Foster House
a.k.a. Laurel Hill
201 Kennon St., Union Springs, ALNational Register Criterion C. Architecture. The Foster House is perhaps Alabama's finest surviving example of the Moorish Revival style of architecture, also variously grouped under the designation Gothic Revival or Oriental Revival (Gowans, Styles and Types of North American Architecture, 1984.) The foursquare, columned, two-story frame home with striking ogee arches contained within the composition of the portico offers a rare representation of the imposition of the Moorish Revival style upon the sober, symmetrical Greek Revival form. Novelty-type flushboard forms the infill between the arches below the line of the entablature, and according to architectural historian Robert Gamble rabbeted shiplap siding was a characteristic feature found on many antebellum homes along Chunnenuggee Ridge (Gamble, Robert, personal communication, 1997.) The Foster House is therefore considered unique for its accommodation of two distinct architectural styles coupled with the incorporation of a localized vernacular feature. The affiliation of simplified ogee arches upon Greek Revival houses is found at several extant residences in the eastern Black Belt of Alabama, including the Menefee and Dowdell residences in Tuskegee, but only the Foster Home offers such a pronounced representation (South Central Alabama Development Commission, Historic Assets Macon County, Alabama, 1975, p.55, 81.) The origins of the Moorish Revival style in the United States evolved from the Picturesque Movement promoted by mid-19h century architect A.J. Downing, as part of the then-current Western cultural fascination with the Orient. According to family tradition, the residence is thought to have been designed by and constructed under the direction of Dr. Sterling J. Foster (1822-1899.) a physician, merchant, and planter who was one of the early settlers of the town of Union Springs. As Foster was well-traveled and educated he may have been exposed to popular cultural influences from any number of sources, and his reinterpretation of the Moorish Revival style within a localized context makes the Foster House unique.
Local significance of the building:Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1998.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.