POWERGRAMS

30 18-inch-tall wood molding cut into six shapes high above the hand-cut parquet flooring is enough to entice most people further inside. The sign says $3 for children under 12, but Snead says she has never charged a child. "We feel that if a mother or father brings a child and they learn just one thing, then it's worth it," Snead says. Other than a dining room table and 12 chairs, most of the original furnishings were auctioned in the 1965 house sale but many pieces have since been returned through donations by family and friends. Other pieces of period furnishings are bought through estate sales or offerings. Among the standout pieces is an 1869 piano with pearl keys and maker F.P. Burns' name inlaid on the fall board, which has a card imploring visitors to not touch. "Everyone does," Snead says with a laugh. In the first floor living room, there is pair of chairs from the White House, victims of Jackie Kennedy's remodeling in 1961 but a treasure for Shorter Mansion. A white marble statue known as "The Butterfly Boy" was donated by an Atlanta benefactor who told Snead "you could sell that and it would sustain the mansion for years." The chandeliers in the front two rooms are Waterford crystal. The upstairs is wall to wall relics, from the Admiral Thomas Moorer Room to the Governors' Room to five separate smaller rooms that have been turned into enclosed glass displays of century-old bathing suits, mourning wear, children's clothing and other artifacts experts recognize as the top textiles collection in Alabama. Weddings are a major income source for a facility requiring constant upkeep that can set the EHA back $100,000 a year or more. Four years ago an outside pavilion was built and a small gardening house in the back yard was converted into restrooms, which increased accommodations from about 200 people up to 600. "If you grow up in Eufaula, you probably have your wedding at your church and the reception at Shorter Mansion," Snead says. "We had to have more room to meet the demand." Snead has an assistant and seven volunteers but about 700 Eufaulans volunteer to help during Pilgrimage. She says Alabama Power and its employees "have been our best friend through the years," providing funds and serving on the EHA board. Community support is what keeps Shorter Mansion's doors open for the world to see, Snead says. "Even though visitors love our mansion, they really love our Southern hospitality," she says. Fendall Hall An historic home on West Barbour Street was recently sold to a young couple for $340,000. The Alabama Historical Commission beat those buyers by 44 years, purchasing neighboring Fendall Hall and its three hand-painted mural rooms at a comparative bargain. The two-story house topped by a large cupola was built in 1860 by cotton broker E.B. Young. Its murals were added 24 years later to cover plaster cracks caused by condensation, forever setting Fendall Hall apart from plain-walled homes everywhere. "When the state bought Fendall Hall in 1973, artists were hired to touch up the original murals by D.F. Liefrank," says volunteer guide Brenda Parker. "You could hardly see them anymore at that time but the artists had photos to go by. The murals are the most obvious thing you see when you walk into the house. A lot of effort was made to bring the house back up to speed after the commission bought it." The colorful flowers, cherubs, birds and fruit painted on the walls, ceilings and doors of the entrance hallway, parlor and dining room are considered the equal of any Victorian- era house murals in America. The plaster ceiling moldings are painted to appear as metal. This view greets a visitor's upward glance, but the downward view is equally impressive: a checkered floor constructed with black and white squares of Italian marble. Another rare aspect of the front parlor is the original wall to wall carpeting, pieced together in strips the size of the 19th century factory loom. Tourists here see the first of eight carved marble fireplace surrounds, Baccarat crystal chandeliers (converted from gas to electric in 1912) and Bohemian cut-glass pocket doors. Fendall was the maiden name of the original owner's wife, and the house was passed down for five generations to female ancestors. Original furnishings remaining in the house include a child's chair, a sofa, two adult chairs, granite shelves in the hallway, a large dining room silver cabinet and a mirror and shelf. A circular ornamental iron grille on the ceiling of the second floor hallway allowed hot air to flow to the cupola to keep the house cooler in the summer. A large copper cistern in the attic collected rainwater and fed an indoor plumbing system that was among the first in Alabama. Those expensive features are unused today but still displayed among other aspects that were beyond the financial reach of most people in the state at the start of the Civil War. Second-floor bedroom in Fendall Hall has straw mat flooring and a marble fireplace. Pearl inlay on an 1869 piano and vintage clothing are unique to Shorter Mansion. Fendall Hall was built in 1860.

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