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By Jere Hough Meteorologist / Feature Reporter

M30o93H7pQ09L8X1t49cHY01Z5j4TT91fGfr Heritage Homestead

Published: Fri, October 26, 2007 - 2:47 pm
Last Updated: Wed, November 07, 2007 - 1:14 pm

Jere Hough

James and Joan Malone's grandkids call it, "The little house 'of' the prairie." And that's a pretty good name because as nicely finished as it is...there is no electricity and no running water. James Malone and his cousin built Heritage Homestead to duplicate how earlier generations lived.
James explains, "Sometimes we don't appreciate the things that we have because we don't remember where we came from...We recreated this so that they (our children) could understand what their ancestors went through...Our plans were a yellow pad and my memory from when I was a child."
They also built a smoke house...currently venison is drying. And, of course, an outhouse...no running water, remember.
Their forebearers lived in a "dog trot" house...two rooms separated by a cooling system...an open breezeway that the dogs could trot right through whenever they felt like it!
One side is the kitchen-dining-living room with a combination heater and stove.
Joan Malone demonstrates how she bakes. "This is an old fashioned oven. And this heats up on top, and what we do is turn this oven longways, and it'll heat up and I can bake biscuits and cornbread in this oven right here on top of this wood heater-stove."
Really good biscuits I found out.
Beautiful wood is everywhere.
James says, "We used growth long leaf pine for the outside. For the inside we used around 20 different species of indigenous hardwood."
The house is a showcase for the timber that grows all around the area...and that's part of what Heritage Homestead has become...a place to learn about the past, and a place to learn about preserving our recreational forests for the future.
He says,"We've entertained thousands of children. We've had people from almost every state in the United States."
There are seminars, festivals, and tours held here...all geared to conservation education and guided by the Alabama Treasure Forest Association.
But first and foremost the Homestead is for the Malone family to gather learn about their past.
Meteorologist Jere Hough is next to a small cooking fire in the yard. "You know this place is all about how it used to be. And that includes coffee over an open fire, and home made biscuits."
For information about bringing a group to tour Heritage Homestead, you can call (251) 675-6185.

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