Woodward House, 4101 Altamont Road, Birmingham

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS ALA,37-BIRM,11-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The principal residence of the owner of a major Birmingham producer of foundry iron, the estate is the most fully realized and intact example of estate architecture and landscape architecture in the District. Description: The Woodward Estate consists of a large Italian Revival style stucco residence, guest house, servants buildings, gardens, terraces and drives set on a 36-acre knoll atop Red Mountain overlooking both Jones Valley to the north (in which the city of Birmingham lies) and Shades Valley to the south. The residence, designed by California architect Reginald Johnson contains 22 rooms. Boston landscape architect George Miller completed site planning for the estate and drives in World War I delayed construction as red ores located beneath the estate were mined for wartime use.

WOODWARD HOUSE HABS No. AL-924 (Page 2)

Historical Overview

Allen Harvey ("Rick") Woodward and his wife Annie Jemison built this estate as their family home. Woodward was Chairman of the Board of Woodward Iron Company, a major locally-based producer of foundry iron. His wife was sister to Robert Jemison, developer of the Altamont Parkway and the subdivision of Red Mountain in which the Woodward House was built, later known as Redmont. After a trip to the west coast, Woodward met and selected the architect for the venture. The Woodward and Swann Houses, also located in Redmont, are the most extensive, elaborate and inventive estates in the Birmingham District built in the Sources Consulted Erdreich, Ellen, "The Red Mountain Residence of Mr. and A. H. Woodward," The Journal of the Birmingham Historical Society, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp.