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Hawthorne

Wilcox County, Alabama19± ACRES

Beautifully Restored Antebellum Home in Pine Apple, Alabama. One of the most impressive historically significant properties in the Black Belt Region!

Recently Sold
$625,000
  • 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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