Tour Guide to the Abernethy-Shaw House

The Abernethy-Shaw house is a private residence but it will be open to visitors during the Annual Talladega Pilgrimage Tour of Homes, a celebration of the rich architectural and historical resources of the City of Talladega, Alabama, April 11th and 12th, 2025.

This year's tour of the Abernethy-Shaw House is themed around the year 1919 when the United States was to fully enter the Modern Era.  The tour will include potential encounters with occupants of the House during the end of the Edwardian Period. 

Meet the Characters Occupying the House in 1919
Go Directly to the Tour of the Music Room and Dining Room
Go Directly to the Tour of the Private Bedrooms Upstairs

The Tour Begins on the Front Porch

Walk between the two rows of box hedges that frame the front steps.  Ascend the front steps and come onto the front porch.

The broad, deep front porch of this Craftsman home exemplifies one of the most important architectural and social elements of early 20th-century American residential design, particularly in the Southern United States. In Talladega, where summer temperatures regularly reach into the 90s with high humidity, these porches served a crucial climate-control function before the advent of air conditioning. The deep overhang, supported by the substantial stone columns, creates a shaded outdoor living space that catches cooling breezes while protecting the main house from direct sunlight, effectively reducing interior temperatures.

The porch's design elements - the river rock columns, wooden floor planks, and generous proportions reflect core Craftsman principles of using natural materials and creating harmony between the built environment and nature. In the Southern context, this porch would have served as a vital transitional space between public and private life, a hallmark of Southern architecture and society.  This integration of functional needs (climate control, social space) with aesthetic principles (natural materials, proportional design) is a quintessential feature of Craftsman architecture adapted specifically for Southern living.

On the front porch you will be greeted by residents of the house and Pilgrimage volunteers.  Here you can receive a brief orientation to the house.  It can be difficult to converse when Lenny DeLuxe is practicing in the music room. But as Lenny plays songs and melodies from the Edwardian era, it can be the perfect soundtrack with which to enjoy a slow amble between the ground floor rooms styled and decorated as a vernacular home in the year 1919.

Before you enter the house you will be offered a selection of pins supporting women's suffrage. Please take one as a souvenir of your visit to the Abernethy-Shaw house today and to the Pilgrimage Tour of Homes.  The pins are recreations of period originals from 1919 and come in three designs.  Please choose one you like most to support women's right to vote. Nineteen Nineteen was the final critical year for the suffrage cause as during the summer of that year national suffrage finally passed through both houses of congress and went on to be approved by the requisite number of states to become the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution.

The Front Hall

The front hall of the Abernethy-Shaw house exemplifies the Craftsman movement's dedication to fine woodworking and architectural detail, while also revealing the transitional period between Victorian formality and Arts & Crafts simplicity. The space is anchored by an impressive bookcase from 1905 crafted from English quarter-sawn oak, featuring geometric stained glass cabinet doors, and bronze and ceramic inlays that reflect the period's fascination with artisanal craftsmanship. The warm tones of the natural wood are enhanced by the wrought iron and glass chandelier and matching wall sconces, creating a welcoming entry that balances grandeur with the Craftsman ideal of honest materials and straightforward design.

The architectural elements of the space work in concert to create a meaningful transition from exterior to interior. The traditional staircase, with its painted risers and stained oak treads, leads the eye upward while complementing the substantial woodwork. The classical white crown molding and baseboards provide a crisp contrast to the rich wood tones, demonstrating how early 20th-century homes often merged formal architectural traditions with newer Arts & Crafts elements. The multi-pane windows, hardwood flooring, and careful attention to proportions all speak to the Craftsman movement's emphasis on quality materials and thoughtful design. 

Details: Front Hall

Over the bookcase is a landscape ca. 1890-1900 of a well-known narrows along the Upper Hudson River.  While paintings like this are often generalized as "Hudson River School" paintings, this work is an example of American Tonalist landscape painting from approximately 1880-1900. Where the Hudson River School emphasized grand vistas and precise detail, the Tonalist movement focused on mood and atmospheric effects, creating more intimate interpretations of nature.

The painting demonstrates characteristic Tonalist techniques through its restricted palette of browns and grays, its emphasis on atmospheric effects (particularly visible in the hazy distance), and its intimate compositional scale. The artist has employed subtle value gradations to create depth while simplifying natural forms, especially in the treatment of the rock faces. This approach prioritizes emotional resonance over precise topographical detail, a hallmark of the Tonalist movement.

The painting's frame is particularly significant - a high-style American gilt frame from the late Victorian period featuring robust rococo revival ornament typical of the 1870s-1880s. Its elaborate character suggests the painting was intended for a formal domestic setting, reflecting the taste and social aspirations of the period.

This work represents the broader transition in American landscape painting during the late 19th century, as artists moved away from the dramatic, symbolic approaches of the Hudson River School toward more modern, subjective interpretations of nature. The modest scale and intimate viewpoint align with the period's trend toward more personal, contemplative landscape subjects, reflecting broader cultural shifts in American society.

On the bookcase is an early 20th century carved marble bust of a woman in Art Nouveau style.  The bust is illegibly signed on the back and  exemplifies key hallmarks of French Art Nouveau decorative arts from the early 20th century.

The technical execution reveals sophisticated marble carving techniques, particularly evident in three key areas: the elaborate, swirling treatment of the hair, the delicate lace-like collar detailing, and the smooth, idealized facial features. The hair especially demonstrates the period's fascination with organic, flowing lines - a direct reflection of Art Nouveau's connection to natural forms.

Looking at the proportions and styling, this piece aligns with the commercial marble works produced in Paris during 1900-1915. The size (18.5 inches tall) fits standard parlor bust dimensions from this period. The base follows typical French mounting conventions of the era, with its classical round pedestal form.

The facial features reflect the period's specific idealization of feminine beauty - note the distinctive upturned chin, serene expression, and softly modeled cheeks characteristic of French Art Nouveau portraiture. These elements suggest possible influence from prominent sculptors of the period like Théodore Rivière or Agathon Léonard, who specialized in similar decorative works.

While not a museum-grade object, this represents a well-executed example of commercial Art Nouveau sculpture intended for upper-middle-class domestic settings. The quality of the marble and carving technique suggests it was produced in a established French atelier rather than being mass-produced.

This sculpture is delicately balanced on its carved marble pedestal, PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH!

Details: The World of Oz

The Hall bookcase houses and displays a substantial collection of Oz Books by L. Frank Baum (1856-1919) and his successors.  These books are notable not only for their stories but for their illustrations in the Art Nouveau style.  The world of Oz is credited as the first transmedia franchise. Baum had not only produced the original books but had adapted the books for the stage and for early film.  .

The Oz books by L. Frank Baum had significant cultural impact during the Edwardian period and particularly around 1919. The books emerged during a transformative period in American children's literature, when authors were moving away from heavy-handed moral tales toward more entertaining stories. Baum explicitly stated in his introduction to "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" that he aimed to write stories that pleased children without the moralizing common to earlier works.

The timing was particularly significant. America was becoming an increasingly industrialized nation, and the Oz series reflected both anxiety about and enthusiasm for technological progress. This is evident in characters like Tik-Tok, the mechanical man, and in the general portrayal of Oz as a land where magic and technology freely intermingle. 

Baum's ventures into film production proved financially disastrous. In 1914, he established The Oz Film Manufacturing Company in Los Angeles, demonstrating remarkable foresight about cinema's potential but ultimately suffering from poor timing and execution.

The company produced several adaptations from the Oz series, including "The Patchwork Girl of Oz," "The Magic Cloak of Oz," and "His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz." Despite Baum's substantial investment—approximately $100,000 (equivalent to over $2.7 million in contemporary value)—these productions failed to achieve commercial success. The company's collapse in 1915 had severe consequences for Baum's personal finances. The failure forced him to return to writing books as his primary income source, producing a new Oz book annually until his death in 1919, partly to service his debts.

By 1919, when Baum died, the Oz books had become deeply embedded in American culture. The series offered an optimistic vision during a challenging period that included World War I and the 1918 influenza pandemic. The Land of Oz presented an alternative American dream - a place where merit mattered more than birth, where diverse characters could succeed regardless of their origins, and where leadership was often female.

The case contains many period editions of Baum’s books, including the last two, The Magic of Oz and Glinda of Oz, the latter of which was published posthumously after Baum’s death in May, 1919.

Details: The Arts and Crafts Bookcase

This is most likely a Shapland & Petter bookcase in quarter-sawn oak from their Barnstaple factory, manufactured between 1900-1910. Shapland & Petter were known for producing high-quality Arts and Crafts furniture in significant quantities for the middle and upper-middle-class market. They had the manufacturing capability to produce multiple versions of the same design while maintaining excellent quality standards.

Shapland & Petter became particularly successful during the Arts and Crafts period by finding a middle ground between handcraft and machine production. While they used machinery for basic operations like cutting and planing, they maintained high standards of hand finishing and assembly. This allowed them to produce quality furniture at more affordable prices than purely handcrafted pieces.

An Edwardian Parlor

The parlor of the Abernethy-Shaw house offers a study in the blending of late Victorian formality with Craftsman-era architectural elements. The room's most striking architectural features include the classical fireplace with its refined white mantel and decorative frieze, substantial crown molding, and a series of tall double-hung windows that flood the space with natural light. The pristine hardwood floors, likely original to the house, create a warm foundation that extends throughout the room, while the high baseboards and picture rail molding demonstrate the careful attention to architectural detail characteristic of homes of this period.

What makes this parlor particularly interesting is how it reflects the transitional period between Victorian and Craftsman styles in early 20th century American domestic architecture. While the room maintains formal Victorian proportions and decorative elements, such as the ornate fireplace surround and extensive moldings, it also incorporates the Craftsman movement's emphasis on natural light and simplified spaces. The room's layout, with its balanced arrangement of windows and thoughtful circulation pattern, creates an inviting atmosphere that serves both formal and casual functions. The selection of period-appropriate artwork, including several landscape paintings in gilded frames, and the mixture of formal furniture styles - from the curved Victorian settee to the wing chairs - suggests how these spaces were designed to be both impressive and livable. The neutral wall color and damask draperies provide a refined backdrop that unifies these various elements while maintaining the room's historic character.

Details: Furniture and Accessories

Charles Locke Eastlake (1836-1906) significantly influenced late Victorian furniture design through his seminal 1868 work "Hints on Household Taste." The furniture set displayed in these images exemplifies the core principles of Eastlake's design philosophy, which emerged as a deliberate response to the ornate excesses of the Rococo Revival period.

The parlor set consists of a settee, an arm chair, several side chairs, and a platform rocker, as well as a small chaise settee which is currently located in the vintage costume closet just off the guest room upstairs. The pieces demonstrate his characteristic design elements: straight lines, geometric carved details, and restrained ornamentation that follows the furniture's structural elements. Of particular note are the incised decorative details, which Eastlake advocated over applied carvings. The upholstery features a small-scale floral motif that which adheres faithfully to Victorian aesthetic principles.

This room setting illustrates the transitional period between High Victorian and Arts and Crafts aesthetics. The juxtaposition of Eastlake's disciplined geometric forms against the rug's organic patterns creates an intriguing visual dialogue between these design movements.

The floor covering presents an interesting counterpoint to the furniture's geometric discipline. The rug displays Arts and Crafts or Art Nouveau influences, with its flowing organic lines and stylized floral motifs. The color palette employs muted grays and roses with cream accents, creating a sophisticated foundation that complements the Eastlake pieces while suggesting the aesthetic transition between High Victorian and Arts and Crafts movements.

The design on the rugs in the parlor and dining room exemplify the distinctive characteristics of Charles Rennie Mackintosh's (1868-1928) architectural and decorative work from the Glasgow School during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The pattern displays several key elements typical of Mackintosh's design vocabulary:

The rose motif, rendered in crimson, demonstrates Mackintosh's characteristic stylization of natural forms. His rose designs, which became iconic elements of the Glasgow Style, typically feature geometric simplification while maintaining organic qualities. In this pattern, the roses are arranged in a formal, repeating structure that creates rhythm across the design.

The composition employs several distinctive Mackintosh elements:

• Elongated oval forms suggesting stems or vessels
• Subtle art nouveau curves in pale blue and beige
• Geometric leaf patterns in cream
• A sophisticated neutral palette punctuated by strategic use of red
• Formal symmetry balanced with naturalistic elements

This pattern reflects Mackintosh's broader design philosophy, developed in collaboration with his wife Margaret Macdonald. Their work formed a crucial bridge between Art Nouveau and early Modernism, particularly in their geometric interpretation of natural forms. The pattern's enduring influence demonstrates how Mackintosh's design principles successfully merged decorative artistry with modernist abstraction, creating motifs that remain relevant in contemporary design contexts.

Details: Stereoviews--Victorian Virtual Reality

On a side table in the parlor you can see the occupants in 1919 are still quite immersed in the happenings of the Great War. Like many, they may have suffered some significant loss during the battles of that war. On the table is the definitive collection of 3D stereoviews documenting events of the Great War.  Issued just after the war it allowed the general public an immersive experience of the realities of combat and the logistics of great armies.  The collection is accompanied by its volume of documentation, citing the source for each of images, the time and circumstances when the image was made.

The stereoscope and its accompanying stereo views represented one of the 19th century's most widespread forms of virtual reality entertainment, allowing Victorian and Edwardian families to experience simulated travel. Edwardians had access to  immersive three-dimensional views of distant places and events from the comfort of their parlors. When viewed through a stereoscope, these paired photographs merged in the viewer's perception to create a striking illusion of depth that made scenes appear startlingly real and present. This technology served as both entertainment and education, democratizing access to global visual experiences at a time when international travel was limited to the wealthy elite. A stereoview collection in an Edwardian parlor, like those found in many homes of means, functioned as a window to the wider world and a tool for cultural refinement. 

Based on historical records and industry documentation from that era, it's estimated that between 3 to 4 million unique commercial stereoview images were produced during the peak period of 1855-1919. The largest producers like Underwood & Underwood and Keystone View Company each created hundreds of thousands of different views. Underwood & Underwood alone is known to have produced over 300,000 unique stereoviews.

Details: The Parlor Paintings

Over the mantle: Hauling in the Nets, ca 1870s by a follower of John of Ipswich. The current owners chose to use the money they might have spent on wallpaper or repainting and instead used the existing wall treatments to showcase their interest in painting.  In the parlor is a mixture of the type of paintings that you might have found in a upper middle class home of 1919.  There is mixture of established Victorian approaches to image making and works that reflect more modern theories of representation, light and color.

Here is an 1842 commissioned portrait of a little girl by Thomas Sully.  It appears in the personal accounts he kept of all his painted works. Sully was the preeminent American portrait artist of the first half of the 19^th century.  He painted everyone important who came through Philadelphia including a number of the statesmen from the American Revolution.  He especially is known today for his famous full length portrait of Queen Victoria in her coronation robes which he painted from life shortly after the 18 year-old queen ascended to the throne.

Like the furniture in the room, especially the Eastlake furniture that was likely the gift of the wife’s mother-in-law, in this parlor of 1919 the paintings are a mix of styles that was often the case in vernacular homes of the late Edwardian period.

This is a pastel by Alexandre-Jacques Chantron (1842-1918)

This pastel shows an interesting blend of academic and impressionist influences, which is characteristic of many artists working in the late 19th century who were navigating between traditional academic training and newer artistic movements. The Bouguereau influence is evident in the classical treatment of the nude figure but what's particularly interesting here is how Chantron has incorporated elements that show he was aware of and influenced by Impressionism and other contemporary movements.

Over the couch between two Louis XVI revival sconces is a large post-impressionist landscape of water lilies by Emile Gauffriaud (1877-1957) .  Gauffriaud was a French painter and watercolorist born in Brest. He enjoyed much success during his lifetime as a regional artist. He was a well-known figure in the city of Brest, his tall silhouette, his wide-brimmed hat and his ascot tie were part of the landscape, because he often painted outdoors. His wife and daughter operated a gallery where they sold his work in the tourist destination of Pouliguen, a place considered remarkable today for its Art Nouveau decor. Because of their restful and evocative atmosphere, his painters are popular among amateur collectors today.

Oil Sketch signed by and attributed to Winslow Homer dated 1880

This painting provides an intriguing glimpse into Homer's artistic development just before his transformative period in England. The work, dated 1880, appears to be a seascape study executed in oils, demonstrating Homer's growing interest in marine subjects that would later become his signature focus.

The composition is particularly noteworthy for several technical aspects:

- The horizon line is placed high in the composition, creating a dramatic sense of the sea's expanse

- The brushwork shows confident, gestural handling, especially in the treatment of the waves

- The palette is dominated by cool blues and grays, punctuated by touches of warm orange tones that appear to be reflecting light

- The sky treatment shows careful attention to cloud formations and atmospheric effects

Given the date of 1880, this work would have been executed during Homer's early exploration of marine subjects, likely painted along the Eastern seaboard of the United States. The most probable location would be Gloucester, Massachusetts, where Homer spent considerable time in the late 1870s studying the sea and maritime life. This period marked his transition from the more illustrative style of his early career toward the more direct observational approach that would characterize his mature work.

The painting's relatively small size and immediate, sketch-like quality suggest it may have been painted en plein air, directly from observation. This working method was becoming increasingly important to Homer during this period, as he developed his ability to capture the sea's dynamic qualities directly from nature.

The handling of the waves, while accomplished, shows less of the dramatic force that would characterize his later seascapes from Maine. Instead, we see a more measured study of atmospheric effects and wave patterns, suggesting Homer was still in the process of developing his understanding of marine subjects. The painting demonstrates his growing interest in the technical challenges of depicting water and atmosphere, concerns that would become central to his work during and after his stay in Cullercoats on the English coast.

Next: Click Here to Continue the Tour Into the Music Room and the Dining Room