1890 Historical House - Greenville, Alabama

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1890 HISTORICAL HOUSE
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GREENVILLE, ALABAMA
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Southern Accents Mission Statement
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Southern Accents Architectural Antiques mission is to rescue,
restore, and protect architectural elements of historical
significance. It is never our mission to tear down or demolish any
historical structure. We only come on the scene after a structure
has been scheduled for demolition by the property owner. We are
the guys you WANT to see before the bulldozers move in. Our
goal with any salvage operation is to safely remove any and all
architectural elements that can be re-purposed and recycled. We
view each salvage operation as a rescue mission. Even when a
property can not be saved, many elements from the interior and
exterior can be salvaged and given a new life. Preserving a piece
of history for future generations is a mission that we take
seriously.!
Although Southern Accents is a salvage company, we also view
ourselves as preservationists. In our continued preservation
efforts, we have embarked on a process of documenting some of
our salvage missions. Our goal in documenting a structure that
we salvage is to record its history, therefore preserving its
memory for future generations. We do this by having our in
house photographer document the salvage project through
photographs. Our in house architect takes measurements and
draws out blueprints. We also work to gather as much historical
data as is available. All information is then gathered, organized,
and published online and in print form.!
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1890’s House - Greenville, Alabama
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April 2014 took Southern Accents to Greenville, Alabama to this
fantastic 1890′s house. The house, which had been vacant for a
few years, featured some of the very best craftsmanship that we
have seen to date. Amongst the dust, chippy paint, and attic full
of bats, were splendid columns topped with spectacular plaster
ionic capitals, tiled fireplaces with white oak and mahogany
mantels, cast iron surrounds, large solid wood doors and
diamond paned windows just waiting to be rescued! And the
wood… from the sky blue bead board on the porch ceiling to the
magnificent heart pine flooring, the wood that lay in this house
was simply amazing!!
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Every salvage mission that we embark on is different from the
one before. Old houses especially seem to speak to us, each one in
it’s own unique voice, as if it has a story to tell. Upon entering this
house, each of our team members felt a sense of peace. This
particular house gave off a “happy” vibe. While salvaging the
property, we had the opportunity to visit with two sisters who
grew up in the house. As they walked with us through each room,
they fondly shared with us some of their memories. They
remembered moving in to the house as young children. Their
parents had reached an agreement with the owner, an elderly
widower who needed someone to assist in taking care of him. The
couple and their four young daughters lived in the three bedroom
one bath house and, in return, they cared for the owner until his
death. Not having any family to leave the house to, the owner
sold the property to the family for $10 before his passing.
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While this house is one that we would love to have seen restored,
we are thankful to have been given the opportunity to salvage all
the beautiful architectural elements from the house before it was
taken down.
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Front Porch Ceiling Blues
As we began tearing out the beautiful powder blue porch ceiling from this
house we decided to do a little research as to why so many porch ceilings,
specifically in the South, are painted blue. In our research we uncovered
three very interesting theories!!
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1) The tradition of painting porch ceilings the color blue seems to
have originated in the South as a spiritual and cultural custom.
Folk lore states that the blue color was first used by African slaves
to secure the entry of their homes. This color was supposed to
protect both their home and it’s inhabitants from “haints.” Haints
are restless spirits of the dead who have not moved on from this
physical world. The belief was that the color blue represented
water, which spirits could not cross over. Not only were the porch
ceilings painted blue, but often the frames of doors and windows
as well. It was also believed that the blue color extended the
daylight hours, thus scaring away the evil spirits. Southerners
specifically have held to this tradition through the years. In the
South Carolina Lowcountry, there is a name for the specific color
of blue used on the porch ceilings. It is called “haint blue.”!
2) Another widely held belief was that the blue color repelled
insects. For years, many believed that the light blue color fooled
the insects into thinking that the porch ceiling was the sky, thus
preventing them from nesting there. Although there is no
evidence to indicate that this was sound reasoning, the blue color
paint contained lye, which is a known insect repellent. The lye
paint would fade quickly so the wood was supposed to be
repainted every year. It is feasible that the lye in the paint acted as
an insecticide that helped ward off bugs and spiders, thus giving
credibility to this theory.!
3) The blue porch ceilings are especially common to Victorian
houses, which are known for using the soft color tones of nature.
Soft shades of blue have a calming effect which lends itself
perfectly to what was typically everyone’s favorite spot in the
house… the front porch!!
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Although we will never know for sure why porch ceilings are
painted blue, this wood was gorgeous and the beautiful blue
color made for a very interesting story. This wood was salvaged
and delivered to our wood warehouse where it was de-nailed and
made ready for it’s next purpose.
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Greenville House Blueprints
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As part of our documentation process, Southern Accents had our
in house architect take detailed measurements of the Greenville
house before the salvage process began. Using these
measurements, our architect was able to draw a set of blueprints
that we have included in this document. These blueprints will
help preserve both the history and the memory of this house for
future generations. 9
Front View
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Back View
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Longitudinal View
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Longitudinal View
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Floor Plan
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Details
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All of the magnificent columns and capitals were salvaged as well as all
exterior doors.
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The tin spire was salvaged from the 1890’s house.
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All of the interior doors and hardware were rescued from this beautiful
house.
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This is one of the six fireplace mantels that were salvaged. Every mantel
had a tile face surrounding the firebox. The tiles were also saved!
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Bath fixtures, wainscoting and baseboards are all pieces that we try to
rescue while on a salvage mission.
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The interior columns and wood flooring throughout the house were in
incredible shape.!
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Salvaging a historical structure is both exhilarating and sorrowful. A
project of this magnitude takes a full crew working from sun up till sun
down for as many days as we are allowed on the property. Most often we
are only given a few days, at times as little as a few hours, to pull what we
can and get out. Some times we are there to witness the final destruction of
the property, often times not. While we aren’t able to save and renovate
these old buildings, we will continue our mission to rescue the architectural
artifacts. Our hope is that in doing so, we can salvage a piece of history as
well as contribute to the sustainability of our planet.!
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Pictures and blueprints by John Rodriguez
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