Even though I’ve never lived in an old home, I really love to tour them and have done my fair share over the years. All the way from Charleston to Savannah, the old plantations and homes of yesteryear have caught my eye for many years. It’s so dreamy to walk through these homes and wonder how it used to be. I definitely have a fascination for old homes. 
Eutaw, AL is in Greene County, named for Revolutionary War Hero, Gen. Nathanial Greene, who drove the British from the Southeast. I had never been down there before. It’s about 30 miles from Tuscaloosa and they’ve been hosting this Historic Home tour for many years.
From the Greene County brochure: Take a step back in time and experience some of the elegance and grandeur of this historic town. At the height of the South’s “Golden Era” 1840-1860, Eutaw was known across the nation as a cultured, elegant community. The fact that the county is bordered by two rivers spared Eutaw the fiery fate of nearby Tuscaloosa as Union troops marched south. 
And let me tell you, there are plenty of beautiful antebellum homes in Eutaw. Everywhere I looked on the streets of this small town, there were beautiful homes with history.
Eutaw has over 25 structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places and many more eligible for nomination. The town is filled with many types of architecture: Greek Revival, Victorian, Creole Cottages and many others. 
Some quaint and cottagey and some quite large and mansion-like. Plantation style. Gorgeous!
Walking to my first home tour, this one was nearby. Gorgeous, huh? 
So, come along with me to Eutaw. I took a LOT of pics of some of the homes that I got to tour, so I’ll be sharing them a post at a time. A special thanks to Ellen Banks who invited me to come to the Eutaw Tour of homes. I had a blast! 
First stop was the Presbyterian Church in Eutaw. 
This building dates back to 1851. 
A beautiful and majestic structure.
Come in side and see the sanctuary.
Flowers greet us in the foyer. 
Down the street to the first home, this is a one-story Victorian owned by Jimmy and Carole Fleming. It’s a beautiful home with extensive renovations in the kitchen and master bedroom and bath. Wait til you see the kitchen!
This porch is just wonderful and I’ve always dreamed of a big porch like this.
With beautiful fretwork to show off, it’s a beauty of a home. 
Inside the foyer, this pretty piece welcomes with a beautiful flower arrangement. One of my readers mentioned this in the comments, but see those pretty red flowers above? Those were growing all over town in clumps. I did ask about them, but now can’t remember what they are called, so I will find out and add it later. Never seen them either, but they were everywhere all over town. 
Not afraid of adding color, Carole has used lots of different colors in several rooms. From the living room to the dining room, there’s plenty of room here. They are just getting moved in, so do not have everything in place yet. 
Dining room is very spacious. Beautiful room! 
Peeking through to the newly added and renovated kitchen. Wait til you see that space. A kitchen to envy for sure. 
To the right coming in the front door is this pretty red room, which can be an extra guestroom. 
With its separate bath along with clawfoot tub, gorgeous space. Don’t you love those floors? 
Moving on to the kitchen, this is a huge built-in butler’s pantry. What a grand piece and perfect for holding all those dishes and collectibles. 
Office space to the left and then this huge, gorgeous newly done kitchen. 
I adore this kitchen. It’s just perfect in my book.
Couldn’t you cook up a storm in this space?? 
Beautifully detailed cabinets. Love those handles and pulls. 
Gas range with pot filler and beautiful subway tile.
You can see from the smiling homeowner, Carole, that she loves her new kitchen and I can definitely see why. She showed me all the special features and pull-out drawers that were incorporated into her cabinets. Perfection!
Carole wanted me to be sure and mention that her contractor for the renovations, including the kitchen is Gary Wilson, with helper Jammie Jones. They did a fabulous job. She said that the kitchen and breakfast area were added on and incorporated into the house from an older part and it all certainly works now. 
Looking out the back door to the backyard, more fretwork and a beautiful ceiling. 
They even have a guesthouse in the backyard. How nice is that? 
Her hubby has been collecting old tools and had some of them displayed. They have several outbuildings in the back too. 
Back inside. Love these plank walls. 
This is the master bedroom with a newly renovated bath. And you are looking into a huge room that is now a closet. 
How would you like to have a closet this big? There are built-ins and lots of cubbies for storage that you can’t see in the pic, but WOW. How great is that? 
Master bath is now plenty big and beautiful. 
Nicely tiled shower. 
Spacious his and hers sinks.
I hope you enjoyed tagging along with me on this wonderful home tour. I have several other homes I’ll be sharing too, so stay tuned for those in the coming weeks.
Thanks so much to my new friends in Eutaw, Ellen Banks and her daughter, Sarah, as well as Thom Smith, whose home I also got to tour. They invited me for a really special lunch, so I can’t wait to share that with you too. I’ve got a ton of photos to edit and several MORE beautiful homes to share from this pretty little town. Talk about Southern hospitality, they have it down there!
Thank you for taking all of those pictures to share. I don’t even cook and I want that kitchen! What a beauty!
I love house tours and this one was MAGNIFICENT!!! That kitchen is beyond amazing! Love that CLOSET/room too! I wouldn’t have to schlep my clothes all over if I had that!!!:):) XO, Pinky
Hi Rhoda,
I am the Rhonda you met at Jimmy and Carole’s (my brother and sister-in-law) house in Eutaw. Thank you so much for the beautiful photos and coverage of their house! I know they will enjoy reading it.
I grew up in Eutaw, so it was great to see your coverage of it. Your blog is beautiful!
Rhonda
I saw Patti G’s response and wanted to clarify that we’re all right about the name of the flower! Around here we call them spider lilies, but they are also called hurricane lilies. The flower has many names. I googled it and found this: “Their common name in Florida, hurricane lily, results from their blooming period coinciding with the height of the hurricane season. Other common names for Lycoris species are spider lily, surprise lily, magic lily, resurrection lily, naked lady, schoolhouse lily, and Guernsey lily.” Sounds like this flower is a little Schizophrenic 🙂
Beautiful house! Thank you for the pictures.
What are the kitchen countertops made of?
The kitchen counter tops are granite, called absolute black.
Rhoda, thanks for the wonderful coverage of our home on your blog. The pictures were absolutely beautiful and captured the spirit of the house. We appreciate your thoughtful pictorial tour of our home. I just wish that you had gotten a picture of my husband, he is the better looking one. He had such fun with his displays, is quite the history buff and enjoyed showing his treausres. We have enjoyed the renovation and bringing parts of the home into the 21st century. At the beginning of the renovations, I asked for several items to be addressed. These were that I have plenty of light, a nice kitchen and a nice bathroom. With the help and guidance of Gary Wilson, my wonderful ontractor, the house evolved. The house originally had no bathrooms, the one off the red room was added sometimes in the 1920’s. Thwee guest house in the rear was the original kitchen. Over the years, there was a bathroom added off the back bedroom, this was converted to laundry room, then a new bath built and also several kitchen additions. The first kitchen addition being the enclosure of part of the back porch straight behind the dining room and contained a pot bellied stove and a sink. There was and still is a well under the new kitchen addition which is where they would have obtained their water. Public water was added around 1912. The house was constructed in 1896. We removed all the previous additions except for the front bathroom, which we gutted replacing flooring and walls, keeping clawfooted tub, having it refinished, and the toliet, adding cabinetry and new sink. We also added new kitchen, den area, new masterbath/laundry, closet for Jimmy in the area off master bedroom. The masterbathroom took several design configurations with the final one being the incorporation of a store front window from A.W. Smith and Co. This business was demolished before 1969. We have two of these windows, the second will be incorporated into the kitchen area of the guest during its renovation. We also added a 1/2 bath onto the original back porch. The original house was a livingroom, dining room, three bedrooms, front and back porch and center hallway. When we purchased the house with the many additions on the back, it was in the shape of a “U” in the center there was a ground level covered patio between the two wings, this was really nice but we included this space into the kitchen addition to be used as a family room.
Sorry, to be so longwinded but love sharing the historical details of the house.
Thanks again for your coverage, come back to see us, you are always welcome. Take care, Carole Fleming
Thank you Carole, for leaving more details! It definitely makes it more interesting to see your house with all of these details added. Love it!
What amazing and beautiful homes!
Love the pics! You must come see our pics on my blog of New England;
lots of old architecture, churches and steeples. Thanks for sharing your tour.
~ Julie
Rhoda, the red flowers on the halltree are (spider lilies). No, I am not a gardner! My elderly next door neighbor told me. Yes, they do come up everywhere. There are pink ones (I’ve not seen them) and the call those, you ready? Naked ladies. I’m not far from Eutaw, AL. I’m going to take a road trip. Maybe while the leaves are changing. Thanks for sharing this town and all the beautiful homes.
Karen
I love to tour old homes. The details are awesome. You took great pictures. My favorite — that huge closet. The two antiques standing back to back were so interesting looking. Thanks for the tour!
Carole and Jimmy’s house is gorgeous!!! I know how much they will enjoy it.
Deborah
Thank you for this lovely article and wonderful pictures. Carole and Jimmy did a wonderful job of planning these renovations. The house is just beautiful!
I’m late commenting on this lovely home. This home has been restored to it’s original beauty from paint colors to furnishings. What I wouldn’t give to have some of those antique pieces. Lovely. Thanks for sharing.
I really enjoyed this tour, especially seeing the First Presbyterian Church.
My mother-in-law was Anna Katherine Fulton Wilson, daughter of Dr. Robert Fulton, minister of this church for many years.
Elsie–we are related through Anna Katherine Fulton Wilson. Would like to share family history.
Enjoyed Eutaw and wonder if you have a photo or postcard of the old Methodist Church there? My dad was minister at First Methodist in 1949 through 1951 and for the life of us, we can’t find an image of that old domed church for anything! NObody seems to have one. Anyone ever seen one? I think it was demolished because the old dome was loosing glass down onto the congregation….good reason to move on to a new building, huh? Help?!