Yes, you guessed it, I am talking about the Drish House. I won't go into all the details of the legend right now. Most of you have heard it before, and I'm saving it for Halloween. Suffice it to say, Dr. Drish was a raging alcoholic suffering from withdrawals, and tumbled down the grand staircase. His widow Sarah wanted the candles from his funeral saved for use upon her death. They were stored in the tower, but no one could find them later. Now late at night, passers-by see flames pouring from the tower. The residents are roused, the fire department is called, but there is no fire. The gentle spirit of the tragic Catherine Drish is also said to haunt the home. (But that's another story!)
I met today with the President of the Tuscaloosa County Preservation Society, (I'm interning there now!) and we talked about the house for awhile. As you may know, the house came very close to being condemned a few years ago. It was built around 1825, was sold to another family in the 1880s after the decline of the Drish family fortunes. It then became a wrecking company during the Depression, and then was sold to Southside Baptist Church in the '50s.
The church virtually destroyed the home. They covered it in pink-peach stucco. (I always assumed that was original. Why in the world would anyone have added that later?) They built a heinous brick building literally three inches from the west side of the house. They took down the wrought iron balcony that wrapped all the way around the house. The spiral staircase was torn out, cutting off all access to the tower. On the upper floor, all the walls that weren't load-bearing were torn out, and the four large bedrooms were gutted and turned into eight or ten small classrooms. The building was abandoned by the '90s, and a few years ago it was unwise to enter the building without a respirator. Bat crap was literally ankle deep. It flooded twice because people broke in to steal copper pipe. Hobos camped out there.
It broke my heart to see a building that had once been so beautiful reduced to such. Like Scarlet O'Hara gagging on radishes and wearing the curtain dress. The house was a mess, but still possessed a charm and dignity of a South that died out long ago. I was lucky enough to get a rare peek inside the house in May 2009. The house was finally deemed safe again, and a party was held inside the house which had likely not seen so large a celebration since the 19th century. What an experience. There was a string quartet, servants, top-shelf liquor, a piano, and costumes. (I was one of the lucky few in costume.) It was my first experience in a corset, crinoline, and petticoats. There was a violent thunderstorm, no air in the house, save what was coming in through the open windows. The home was burning up, especially since I could scarcely breathe and there were 200 people there. I acted as Southern eye candy and charming hostess. I was both grateful for and terrified of the wide grand staircase. I mean, at least one man had already fallen to his death there. And he wasn't wearing fifteen pounds of clothing.
It was sad to see that the house I'd dreamed of since I was a little girl was so gutted inside. The plaster work was different in each room and it was done by Henry, Dr. Drish's slave. He was a master artisan, and also did the molding and plaster at the Tuscaloosa Capitol building, the Montgomery Capitol, and several other plantations in the area. This is how Dr. Drish made most of his money, as he was by all accounts, a pretty crappy doctor. Sadly, all that is gone now, save the bit that is visible looking up into the tower room.
The fate of the Drish House is uncertain. Not surprisingly, it's a money pit. However, it is safe, and will under no circumstances be torn down. In all likelihood, the TCPS will continue to renovate and stabilize the home. Then it will be sold on the condition that it never be torn down, and will be renovated according to the historic records. The Society has already done this for many other area properties, and it works well.
If the house looks strange to you, you're not the only one. In the 1820s and '30s, when construction began, the home was built as a large but simple Federal mansion: blocky and square. Ten years later, Greek Revival was en vogue, so columns were added. Then, in the late 1850s, Italianate was all the rage. Determined to "keep up with the Jemisons," Dr. Drish added the large tower. So if you think the house looks like some bizarre architectural Frankenstein's monster, you're right. It is.
Above is a modern photo, and an early 20th century photo. Notice the detail missing from the modern house.
Also, below is the link to historical drawings of the house. It's great that these exist. Someone could really restore this accurately. (By the way, if you're familiar with the building, try picturing it with its original coloring, likely the same slate grey of the Jemison Mansion.)
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/AL0777/
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