Munroe House

The story

Behind the sketch.

The Munroe House is an early Federal brick "half-house" that has been associated with Dr. Alexander Erskine, although the exact construction year remains uncertain. Its narrow form may look incomplete to modern eyes, but half-houses were a recognized and economical way to build a respectable urban residence. The house is valuable precisely because it preserves that early scale. Before Huntsville's columned mansions and Italianate towers, there were compact, orderly buildings like this one, evidence of a frontier town quickly learning to look established.

Neighborhood

Twickenham

Book location

Page 49