Bermuda Hill House, Prairieville Alabama

Date added: September 22, 2023 Categories: Alabama House Greek Revival

According to deed information, the tract of land upon which Bermuda Hill is located, once belonged to William W. Manning. The Manning family were early settlers and prominent planters in the Prairieville area owning large tracts of land throughout the original French grants of the Vine and Olive colony. In July of 1845, Manning sold the tract of land to William Weeder of Madison County, Alabama; the deed notes that the lands lie "in the portion of the County of Marengo aforesaid which is known as the French grant and composing together the plantation on which said Manning now resides." The present Bermuda Hill may incorporate the Manning dwelling or may have been built by William Weeder upon his purchase of the plantation. The Greensboro to Prairieville road served as a post and stage road and local accounts of mid-nineteenth century travel in the area mention stagecoaches topping "Weeder's Hill" before stopping in Prairieville. According to Snedecor's Map of Hale County (1870), Bermuda Hill was owned at one time by J. Harry Johnson but was soon acquired by Charles Collins. Collins in turn gave the plantation to his son John Wood Collins and his wife Alice Ashley Jeter. The property today is owned by Mrs. N. L. Liver, a descendant of Charles Collins.

Building Description

Bermuda Hill, also known as the Liver house, is located atop a small hill off Hale County Road 2, just west of Alabama State Highway 69. Facing west, the house originally was located on the old Prairieville to Greensboro Road. When State Highway 69 was constructed in 1962, the old road bed was abandoned and the new road was constructed just west of Bermuda Hill. Today, one approaches the house along the remnants of the old Prairieville to Greensboro Road. The house is presently unoccupied and the surrounding lawns and gardens are somewhat overgrown.

The main house at Bermuda Hill, ca. 1845, is a two-story frame, I-house form dwelling with a hipped roof composed of asphalt shingles and featuring interior end chimneys. The house is covered with clapboarding exterior wall material. The facade is dominated by a full-height pedimented portico with a louvered vent located in the tympanum. The portico is supported by four paneled columns embellished with sawn-work brackets. On the first floor, a double-leaf entrance with full transom and sidelights is located in the center of the five-bay facade. The multi-pane transom and sidelights feature frosted glass panes while the sidelights are located above double-paneled spandrels. The second floor features a double-leaf entrance with a similar transom; a balustrade is placed across the opening. The facade features flush boarding wall material on the facade behind the portico. Windows across the facade are 9/6 on the lower floor and 12/8 on the upper floor. A one-story porch shed roof porch is located in front of the entrance on the rear facade; the porch roof is supported by two boxed supports.

The interior of Bermuda Hill is simple in regard to decoration. The house follows the typical central hall plan common to some I-house forms with a single room flanking the hall on each side. The staircase is located in the central hall, rises along the south wall and turns along the (rear) east wall. The interior features simple flush boarding wall material. Bathrooms have been added to the southern room on both floors and the northern first floor room incorporates a kitchen. A glassed-in utility porch has been attached to the northern elevation.