The Molett House

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The Molett House The main restoration of the Molett House, built in 1819, took ten years. David and Eleanor

The work continues, one project at a time, as we care for this family home and preserve it for future generations. We've taken on the exciting and nerve-wracking adventure of preserving, restoring, and renovating the old Molette House, which has been in Eleanor's family since 1825. She is the seventh generation Molette that will live in the house, and our daughters are the eighth generation. The house was going to be torn down to make way for a hunting club so we moved it quickly in 2008 to a spot near the Alabama River on family land. We worked on it off and on during the Great Recession, and then dove in full-time in November, 2013. Unfortunately, just as we were beginning construction we discovered the house was in a flood way (not a flood zone, which we could have handled). Therefore, we moved the house a second time to high ground in a cotton field, also still on Molette land. This page documents some of the journey related to preserving, restoring, and renovating the Molette House.

We had a wonderful day at the Selma–Dallas County Historic Tour of Homes Saturday!The weather could not have been better...
23/03/2026

We had a wonderful day at the Selma–Dallas County Historic Tour of Homes Saturday!

The weather could not have been better, and the house stayed full from the first arrival to the last. We don’t know the exact count, but somewhere between 200 and 300 people came through—arriving in small groups, five or ten at a time, just as these houses were meant to be experienced.

Each group was welcomed on the porch, given a bit of the story, and then guided through the rooms by a dedicated group of volunteers and docents who gave their time and care throughout the day. Our thanks to Kent Woodruff for organizing and leading the effort, and to Olivia Allison for greeting guests and setting the tone from the very first step.

What stood out most was the spirit of the day. People lingered. They asked questions. They noticed things. They shared stories of their own. The house was not just seen—it was felt.

For us, it was a privilege to open the doors and watch the place come alive again in that way. These homes were never meant to sit quietly. They were built for gatherings, for conversation, for memory—and for a few hours on Saturday, that is exactly what they held once more.

Thank you to everyone who came, and to all who helped make it possible.

The Selma–Dallas County Tour of Homes is tomorrow.For $50 per adult ($25 for children), your ticket includes admission t...
20/03/2026

The Selma–Dallas County Tour of Homes is tomorrow.

For $50 per adult ($25 for children), your ticket includes admission to six remarkable historic homes (Saturday, 10–4), along with a Gala this evening at 6 PM at the Vaughan-Smitherman Museum, with refreshments and fellowship.

Tickets are available online through Eventbrite, or in person at:
• Vaughan-Smitherman Museum (Friday 9–4 & 6–7; Saturday 10–12)
• Orrville Library (Saturday 9–12)
• The Molett House, for those who come directly here

Here at the Molett House, these past days have been given over to the final details.

Inside, Eleanor and I have been tending to what the house quietly asked for—clearing away even more traces of ladybugs, setting things in order, adding a touch here and there. The kind of work that doesn’t call attention to itself, but matters all the same.
It has taken many hands. It always does.

Our house chairperson, Kent Woodruff, has gathered a wonderful and energetic group of hostesses, who will be here throughout the day to guide you through the rooms and share the story of the house—its people, its changes, and its long memory.

And now—at last—the house is ready.

She stands as she should: a fine, dignified old Southern lady, looking perhaps as well as she has since 1819, when she first took her place in the Bend. Not new. Never finished. But settled, gracious, and ready to receive.

The house has not been open to the public in seven years. And truth be told, it may be many years before it opens again.

So if you have ever thought about coming—tomorrow is the day.
The weather promises to be kind. The doors will be open. The rooms will be waiting.

We would be honored to welcome you from 10:00 to 4:00.

18/03/2026

The Molett House

The Selma–Dallas County Tour of Homes is this Saturday — and we would be honored to welcome you to The Molett House as p...
18/03/2026

The Selma–Dallas County Tour of Homes is this Saturday — and we would be honored to welcome you to The Molett House as part of this Golden Anniversary celebration.

For $50 per adult ($25 for children), your ticket includes admission to six remarkable historic homes (Saturday, 10–4), along with a Friday evening Gala at the Vaughan-Smitherman Museum at 6 PM with refreshments.

Tickets are available online through Eventbrite, or in person at:
• Vaughan-Smitherman Museum (Friday 9–4 & 6–7; Saturday 10–12)
• Orrville Library (Saturday 9–12)
• The Molett House, for those who come directly here

Every ticket supports historic preservation in Selma and Dallas County. And that support matters. Old houses do not remain standing by nostalgia alone.

This past Sunday, we had the pleasure of previewing several of the homes on this year’s tour—a kind of quiet pilgrimage through time and stewardship. We began here at The Molett House, then visited the beautifully restored Ellis-Dunaway-Gardner House, the early-stage Mill Albritton House, the lived-in and storied Bland-Chestnut-Turner House, and finally the extraordinary and rarely seen Crumptonia.

Each home tells a different chapter of the same story.

At Crumptonia, nothing has been done—and that is precisely its power. It stands remote and haunting, its bones fully visible, waiting with a kind of quiet dignity. At the other end, homes like Tasso (which we’ve visited before and included here) and the Molett House show what careful restoration can become: spaces returned to life, not as museums, but as living places once again.

And in between—Ellis-Dunaway-Gardner, Mill Albritton, Bland-Chestnut-Turner—you will see the full spectrum of preservation: finished, beginning, and simply enduring.

Here at the Molett House, the past few weeks have been a true team effort.

Allen Bearden and Milam Turner have finished their work on the porches, painting, and a long list of the small, necessary things that somehow matter most in the end. Quite simply, we could not have gotten the house ready without them. What they’ve done is the kind of work that doesn’t call attention to itself—but you feel it the moment you arrive.

Inside, Eleanor and I have been tending to the details—cleaning up after the long season of ladybugs, adding touches here and there, finishing what the house seemed to ask for. There’s a quiet satisfaction in that kind of work, in bringing things back into order without disturbing their history.

Outside, Greg Bjelke has helped us prune and shape the trees, giving the house a little more room to breathe. Norm and Diane Oglesby have spent time in the yard as well, helping bring everything back from winter’s rough edges.

It has taken many hands. It always does.

And now—at last—the house is ready.

She stands as she should: a fine, dignified old Southern lady, looking perhaps as well as she has since those early days not long after 1819, when she first took her place in the Bend. Not new. Not perfect. But settled, gracious, and ready to receive.

Soon, the dining room will welcome guests again. It has done so before, and it will do so again. Hospitality, after all, is part of preservation too.

And beyond it all, the river continues on as it always has.

We would be honored to welcome you this Saturday, March 21.

06/03/2026

The Molett House is getting its final touches.

Porch floors swept, copper polished, and small pieces of history returned to their places as the house prepares to welcome visitors.

On March 21, the Molett House will be one of the homes featured in the Selma–Dallas County Tour of Homes, supporting preservation efforts across our community.

We hope you’ll come walk the porch, step inside, and experience the house as it prepares for this year’s tour.

Tickets:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/50th-historic-selma-dallas-county-tour-of-homes-tickets-1980296219300

The Selma–Dallas County Tour of Homes is almost here — and we would be honored to welcome you to The Molett House as par...
01/03/2026

The Selma–Dallas County Tour of Homes is almost here — and we would be honored to welcome you to The Molett House as part of this Golden Anniversary celebration.

For $50 per adult ($25 for children), your ticket includes admission to six featured historic homes (Saturday, 10–4), a Friday evening Gala at the Vaughan-Smitherman Museum in Selma at 6 PM with refreshments, a keynote address by Major General Walter D. Givhan, USAF (Ret.), and guided tours at Old Cahawba Archaeological Park, including the one-room schoolhouse, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, and the Kirkpatrick property.

Tickets are available online through Eventbrite. If you prefer to purchase in person, you may do so at:

• Vaughan-Smitherman Museum (Friday 9–4 & 6–7; Saturday 10–12)
• Orrville Library (Saturday 9–12)
• The Molett House, for those who come directly here

Every ticket supports historic preservation in Selma and Dallas County. That support matters. Old houses do not remain standing by nostalgia alone.

As the tour approaches, work continues.

Alan Bearden and Milam Turner have spent days cleaning and refreshing the front porch — removing years of stain, mold, and mildew, restoring the boards to a bright welcome. They carefully cleaned and varnished the porch swings and chairs until the wood began to glow again. There is something deeply satisfying about watching grain reappear under patient hands. Allen's son Hatch joined in on the fun as well, taking his turn helping bring one of the chairs back to life. It now sits ready, as if it has always been that way.

Even River paused to take it in. A freshly cleaned porch seems to earn his quiet inspection.

Beyond the porch, the winter told a harder story. The wild pigs left their mark in the field, turning broad stretches of yard into churned earth. From a distance, it looked like plowing. Up close, it was something else entirely. We are grateful to Norm Oglesby for helping smooth and restore what he could.

And then came the longer solution. Todd Stewart, who farms the land in front of the house, installed a substantial fence around the entire field. It is sturdy and practical — the kind of fence that says, quietly, “not again.” Todd and his son Kyle work the cattle in the field together. Protection, like preservation, often looks simple when finished. It is not simple while being built.

Inside, the house has taken on its own new light. Eleanor transformed an old tea canister marked with the number nine into a lamp for the kitchen — a humble object given new purpose. It glows warmly against the winter window, a small act of imagination that feels entirely at home here.

Last year, when the dining room was dressed for a garden club gathering, the table was set beneath the chandelier and the fireplace framed the flowers. That room will welcome guests again soon. Hospitality is part of preservation too.

And beyond the house, beyond the fence, beyond even the field, the Alabama River continues its steady course from the Molett land down to Mobile. At sunrise, it softens everything. The light rests on the water the same way it has for generations. Houses are built, repaired, painted, fenced, opened. The river simply flows.

We would be grateful for your visit Saturday, March 21.

Preservation is the steady work of many hands — and we are glad to be part of it.

The Molett House will be open to the public on Saturday, March 21, as part of the 50th Historic Selma–Dallas County Tour...
23/02/2026

The Molett House will be open to the public on Saturday, March 21, as part of the 50th Historic Selma–Dallas County Tour of Homes from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.
Hosted by the Selma–Dallas County Historic Preservation Society, this milestone tour supports preservation and restoration work throughout our community.
Tickets and details are available here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/50th-historic-selma-dallas-county-tour-of-homes-tickets-1980296219300
As we prepare to welcome visitors, the sprucing up continues: inside and out.

The back porch recently required repair after years of quiet water damage. Boards that had held firm for years finally gave way. Allen Bearden and Milam Turner of Selma carefully removed what time had weakened and are in the process of rebuilding it properly. Old houses are not preserved by accident. They are preserved by attention.

Beyond the house, wild pigs did their share of damage to the field this winter. River, our ever-watchful beagle, inspected the aftermath. What now looks like freshly plowed earth is in fact careful correction — work done to restore the land after the disturbance. We are grateful to Norm Oglesby (and Diane) for helping us put things right again.

Inside, life continues in quieter ways. The nook window seat remains one of our favorite corners of the house. On the wall hangs a tapestry I brought back from South Africa for Eleanor years ago, with guinea fowl stitched across its surface: a small nod to country life and to journeys that become part of a home’s story.

And this weekend, at the Selma Camellia Show, Eleanor entered a camellia for sentimental reasons — Mrs. Charles R. Cobb, her mother’s name and her favorite bloom. Out of roughly thirty entries, five awards were given. Eleanor was honored, and surprised, to receive Honorable Mention.

Preservation is not only lumber and joists. It is gardens tended, fields repaired, corners loved, flowers remembered. It is the steady work of keeping a place alive.

We would be honored to welcome you on March 21 and share the Molett House with you.

The Molett House will be open to the public on Saturday, March 21, as part of the 50th Historic Selma–Dallas County Tour...
15/02/2026

The Molett House will be open to the public on Saturday, March 21, as part of the 50th Historic Selma–Dallas County Tour of Homes.
Hosted by the Selma–Dallas County Historic Preservation Society, this milestone tour supports preservation and restoration work throughout our community.
Tickets and details are available here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/50th-historic-selma-dallas-county-tour-of-homes-tickets-1980296219300
This will be the first time the house has opened its doors in seven years.
Over the past fifteen years, we have carefully restored this 1819 home and lived in it for extended periods, working to preserve its character while allowing it to remain a living house. We are grateful for the opportunity to share it again.
As we prepare to welcome visitors, we are also restoring the home’s original family spelling. The house was built by William Page Molett in 1819, and we are returning to that earliest form of the name. His portrait now hangs in the living room — a quiet reminder of the house’s beginnings.
We would be honored to see you on Saturday, March 21 from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

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