Conde-Charlotte House
Encyclopedia
The Conde-Charlotte House, also known as the Kirkbride House, is a historic house museum in Mobile, Alabama
, United States
. The earliest section of the building, the rear kitchen wing, was built in 1822. The main section of the house was added a few decades later and is two and a half floors. The entire structure is constructed of hand-made brick with a smooth stucco
plaster over the exterior.
s of Fort Condé
. The fort itself was in the process of being demolished
at the time. In 1849 the site was purchased by Jonathan Kirkbride from Mount Holly
in New Jersey
and the old courthouse and jail were converted into a kitchen wing, attached to the newly built main house. The residence would remain in the Kirkbride family until 1905, when it was purchased by B.J. Bishop. The site was purchased by the Historic Mobile Preservation Society in 1940 and a partial restoration was undertaken. It was during this time that the outlines of four of the old jail cells were discovered in the kitchen wing. The restoration would later be completed by The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America
.
style and was later altered to reflect the Greek Revival
style. It has a two-story portico on the front elevation featuring brick Doric
columns on the lower level and wooden Corinthian
columns on the upper level.
The house is 45 feet (13.7 m) wide at the front southern elevation, 72 feet (21.9 m) long at the eastern elevation, and 90 feet (27.4 m) long at the western elevation, including the carriage house. The ground floor is 10 feet (3 m) high from floor to ceiling and the upper story is 9 feet (2.7 m) high. The overall structure is brick with stucco, with the front upper portico, rear galleries, and trim in wood.
and urban renewal
. Most of the surrounding neighborhood, one of the oldest in Mobile, was demolished to make way for the interstate project. The most notable section of the neighborhood that was destroyed was the early multi-storied townhouses of Bloodgood's Row along Monroe Street. The new construction left only a small one block section of Theatre, Monroe, and Saint Emanuel streets intact afterward, surrounded by a circle of interstate and its associated entrance and exit ramps. With the foundations of Fort Condé being discovered during tunnel construction, a replica fort was rebuilt on the old site after the George Wallace Tunnel
was finished. The fort is now a backdrop to the Conde-Charlotte house. In recent years the city has made attempts to develop this area into "Fort Condé Village", which has seen the relocation and restoration of period appropriate buildings and the addition of brick streets and gas street lamps.
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The earliest section of the building, the rear kitchen wing, was built in 1822. The main section of the house was added a few decades later and is two and a half floors. The entire structure is constructed of hand-made brick with a smooth stucco
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
plaster over the exterior.
History
The house had its beginnings in 1822 as Mobile's first courthouse and city jail, and was built between the southern bastionBastion
A bastion, or a bulwark, is a structure projecting outward from the main enclosure of a fortification, situated in both corners of a straight wall , facilitating active defence against assaulting troops...
s of Fort Condé
Fort Conde
Fort Conde, located in Mobile, Alabama, is a reconstruction, at 4/5 scale, as a third of the original 1720s French Fort Condé at the site...
. The fort itself was in the process of being demolished
Demolition
Demolition is the tearing-down of buildings and other structures, the opposite of construction. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apart while carefully preserving valuable elements for re-use....
at the time. In 1849 the site was purchased by Jonathan Kirkbride from Mount Holly
Mount Holly Township, New Jersey
Mount Holly Township is a township in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States as well as an eastern suburb of Philadelphia. As of the 2000 United States Census, the township population was 10,728. It is the county seat of Burlington County....
in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
and the old courthouse and jail were converted into a kitchen wing, attached to the newly built main house. The residence would remain in the Kirkbride family until 1905, when it was purchased by B.J. Bishop. The site was purchased by the Historic Mobile Preservation Society in 1940 and a partial restoration was undertaken. It was during this time that the outlines of four of the old jail cells were discovered in the kitchen wing. The restoration would later be completed by The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America
The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America
The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America is an American organization composed of women who are descended from an ancestor "who came to reside in an American Colony before 1750, and whose services were rendered during the Colonial Period." The national headquarters of the society is at...
.
Description
The house was originally built in the FederalFederal architecture
Federal-style architecture is the name for the classicizing architecture built in the United States between c. 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815. This style shares its name with its era, the Federal Period. The name Federal style is also used in association with furniture design...
style and was later altered to reflect the Greek Revival
Greek Revival architecture
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture...
style. It has a two-story portico on the front elevation featuring brick Doric
Doric order
The Doric order was one of the three orders or organizational systems of ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian.-History:...
columns on the lower level and wooden Corinthian
Corinthian order
The Corinthian order is one of the three principal classical orders of ancient Greek and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric and Ionic. When classical architecture was revived during the Renaissance, two more orders were added to the canon, the Tuscan order and the Composite order...
columns on the upper level.
The house is 45 feet (13.7 m) wide at the front southern elevation, 72 feet (21.9 m) long at the eastern elevation, and 90 feet (27.4 m) long at the western elevation, including the carriage house. The ground floor is 10 feet (3 m) high from floor to ceiling and the upper story is 9 feet (2.7 m) high. The overall structure is brick with stucco, with the front upper portico, rear galleries, and trim in wood.
Urban renewal
The Conde-Charlotte house and its surroundings became isolated from the rest of the city with the construction of Interstate 10Interstate 10
Interstate 10 is the fourth-longest Interstate Highway in the United States, after I-90, I-80, and I-40. It is the southernmost east–west, coast-to-coast Interstate Highway, although I-4 and I-8 are further south. It stretches from the Pacific Ocean at State Route 1 in Santa Monica,...
and urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
. Most of the surrounding neighborhood, one of the oldest in Mobile, was demolished to make way for the interstate project. The most notable section of the neighborhood that was destroyed was the early multi-storied townhouses of Bloodgood's Row along Monroe Street. The new construction left only a small one block section of Theatre, Monroe, and Saint Emanuel streets intact afterward, surrounded by a circle of interstate and its associated entrance and exit ramps. With the foundations of Fort Condé being discovered during tunnel construction, a replica fort was rebuilt on the old site after the George Wallace Tunnel
George Wallace Tunnel
The George Wallace Tunnel is a tunnel along Interstate 10 in Mobile, Alabama that crosses beneath the Mobile River.It, like the smaller Bankhead Tunnel a few blocks upriver from it, was constructed in Mobile at the shipyards of the Alabama Drydock and Shipbuilding Company from 1969-1973...
was finished. The fort is now a backdrop to the Conde-Charlotte house. In recent years the city has made attempts to develop this area into "Fort Condé Village", which has seen the relocation and restoration of period appropriate buildings and the addition of brick streets and gas street lamps.
External links
- Conde-Charlotte House - official site