The Bishop Portier House is a historic residence in

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It sits diagonally across from the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, and faces Cathedral Square. It is owned by the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mobile ''Former names: Apostolic Vicariate of Alabama and the Floridas (1825-1829), Diocese of Mobile (1829-1954; 1969-1980), Diocese of Mobile-Birmingham (1954-1969).'' The Archdiocese of Mobile (Latin: ''Archidiœcesis Mobiliensis'') is a Latin Churc ...

. The house, built c. 1834, is one of Mobile's best surviving examples of a

Creole cottage Creole architecture in the United States is present in buildings in Louisiana and elsewhere in the South, and also in the U.S. associated territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. One interesting variant is Ponce Creole style. Creo ...

with neoclassical details.Bishop Michael Portier House, Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress
/ref> It was listed on 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 February 26, 1970, and subsequently was added to the

Historic Roman Catholic Properties in Mobile Multiple Property Submission The Historic Roman Catholic Properties in Mobile Multiple Property Submission is a multiple property submission of Roman Catholic properties in Mobile, Alabama, that were listed together on the National Register of Historic Places. The submission ...

also.

History

The house is named for

Michael Portier Bishop Michael Portier (September 7, 1795, Montbrison, Loire, Montbrison, France – May 14, 1859, Mobile, Alabama) was a Roman Catholic bishop in the United States and the first Archdiocese of Mobile, Bishop of Mobile. He immigrated to the ...

, Mobile's first Roman Catholic bishop, who made this his home from 1834, until his death in 1859. The house was designed by Claude Beroujon, a seminarian architect and nephew of Portier. Four subsequent bishops resided here until 1906. Fr.

Abram Ryan Abram Joseph Ryan (February 5, 1838 – April 22, 1886) was an American poet, Catholic priest, Catholic newspaper editor, orator, and former Vincentian. An active proponent of the Confederate States of America, he has been called the "Poet-Priest ...

, poet-priest of the South, occupied the northwest corner room on the second floor from 1870, until 1877. The residence was restored by the archdiocese in 1958, and again in 2007. In 1970, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Description

The structure is frame with clapboarding, and plastered

gallery Gallery or The Gallery may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Art gallery ** Contemporary art gallery Music * Gallery (band), an American soft rock band of the 1970s Albums * ''Gallery'' (Elaiza album), 2014 album * ''Gallery'' (Gr ...

. It is one and one-half stories, with a square plan, and a center hall running from front to rear. It has a gabled roof encompassing full-length galleries, front and rear, on slender columns. There are three ornate dormers with classical detail. The center entrance is framed by

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

transom Transom may refer to: * Transom (architecture), a bar of wood or stone across the top of a door or window, or the window above such a bar * Transom (nautical), that part of the stern of a vessel where the two sides of its hull meet * Operation Tran ...

, and side lights.

References

{{NRHP in Mobile, Alabama Houses completed in 1834 National Register of Historic Places in Mobile, Alabama Houses in Mobile, Alabama Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mobile Creole cottage architecture in Alabama