POWERGRAMS

33 John Runkle returned to Ozark six years ago after 25 years in Washington, D.C., and now volunteers at the 21-room mansion that has many of its original fixtures, such as chandeliers and push-button light controls. He spent most of his career near America's most acclaimed buildings, yet marvels at the construction details and special features inside, outside and on the 2.58-acre Holman lot. As workers replace a large fountain on the west side of the house, Runkle heads up the front porch stairs between the four massive white Corinthian columns that support an ornate triangular portico. He walks beneath the big balcony resting on the front doorway. The wide central hallway with 14-foot-tall beamed ceilings is a popular feature for weddings and civic events that help fund upkeep and improvements. It has five hidden pocket doors and ends at a stairway anchored by a pair of small columns topped by brass fixtures. On the stairway landing are three stained-glass painted windows. The first-floor library has a green tile fireplace with copper squares on either side sculpted to represent a horse and a mule, which was the original business that fueled Holman's wealth. He added to his fortune with a Buick dealership and the Ozark Cotton Mills. Both rooms facing Broad Street have semicircular windows over casement windows that open to the large white tile porch. Most of the rooms have unique windows, distinctive fireplace mantels and walls that curve at top to the ceilings. The dining room is noted for its beveled and stained- glass windows, hand-painted artwork and original wallpaper. A five-fixture glass chandelier was found in the basement during renovations, then restored and placed above the original family dining table. The chandelier matches 10 stand-alone fixtures that hang around it from the ceiling. The kitchen, butler's pantry and adjacent areas behind the dining room have been updated with commercial equipment for rental affairs. "All of the craftmanship in this house is amazing," says Runkle, noting that an Auburn University expert said the architecture is unsurpassed in the Southeast. Twenty-two steps up the divided stairway to the second floor lead to a massive hallway identical to downstairs, though 12-foot-high, but that once was partitioned off for a young couple when Fort Rucker urged Ozark families to take in soldier families because of a shortage of housing on the post. The right side rooms have been turned into a bridal suite for weddings. The other side is now dominated by the Val McGee Military History Museum, in honor of the local veteran who authored "The Origins of Fort Rucker." The OHA has used $105,000 in Wiregrass Resource

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