The iconic Round House, known colloquially as the Hermit Hut, of Tolstoy Park, a beloved local landmark that has fascinated visitors for nearly a century, is revealing new history of what life on the Eastern Shore used to look like.

The Fairhope Museum of History has received a donation of three diaries and a scrapbook of photographs belonging to Henry James Stuart, the famed "Hermit" of Montrose. The items were donated by Stuart's descendants and include a small rag rug woven by Stuart, who was also known as "Ye Olde Weaver" and "Modern Thoreau."

According to a 1946 article published in The Fairhope Courier shortly before Stuart's passing by Converse Harwell, a friend of Stuart's according to Fairhope Museum of History Director Gabriel Gold-Vukson, Stuart knew he had found his home when he made it to the Eastern Shore.

"...Harry J. Stuart left the badlands of a mining district in Idaho and came to the temperate, Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay," Harwell said in the article. "Stuart knew immediately, that he had found "home" here in this mild and enervating climate."

Stuart, who lived from 1858 to 1946, is a well-known figure in Fairhope's history, often recognized as the inspiration for local author Sonny Brewer's 2005 novel, "The Poet of Tolstoy Park." The Round House, remains a popular destination for both locals and visitors.

Stuart initially planned to build a rectangular house, but construction difficulties led him to conceive the idea of a circular house with a reinforced dome-shaped roof. At over 60 years old, Stuart began constructing the house, which took him two years with minimal assistance. He carried water-worn bricks from the bay shore and rocks from nearby Montrose, pouring hand-mixed concrete into handmade block molds.

The resulting Round House, a 14-foot diameter, one-room structure with a height of 13.5 feet, featured one door, six windows, a ventilator and a skylight at the dome's peak. Stuart lived there for 18 years, welcoming visitors and sharing stories about Tolstoy Park.

Stuart was a keen student and philosopher, surrounding himself with books on various subjects. Visitors to Tolstoy Park were often directed by a handmade "Ye Olde Weaver" sign posted by Stuart. They came to meet the intriguing elderly man, buy his rugs, take photographs and marvel at the peculiar domed house he built. Stuart's diaries also note the number of visitors, highlighting that it was rare for him not to have guests.
The donation of his diaries to the Fairhope Museum offers a glimpse into the life of a man who embraced simplicity and left a lasting legacy in Fairhope.

"We plan on displaying the donated items, along with interpretive signs summarizing the life and contributions of Henry Stuart, in the near future," Gold-Vukson said. "The interpretive signs may end up being used outside of the museum, though, so we are waiting for further developments around the future of Stuart's roundhouse so that we can design the signs appropriately. For preservation purposes, the donated items will not be displayed outside of the museum. They will also only be displayed for a short time, so folks interested in seeing them should keep an eye out for exhibit information so they don't miss it."

The donated items provide valuable new primary sources of information about Stuart's life and the history of Fairhope between 1923 and 1944, the period during which Stuart lived in the area. The diaries, covering the years 1928, 1929 and 1934, contain daily entries meticulously documenting temperature, weather conditions and the status of his vegetable garden. Stuart also recorded his interactions with neighbors, his reading habits, correspondence, cooking and the crafting of rag rugs on the loom in his Round House.

"Stuart's journals and photographs not only tell us about the way that he lived but also tell us about the way other Fairhopers in the 1920s and '30s lived," Gold-Vukson said. "Individuals and events that we previously only had a third-person point of view on are given life in Stuart's first-person narrative."

In addition to the diaries, the donation includes a scrapbook of photographs, many taken by Stuart himself. The images depict Stuart, his visitors, the Tolstoy Park property, the gardens and irrigation system, his early cabin and work pavilion, and the Round House, including a remarkable photo of the structure under construction.

The Fairhope Single Tax Corporation (FSTC) Archives has collaborated with the Fairhope Museum of History to scan and catalog these items. They are now accessible on the FSTC Online Archives website located at https://fairhopesingletax.pastperfectonline.com, where they can be read online, printed or downloaded free of charge using keywords such as "Stuart Diaries" and "Stuart Scrapbook."