This weekend, the Arlington home in B’ham was hosting an event called “Christmas at Arlington” where they had local floral designers come in and recreate in flowers and greenery how past Christmases would have appeared. I enjoy seeing how people decorate for holidays, and we had never been to Arlington before, so this was the perfect reason to drive over.
The only thing I really knew about Arlington was that it is the only surviving antebellum home in the area (it was built some time between 1845 and 1850, and B’ham wasn’t developed until after the war). It is here that Union troops planned for the burning of the University of Alabama.
It’s really pretty:
They had some wonderful hosts for the event. Av carried Shug in the Baby Bjorn so he could see everything really well (it’s Shug’s favorite way to go) and it was great. We had the very nicest older gentleman who was our guide through the front of the home, too.
I fell in love with this square grand piano:
This is the dining room. Underneath one end of the table is a switch in the floor which the person at the head of the table could push with their foot to alert the staff if they needed anything.
The house is furnished beautifully, but none of the furnishings are original.
I couldn’t find a website for Arlington, but there’s a little more about it at the bottom of this page.