On October 1, Father John Gilchrist blessed the soil beside a small concrete dome near U.S. 98. Author Sonny Brewer told the gathering that exactly 100 years had passed since Henry Stuart set the last stone on the roundhouse he built himself. AL.com described the ceremony as a celebration that may also be the last of its kind at the hut's original site.
The next time a crowd shows up for the hut, it should be standing in the woods off Main Street. The relocation to Flying Creek Nature Preserve is planned as a fenced, filmed, weekday job with as few spectators as the city can manage. Fairhope will get its landmark back later, and slowly, as the centerpiece of a preserve that is still being built.
A Weekday Job Timed Around School Traffic
The Fairhope City Council voted unanimously in August to award the relocation contract to Fairhope Building Company LLC for $421,050. AL.com reported that it was the lowest of five bids. The Tolstoy Park Committee says Hollis Kennedy House Movers will handle the structure itself and expects the relocation to be finished by Thanksgiving 2026.
As of mid-October, no move date had been announced. The planned route is short and familiar to anyone who drives into town from the north:
- Lift the dome from its site off U.S. 98.
- Truck it slowly along U.S. 98.
- Take it through the roundabout near the floral clock.
- Continue along Main Street to the preserve.
When the council approved the contract in August, the idea was a public event, with documentary filmmakers, a possible second-line procession, a theater production and a ceremonial trip to the preserve. By October the plan had narrowed. Mayor Sherry Sullivan turned down the procession because she wanted spectators kept away from a complicated operation. She told AL.com the crew is aiming to work between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m., with an eye on school traffic and St. James Episcopal Church along the way.
"We need to keep people out of the way as much as possible and be efficient and timely with the move," Sullivan said in the same AL.com report.
The filmmakers who have followed the project for a future documentary will still record the move. The arrival will also be low-key. The hut's new spot inside the preserve is fenced off from the public, and Sullivan said visitors won't be "automatically let in" until the site and the structure are secured.
Moving It Back to the Woods
The reason for the move is easy to see from the parking lots around the hut today. Stuart chose a secluded property a century ago, and commercial development near U.S. 98 has since closed in around it. Brewer started pushing in 2022 to move the structure to Flying Creek, which AL.com described as a quieter setting closer to the one Stuart picked for himself.
Councilman Jack Burrell explained the choice when the council voted in August, as AL.com reported:
"I am happy we could move it to a location where he would have walked during his lifetime. He knew that area. It's where he lived. It's not the site where he built it, but it's on land he would have traversed."
The new site fits Stuart better than his "hermit" nickname does. According to the Tolstoy Park Committee, he was drawn to the ideas of economist Henry George, the theories Fairhope was founded on. He took part in the weekly Fairhope Forum speaker programs and taught rug weaving at Marietta Johnson's Organic School. AL.com reports that his guest book held about 1,300 signatures, including the attorney Clarence Darrow. Stuart named his 10 acres Tolstoy Park and lived there from 1923 until 1944, when he moved to Oregon, where his two sons lived.
The money follows the same local roots. The relocation is privately funded through individual donations and contributions from the Fairhope Single Tax Corporation. One donor gave $100,000 hoping to spark matching gifts, then added $50,000 and later $55,000 when the matches didn't come. The committee says its fundraising goal has been met, so the roundhouse can be moved intact.
What Is Actually Making the Trip
Many residents have driven past the dome for years without knowing much about it. It is the only surviving piece of Tolstoy Park and sits on Parker Road in Montrose, although its mailing address is on Highway 98 in Fairhope. AL.com describes it as a 14-foot concrete dome. The committee notes that it sits two feet into the ground, stays comfortable year-round thanks to the earth's insulation and its windows and skylights, and is built from concrete blocks Stuart made by hand. Those walls have come through a century of hurricanes. The house is on both the National Register of Historic Places and the Baldwin County Register of Historic Places.
The whole dome will make the trip of roughly a mile to the preserve.
The Preserve It's Joining Is Still Being Built
Flying Creek Nature Preserve covers 108 acres between Veterans Boulevard and Fly Creek, at 22430 Main Street. The city held its official grand opening on August 23, 2025, when the first phase was finished. Phase 1 began with a $1 million GOMESA grant in 2022. GOMESA money comes through the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act and derives from offshore oil and gas revenues.
This month the council accepted another $2.5 million in GOMESA funding for the preserve. According to Sullivan, the city has now received a little more than $4.8 million in GOMESA money for Flying Creek. Here is how the pieces line up:
| Stage | What it adds | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | Multi-use nature trails, Eastern Shore Trail connection, outdoor classrooms, trailhead kiosk, bike repair station, restroom pavilion, eco-friendly parking | Open since August 23, 2025 |
| Henry Stuart roundhouse | The relocated 1926 dome, on a fenced site the city is preparing | City says the move is weeks away; committee expects it done by Thanksgiving 2026 |
| Phase 2 | More outdoor classrooms and trails | Next on the city's list |
| Phase 3 | Multi-use hiking and mountain-bike trails, a playground, a pavilion | Whole preserve expected done by end of 2027 |
The timeline explains why the city is in no hurry to throw a moving-day party. For the next year or so, the hut will be part of a site that is still under construction. Once the preserve is finished, the people walking its trails will be the hut's regular visitors.
Three Miles of Trail to Walk Now
The preserve is open, and Phase 1 trails can be walked today. The city's printable trail map lists about 3.0 miles, broken down by trail type rather than trail name:
- Intermediate trails, 1.25 miles
- Multi-use trails, 0.75 miles
- Carriage trail, 0.25 miles
- Primitive trails, 0.25 miles
- Corridor trail, 0.25 miles
- Feeder trail, 0.25 miles
Stop by the 7-acre longleaf pine restoration. The city cleared the understory there, planted pine saplings and native understory species, and added an outdoor pavilion and a bird blind. When the preserve opened, FOX10 reported that the first phase included the John Martin Nature Center. The city's preserve page also links to a Native Tree Trail map. Cyclists can ride in on the Eastern Shore Trail connection and use the bike repair station at the trailhead.
The city is preparing the roundhouse's fenced site inside the preserve now. Once the site and structure are secured and opened to visitors, Stuart's dome will sit inside a 108-acre preserve he could have walked to.
Our team grew up with stories like Henry Stuart's, and we pay close attention to the places that make Fairhope feel like home. If you'd like to talk about life near Flying Creek, or how Fairhope's newest public spaces fit into a future move, Andrea Shilston & Eva Wilmott would be glad to help. Schedule a Private Consultation.
