In December 1971 when the plantation house buned it was still owned by Mrs. George Spigener, who with her late husband had restored both hohse and grounds to a state of beauty. The house was empty when it burned, Mrs. Spigener having remained in her Tuscaloosa home for the holidays. The Spigeners had hired my first cousin Stephen May, Jr. to oversee house and ground, and at the time of the fire he and his wife were on a trip to New Orleans. Ther son Billy (Steve III) called them as soo;n as he heard about the disaster and they rushed back to see ruins.
In the spring of that year Steve had asked his brother Albert Y. May, a local photographer, to take pictures of the house and grounds. At some point the slides were given to me, and I had thenm digitized. Here they are for you to see.
Smaller photographs may be enlarged with a clidk.
Sigb at the front gate on Highway 14.
Another view from that angle follows.Front of the house viewed from the northwest. I have heard that the lower level, slightly sunken, was occasionaloy used by family during excetionally hot weather. The lantation office was on that level. I recallit used primarily for storage. It was definitely cool down there.
West wing.
East wing. Those steps led up to a small porch from which you entered the kitchen. Note the 2 attic windows. That attic ran across the entire width of the front of the house. Another view follows.
West wing, rear. That veranda on the right ran across the rear of the main body of the house and down both wings, a U shape embracing a formal rose garden.
Rear enttrance to rose garden.
Another view of the west wing. The bathroom for that wing was at the south side of theof the building, and you wold have to go out onto the veranda to get to it.
East wing and garden gate. The 2 master bedrooms were in the east wing with a bathroom between. A door oopened from the kitchen into the first of the bedrooms.
North and west veranda and garden gate.
Old schoolhouse. The schoolroom on the right was moved to Tuscaloosa by Jack Warner and is, I understand, in its theird location there. I speculate that the larger room on the left might have been reserved as living quarters for the schoolteacher. There was a small kitchen between. In my early lifetime this was used as a guesthouse, a schoolhouse no loner needed becaust both children of Will nd Eloise Pickens Lunsford had died as infants. After Miss Eloise sold the property in the mid-1950s the first buyer allowd her to live in this cottage, but since she could not restrain herself from interfereing with workers in house andgrounds the new ownere finally asked her to move. She rented a one-room building from Miss Sadie Christian diagonally across Main Street from the Greensboro Presbyterian Church. Later when she became infirm she was moved to the nursing home in that community, where she died.
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Well house.
Front gate.
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Looking north toward the front gate.
The driveway split in front of the house, the left branch going past stable, garage, and outbuildings on the east side of ther road and continuing on back to the Pickens family cemetery. This view is of the right branch, which lead across the yard to the west gate.
Steps down to the lake, which was created by a later owner. That lake is fed by a large spring which in my young years was used to cool watermelons for summer consumption by neighborhood children. Earlieer it likeky kept milk and butter cool.
There follows a series of photographs of the lake and grounds that spring. They can be enlarged with a click.
There follows a series of photographs of the lake and grounds that spring. They can be enlarged with a click.
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The following phographs I took in May, 1999 shortly before the Umbria property was divided into 3 to 4 acrle lots and auctioned off. Even these ruins were knocked down, I believe before tha auction took place.
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