Dicksonia, also known as the Turner-Dickson House, was a historic

plantation house A plantation house is the main house of a plantation, often a substantial farmhouse, which often serves as a symbol for the plantation as a whole. Plantation houses in the Southern United States and in other areas are known as quite grand and ...

just south of

Lowndesboro Lowndesboro is a town in Lowndes County, Alabama, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 115, down from 140 in 2000. It is part of the Montgomery Metropolitan Statistical Area. Although initially incorporated in 1856 by an act ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, United States. Dating back to 1830, it was destroyed by fire twice. The house was recorded by the

Historic American Buildings Survey The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

in 1934 and the ruins were later featured in the 1993 book ''Silent in the Land''. For the May 1999 issue of Vanity Fair magazine,

Annie Leibovitz Anna-Lou Leibovitz ( ; born October 2, 1949) is an American Portrait photography, portrait photographer best known for her portraits, particularly of celebrities, which often feature subjects in intimate settings and poses. Leibovitz's Polaroid ...

did a photo shoot of

Natalie Portman Natalie Hershlag{{efn, Some Hebrew sources claim that her birth name was "Neta-Lee Hershleg" ({{langx, he, נטע-לי הרשלג) and later, her first name was Americanized to "Natalie". {{Cite news , last=Shamir , first=Oron , date=August ...

at the ruins on February 7, 1999.

Construction and history

Dicksonia was originally a two-story house with a small one-story

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

in front, built in 1830 by David White. But, in 1856, the house was purchased by Wiley Turner, who hired an architect to remodel the house into a

Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

mansion, very similar in appearance to nearby Meadowlawn. The front porch was removed and a monumental two-story portico extending around two sides of the house was added, supported by twelve fluted Doric columns. Elaborate cornice brackets, reflecting an

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

influence, met at the roof line. The architecture of the house was also noted to show a

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

influence. Banisters of intricate design framed the porticoes. The front door had sidelights and an overhead transom. The door upstairs, also with sidelights, opened onto a

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.05%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4.5%), or 0.25 for low carbon "mild" steel. Wrought iron is manufactured by heating and melting high carbon cast iron in an ...

balcony directly over the front door. A side balcony of wooden banisters adorned the upstairs on the west side of the house. A central hall ran the length of the house, with a staircase leading to the second floor. Sometime before 1900, the separate kitchen was added to the house proper. Water was supplied by a

windmill A windmill is a machine operated by the force of wind acting on vanes or sails to mill grain (gristmills), pump water, generate electricity, or drive other machinery. Windmills were used throughout the high medieval and early modern period ...

at this time.”Lowndesboro's Picturesque Legacies”, compiled by the Lowndesboro Heritage Society, (1994) Shem Arthur Tyson and his wife Mary (Toler) Tyson bought the house and land, known as the "Turner Home Track," from the Wiley Turner family. On November 29, 1901, the house and of land was sold to Robert Stiles Dickson, who named the mansion Dicksonia.

Destruction

The first Dicksonia, built of wood, burned in 1939. It was replaced by a cast-

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

and steel replica in 1940. The rebuilt house had the same floor-plan as the first, with one difference. This time the monumental portico was rebuilt only across the front, instead of two sides of the house, due to the high cost of producing monumental Doric columns in concrete at the time. Although intended to be

fireproof Fireproofing is rendering something ( structures, materials, etc.) resistant to fire, or incombustible; or material for use in making anything fire-proof. It is a passive fire protection measure. "Fireproof" or "fireproofing" can be used as a ...

, the second incarnation of Dicksonia burned in 1964. This time the family could not rebuild it, due to extreme heat damage to the foundation. The empty shell and columns were left as a picturesque

ivy ''Hedera'', commonly called ivy (plural ivies), is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to Western Europe, Central Europe, Southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern ...

-covered ruin, on private property without public access.

Recent Events

The property is now available to the public on a limited basis. The current owner, Dorothy Dickson Skipper, has made significant improvements to the grounds and visibility of the building proper. Dicksonia Plantation is being advertised as a historical rental venue at Dorothy Skipper Rental, LLC on Facebook, with current photos. In 2015 a beautiful family wedding was held in front of the building, and numerous photo shoots have taken place since the improvements.https://www.facebook.com/DorothySkipperRentalLLC

References

{{Reflist Greek Revival houses in Alabama Plantation houses in Alabama Houses in Lowndes County, Alabama Demolished buildings and structures in Alabama 1830 establishments in Alabama Burned houses in the United States Houses completed in 1830 1939 disestablishments in Alabama Rebuilt buildings and structures in Alabama Houses completed in 1940 1940 establishments in Alabama 1964 disestablishments in Alabama Ruined houses Ruins in the United States