Reverend George Kornegay – House of Apocalypse

One of the least-mentioned art/visionary environments here in Alabama is the one made by Rev. George Kornegay, the “House of the Apocalypse”.


He’s a preacher affiliating with the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and received a message from G-d in 1960 to make his art in order to communicate his message more clearly. Along with his home, the environment he built is called “House of the Apocalypse”. It is in Brent, Alabama.




It’s really a shame, because today so many of his pieces are broken or just missing. It looks like at least 75% of what used to be there is just gone. The whole place has been neglected.






There used to be one piece called “electric chair” or “capital punishment”, which was made up of an electric stove with a figure representing a man rested on the burners. It was nowhere to be found.









The Reverend’s daughter Annie lives at the house now. I tried to carry on a conversation with her, that I knew a little about her family and how the Reverend was her father and had given her this place and that I thought it was wonderful & blah blah blah, but hoo-wee! She does not enjoy company. People who build environments in their front yard 99% of the time want to interact with visitors but Annie is very protective of what her father had built (forget that it has been neglected to the -nth degree) and does not want people coming up to view it. Perhaps she comes across as angry when it is that she is afraid that visitors will take what is left, and her feelings may be rightfully so from what I saw. Such a shame.

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