Altwood is a historic

plantation house A plantation house is the main house of a plantation, often a substantial farmhouse, which often serves as a symbol for the plantation as a whole. Plantation houses in the Southern United States and in other areas are known as quite grand and e ...

located near Faunsdale,

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

. It was built in 1836 by Richard H. Adams and began as a log

dogtrot house The dogtrot, also known as a breezeway house, dog-run, or possum-trot, is a style of house that was common throughout the Southeastern United States during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Some theories place its origins in the southern Appalac ...

. It was then expanded until it came to superficially resemble a

Tidewater-type cottage The central-passage house, also known variously as central hall plan house, center-hall house, hall-passage-parlor house, Williamsburg cottage, and Tidewater-type cottage, was a vernacular, or folk form, house type from the colonial period onward ...

. Brought to the early Alabama frontier by settlers from the Tidewater and

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

regions of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, this

vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

house-type is usually a story-and-a-half in height, displays strict symmetry, and is characterized by prominent end chimneys flanking a steeply pitched longitudinal gable roof that is often pierced by dormer windows. It was added to the

Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage The Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage, commonly referred to as the Alabama Register, is an official listing of buildings, sites, structures, objects, and districts deemed worthy of preservation in the U.S. state of Alabama. These properties ...

on February 19, 1988, and to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on July 13, 1993, as a part of the

Plantation Houses of the Alabama Canebrake and Their Associated Outbuildings Multiple Property Submission The Plantation Houses of the Alabama Canebrake and Their Associated Outbuildings Multiple Property Submission is a multiple property submission of properties that were together listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The multiple prope ...

References

National Register of Historic Places in Marengo County, Alabama Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama Houses completed in 1836 Dogtrot architecture in Alabama Tidewater-type cottage architecture in Alabama Plantation houses in Alabama Properties on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage Houses in Marengo County, Alabama {{Alabama-plantation-stub