Building Description Woodlane Plantation, Eufaula Alabama
Located 3 miles south of Eufaula on Highway 431, Woodlane Plantation contains a main house, secondary residence, two garages, a large open shed, a barn, and a tobacco-curing shed, reflecting the continued use of the property as an agricultural enterprise sincethe 1850s. Originally consisting of over 2400 acres, today, the plantation contains 124 acres of timberland, pasture, fields for cotton and peanuts, and swampy wetlands. A 2-acre lake is located on the property as well as a pecan grove consisting of approximately fifty trees. The majority of the crop and pasture lands are located west of the main house. Land on either side of the main drive is devoted to stands of pine trees. The secondary residence and a garage are located north of the main entrance drive, approximately 500 ft west of the main entrance. The majority of the cropland, approximately 80 acres, is located to the west and northwest of the main house. Storage sheds and barns are located to the extreme norm of the property, adjacent to planting fields. The pecan grove lies to the north, between the main house and agricultural fields.
Facing east and resting at the end of a quarter-mile long, oak-lined drive, the main house at Woodlane Plantation is a good example of a mid-19th century Greek Revival plantation dwelling. The main house is a raised cottage, resting on a brick pier with infill foundation. Originally, the house consisted of a basically square main section with a rear ell that contained a side porch, an open breezeway, and dining room. The floorplan of the main section of the house remains as it did when the house was constructed and consists of a central hall with two flanking rooms on either side. All four principal rooms are 18' square while the main hallway is 10' wide. Chimney and closets are located in the interior of the house between main rooms. When the present owners bought the property in 1944, the house was desolate and in ruins. In the subsequent 1949 restoration, the dining room was retained but the breezeway and theside porch were enclosed to provide for a rear foyer, closets, and two bathrooms. During the renovation, the present owners salvaged as much of the original material of the house as possible, including wooden exterior siding, interior plaster walls, doors, windows sashes, mantles, and wide-heart pine flooring. The interior of the house is embellished with wide simple trim while the mantles feature a flattened Gothic arch supported by tapered piers.
The moderately pitched hipped roof of the main section is capped by a small platform enclosed with highly decorative ironwork cresting. The two brick chimneys are located in the interior. The five-bay facade consists of large, floor-length 9 over 9 double-hung-sash windows with wide cornices. The windows on the facade are 9 feet tall. The central double-leaf entrance contains etched-glass panes and decorative Rococo moldings. In 1949, the original (but ruinous) full-length porch was replaced with the central, flat-roof entrance portico with decorative ironwork supports and decorative ironwork roof cresting. The portico is reached by curving "open-arm" steps on either side of the portico. Original windows on the remaining elevations are 6 over 6, double-hung-sash. On the southern elevation, one can see where the original dining room was connected to the main house by an open breezeway. The original dining room has an interior end chimney and a moderately pitched, hipped roof.
The most significant outbuilding on the plantation is the tobacco barn, the centrd gable roof section was constructed circa 1852. Covered with board-and-batten exterior wall material and capped with a metal roof, the tobacco barn is approximately 30 ft. tall from the foundation to the ridge line and contains a simple single plank entraice centered on the facade. Shed roof wings were attached to either side of the building in the 1940s. These wings each have large double leaf entrances. Adjacent to the tobacco barn is a large rectangular shed with a simple metal gable roof supported by wooden posts. Constructed ca. 1900, the shed is open on all sides and was used for the storage of wagons and farm equipment.
A secondary dwelling is located along the main drive and to the east of the main house. The wood frame cottage was constructed n 1949 and is simple dwelling with a side-gable roof, continuous brick foundation, exterior chimney, three-bay facade, and a central single-leaf entrance. The facade features a bay window and paired 6/6 sash windows. A garage, well shelter, and small barnare located near the cottage. Constructed in 1949, these buildings are simple, wood frame structures with metal gable roofs. A noncontributing garage, built ca. 1970, is located behind the main house. This simple wooden frame structure has a hipped roofand a concrete foundation. Woodlane Plantation contains six contributing resources and one non-contributing resource. The acreage continues to be leased and used for raising peanuts.
