1453 Smolian Place
1453 Smolian Place, sometimes called the Mattie Turner residence, is a 4,208 square-foot 4-bedroom, 2½-bath house at 1453 Smolian Place in Birmingham's Redmont Park neighborhood. The front of the house faces the eastern end of Arlington Avenue.
The home was built in 1926 and is recorded as a contributing property to the Red Mountain Suburbs Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.
The house was originally clad in textured stucco with simple punched openings. The triple arch on the front porch was supported on two spiral columns and a cornice elaborated the edge of the hipped roof. At the same time the landscaping was upgraded with limestone steps and walls, a wrought iron gate, irrigation and lighting.
The house was acquired in the late 1980s by a former Town & Gown Theater performer, who employed set decorators and painters in elaborating the details of the house, enclosing the porch and adding mouldings and balustrades on the exterior, as well as hand-painted murals and extensive plaster wall and ceiling ornament on the interior.
Before 2011 terra-cotta tile roofing was installed on the visible portions of the hipped roof, along with new copper gutters and downspouts.
The house was sold for $313,000 in 1997. In March 2023 it was put on the market with an asking price of $1.05 million, which was dropped to $975,000 in November.
References
- Qualls, Shirley & Tom Dolan (June 28, 1985) "Red Mountain Suburbs Historic District." - listed October 3, 1985
- Clark, Cara (March 6, 2023) "Million Dollar Monday: Home inspired by European honeymoons, Roman gardens hits market." Birmingham Business Journal