple, Alabama, approximately 30 miles from I-65 in Greenville, AL and 20 miles to the County seat of Camden.
- One of the most significant historical houses in the Black Belt region
- 5,000+/- square feet both Federal and Greek Revival style architecture with 5 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms
- The main floor includes a formal dining room, parlor, library, bedroom, and kitchen
- The upstairs includes 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms with a staircase to the attic with huge floorboards and exposed rafters
- 12' ceilings throughout
- Rewired and replumbed with updated bathrooms
- Frame shotgun house situated directly behind the main house with 2 rooms, 1 full bathroom, kitchen, and wired for a generator hookup
- Extremely private with mature hardwood forest surrounding the house
- Small stocked pond a short walk from the house
- Exceptional area for hunting, fishing, and recreational pursuits
Hawthorne circa 1852
Hawthorne is more than simply one of the most impressive properties in the Wilcox County. The main house, outbuildings and grounds of this country seat constitute a highly significant cultural ensemble for the larger Black Belt region. Having only been owned by two families (the family for which it was built and the current owners that restored it), Hawthorn is the type of property that rarely comes up for sale. The architecture of the main house, thorough-going nature of its recent restoration and history of the property, work in concert to clearly demonstrate why the opportunity of acquiring this place is so very unique.
Hawthorne sits on the edge of Pine Apple, a charming Wilcox County hamlet near the Butler County line. The house is the centerpiece of a pastoral landscape that causes the dwelling and its grounds to feel as if it were in the depths of the countryside. The idyllic park-like setting is enclosed by mature trees and plantings that only allow teasing glimpses of the main house from the road fronting it. After entering the front gates, the first encompassing view of main house is at an oblique angle. The full size of the two-and-one-half-story residence is immediately apparent. Two main rooms deep, the residence is what is called a double (two) pile (room) house. An enormous gable roof surmounts the whole of the body of the dwelling. Federal and Greek Revival features and details distinguish both the exterior and exterior. The front gallery, a two-story affair, features four columnar piers on both of its levels. Between columnar piers are fanciful wheatsheaf balustrades. A pediment with a lunette window crowns this most perfect of porticos. A triple-leafed doorway, with fanlights above it, affords access into the first-story hall. Windows flank the door, as they do the same doorway at the opposite end of the hall. The large, light-filled passage has the aura of dogtrot on account of the twin entrances, only without its obvious drawbacks! To either side of the hall are two rooms. The suite to your left upon exiting the hall has the original formal parlor and dining room. They are connected (or separable if you like) by way of pocket doors that slide into the walls. All rooms feature original doors, mantels, hardware, and decorative features. The two rooms opposite the parlor and dining room serve as a library and a bedroom. The whole house flows so well that each room or hall seamlessly transitions into the next. All rooms, regardless of the floor on which they are located, can be used in any number of ways for reason of their classical proportions, symmetry, and many windows. Two smaller rooms also figure in the plan of the first-story. They are found underneath a shed-roof that extends the length of the rear elevation. Called cabinets or prophet’s chambers, they are situated at opposite ends of an inset gallery. A kitchen is in one of cabinets and a bathroom in the other of these rooms. The house’s main staircase, which faces the rear gallery thus affording privacy for owns and guests, takes you up to the t-shaped second-story hall. Four more bedrooms and two more bathrooms are located off of the hall. Another staircase facing the door opening onto the second-story of the two-tiered front gallery leads to the attic. The huge floorboards and exposed rafters of this cavernous space smell as if they were cut yesterday! The house has completely new wiring, plumbing, and HVAC systems. These indispensable aspects of daily life only enhance the enjoyment of the traditional features and proportions.
While its most impressive architectural feature of Hawthorne, the main house is but one facet of the property’s appeal. Numerous outbuildings are located on the grounds adjacent to the house. These buildings are reflective of the history and usages of the property. The original owner, Colonel Joseph R. Hawthorne, commissioned Ezra Plumb, a noted master builder, to construct the impressive seat at the edge of one of several landed holdings. Tools that constructed Hawthorn are on display at the Escambia County Historical Museum in Brewton. None of Plumb’s other buildings rival Hawthorne. The main house and its outbuildings served the changing needs of multiple generations of the family. Later generations relocated to Washington, D.C., only using the house for hunting trips. The house and its lands were a thoroughgoing agricultural concerns year-round and the outbuildings reflect the uses of the place as it continued to function as residence and focal point of various agricultural concerns. The remains of an old wellhouse speak to the days before indoor plumbing. Similarly, the carriage house attests to life before automobiles. A shotgun house functioned as the lodgings of a caretaker when the family was absent.
Written By: Cart Blackwell
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Bruce Ratliff is a retired elected official (Property Appraiser Taylor County). Bruce brings years of experience in ad valorem tax knowledge. His property tax background gives JKA Associates & clients a unique insight into the complicated tax process. Bruce held several positions in the Florida Association of Property Appraisers, including member of the Board of Directors, President, Vice-President and Secretary, and served on the Agricultural & Legislative Committees for the Association. The real estate business has been part of Bruce’s life since childhood. His mother, Shirley Ratliff owned Professional Realty of Perry, Florida and his father, Buster owned Ratliff Land Surveying which Bruce was General Manager of before his political career.
From murky farm ponds to pristine glacier-cut lakes and everything in between, Knox Daniels’ expertise stems from a lifelong fascination of water and the creatures that live in and around it. He recognizes and helps clients appreciate the value water features bring to a property. “My goal is to help buyers realize and sellers maximize the value different water bodies bring to a property, not only in a recreational sense, but also for social storm reasons.” After extensively traveling the country for collegiate BASS fishing tournaments, Knox graduated and worked for the Southeast’s finest fisheries and wildlife biologist, Greg Grimes. With Grimes’ company, AES, Knox managed many of the southeast’s finest private lake estate/impoundment properties, and learned the intricacies of upscale property management. Learning from Greg and other biologists, Knox honed in on the specific conditions and habitat needed for optimal gamefish growth in private lakes. He has also worked as a property manager on several thousand acres and for a commercial developer, facilitating the dirt work and builds of several apartment complexes, but his true passion has always been in the outdoors. “I’ve always had an insatiable fascination with ponds/lakes and am grateful to be able to help to place clients on the properties of their dreams and make their personal fisheries/wildlife goals reality with JKA.” – Knox Daniels
As a landowner of his own family farm, Lick Skillet, along with family land that has been passed down and enjoyed together at Keaton Beach for 40 years, Jon knows what it means to be a steward of the last best places. As a third-generation land broker with more than 30 years of experience in advising landowners in this niche, Jon is known for his innate ability to harvest a land’s unique intrinsic value. Touting several notable sales under his belt, Jon personally closed Rock Creek/Molpus – 124,000 acres of premium timberland at $142,000,000 – which was known as the largest timberland land sale in the Southeast for eight years running. He is a co-founding member of LandLeader and achieved the real estate industry’s highest honor, “2022 National Broker of the Year – Recreational Land Sales,” by the Realtors® Land Institute.
Prior to joining Jon Kohler & Associates, Walter Hatchett served for 30 years as a land manager to several of the south’s most esteemed properties, including Rock Creek. As a former property manager himself, and a consistently ranked “Top Sales Producer” nationwide and achieved “APEX Top 20 Land Broker” multiple times, Walter has a keen eye for the best in habitat management.
With Madison County roots, Lori grew up on her family farm at Pettis Springs along the historic Aucilla River. A love of the land was instilled in Lori very early on by her father who was a local farmer. Lori understands the importance of good land stewardship and has witnessed first-hand how her own father, a former 2-term member of the Florida House of Representatives whose district encompassed many rural counties of the Red Hills Plantation Region, with a little bit of sweat equity, so lovingly worked their own family land. These are core values she carries with her today, and nothing gives her more personal satisfaction than to represent some of the south’s best land stewards.
Hailing from a long line of outdoorsmen, Tim learned a great deal from his father and grandfather. He saw first-hand what it means to be a good land steward. He believes land is so much more than a place to hunt, fish, and grow timber or crops. “It’s an identity, a resting place, a safe haven and a way of life, said Tim.” Tim’s family ties to Alabama run deep. During his grandfather’s first term, Governor James was responsible for signing into law Alabama’s first state duck stamp which helped to ensure funding for the procurement, development, and preservation of wetlands for migratory waterfowl habitat. He also established Alabama’s lifetime hunting license, so it is no surprise that Tim is an avid outdoorsman with a keen eye as to how best to improve habitat for the greater good of its wildlife.
Jason has been assisting landowners for the last 28 years in Georgia and South Carolina obtain achievements the owners did not realize were possible. His degree in Biology from Georgia Southern stemmed from the desire to know how things in nature work. His plantation roots began at just 16 years old outside of Albany, GA and the last 20 years were spent in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. His entire career has been spent developing a global approach to plantation management. That plan included sales. Sales is in Jason’s blood- his mom had a 45-year career as a real estate broker. After college, he chose to pursue his passion of making properties great. In 2011, Jason sold his first plantation. Since then, he has assisted buyers and sellers with over $20 million in sales while most of that time working as a full-time General Manager of a large Lowcountry plantation. Today, he is committed to using his unique skill set and experience to guide landowners through the many challenges of plantation ownership.