Lyon Hall, also known as the Lyon-Lamar House, is a historic Greek Revival

Greek Revival architecture

The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture...

 mansion in Demopolis

Demopolis, Alabama

Demopolis is the largest city in Marengo County, Alabama, United States. The population was 7,483 at the time of the 2010 United States Census....

, Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It was built over a period of three years by George Gaines Lyon and his wife, Anne Glover Lyons. Lyon was an attorney

Lawyer

A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

 and the nephew of Francis Strother Lyon

Francis Strother Lyon

Francis Strother Lyon was a prominent Alabama attorney and politician. He served two terms in the Confederate States Congress during the American Civil War after being an antebellum member of the United States Congress.-Early life:Lyon was born in Stokes County, North Carolina...

, who maintained a town residence nearby at Bluff Hall

Bluff Hall

Bluff Hall is a historic residence in Demopolis, Alabama, United States. The original portion of the house is in the Federal style with later additions that altered it to the Greek Revival style. It was documented as part of the Historic American Buildings Survey in 1936, and added to the National...

.

History

George Lyon began construction on the house in 1850, it would continue until 1853. Upon completion of the house, they traveled to New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 to furnish it. The Lyon descendants lived in the house until the death of George G. Lamar in 1996. The house was donated to the Marengo County Historical Society in May 1997.

Description

The house is a two-story wooden frame structure, sided with clapboard

Clapboard (architecture)

Clapboard, also known as bevel siding or lap siding or weather-board , is a board used typically for exterior horizontal siding that has one edge thicker than the other and where the board above laps over the one below...

. The front portico

Portico

A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...

 features six two-story square columns, constructed in brick with a stucco

Stucco

Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...

 finish. These columns are very similar to Bluff Hall. The upper balcony spans the entire width of the house and is attached to the columns. The roof is hipped

Hip roof

A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...

 and features a small belvedere

Belvedere (structure)

Belvedere is an architectural term adopted from Italian , which refers to any architectural structure sited to take advantage of such a view. A belvedere may be built in the upper part of a building so as to command a fine view...

at the summit.

External links