Bride's Hill facts for kids
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Bride's Hill
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Bride's Hill in 2005
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 Location in Alabama
Location in the United States
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| Nearest city | Wheeler, Alabama |
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| Built | 1830 |
| MPS | Tidewater Cottages in the Tennessee Valley TR |
| NRHP reference No. | 86001544 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | July 9, 1986 |
Bride's Hill, also known as Sunnybrook, is a very old and important house near Wheeler, Alabama. It's one of the oldest and best examples of a special type of house called a Tidewater-type cottage in Alabama. This house was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage on April 16, 1985. It was also added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 9, 1986.
The Story of Bride's Hill
People believe that a member of the Dandridge family built Bride's Hill. This family was related to Martha Washington, America's first First Lady.
The house has a deep basement with windows at ground level. This basement used to be the kitchen and dining room. On the main floor, there's a wide hallway in the middle. A beautiful staircase goes up from this hall to the half-story above. Two large rooms are on either side of this central hall. It's thought that a separate brick kitchen building once stood behind the house.
In 1907, the house and its farm became part of the large property owned by Joseph Wheeler. From then on, it was known as Sunnybrook. Bride's Hill is located in a countryside area of Lawrence County. The house has been empty since the 1980s and needs repairs.
What Does Bride's Hill Look Like?
Bride's Hill is a type of house called a "Tidewater-type cottage." This style was brought to early Alabama by settlers from the Tidewater and Piedmont areas of Virginia.
These houses are usually one and a half stories tall. They often have tall chimneys on each end and a roof that slopes steeply. Sometimes, there are windows sticking out of the roof, called dormer windows.
Robert Gamble, an expert on old buildings, described Bride's Hill in his book, The Alabama Catalog, Historic American Buildings Survey: A Guide to the Early Architecture of the State:
:This house was designed using a "double-square formula." This was a method used by house builders in colonial Virginia. It means the front of Bride's Hill is almost exactly twice as long as it is tall, even counting the slope of the roof. Another special feature of this important early Alabama house is the "cantilevered chimney pent." This is a narrow, shed-roofed part that sticks out next to the left chimney. There's also another one behind the right chimney.
