Fairhope has plans to move iconic Tolstoy Park hermit hut to a new nature preserve

Fairhope’s historic circular hut located in “Tolstoy Park” is on its way down the road to the Flying Creek Nature Preserve. 

The small house, sometimes referred to as the “Hermit Hut,” was built in 1926 by Henry Stuart, an Idaho man who relocated to Fairhope after receiving a diagnosis for tuberculosis — then known as “consumption.”

Stuart had heard of the Fairhope Single Tax Colony and was intrigued by the teachings of Henry George, an economist whose theories shaped Fairhope’s founding. 

A common treatment for consumption at the time was to move somewhere with a better climate, which Stuart’s doctor recommended.  

He bought 10 acres of land in Fairhope and built the house that is now on the National Register of Historic Places by hand. He named the area “Tolstoy Park” after Leo Tolstoy. 

Miraculously, Stuart lived 23 more years despite a dire prognosis — he was about 88 when he died in 1946. 

The hut attracts visitors near and far

The small, circular hut with a domed roof is incredibly unique — it is only about 14 feet in diameter, and the floor was 16 inches below the land to keep it better insulated. 

Stuart’s bed was a hammock high above the ground, and he used a ladder to access it.

Today, the hut is fully accessible to visitors and has a notebook where they can sign their names and hometowns, reminiscent of the log he kept of all his visitors while he was still alive. 

Where is Tolstoy Park today?

 Tolstoy Park and the iconic hut are located in the middle of an office park in the Montrose area. Sonny Brewer, who wrote Stuart’s story in his 2005 book “The Poet of Tolstoy Park,” has said that he wants his spirit to be back where it belongs in wooded “paradise.” 

The hut is the only surviving portion of Stuart’s 10 acres. 

“The spirit of one man’s will to live still exists as a genuine keepsake in every one of those 80-pound blocks he stacked in a circle to make his walls.” 

Sonny Brewer

Now, there is an initiative to move the entire house to Flying Creek Nature Preserve, where it can be more accessible to visitors and be maintained by the City of Fairhope. 

Moving the hut

Thanks to the efforts of the Tolstoy Park Committee — of which Brewer is the co-chairman — nearly $225,000 has been raised to relocate the Hermit Hut to the new nature preserve. It is 104 acres and has been in development for years. 

The committee has a goal of $369,000, so around $146,000 is still in limbo. The Fairhope Single Tax Corporation has made a matching pledge of $184,500. 

Once it’s moved, the round house will:

• Be preserved, maintained and protected
• Be located in a natural setting a short distance from its original location
• Be easier to find and access with other amenities at the park
• Increase visitors to the nature preserve, positively impacting the local economy
• Showcase the diversity of the local environment
• Increase educational and cultural opportunities for citizens, schools and organizations
• Add to the importance of the preserve as the northern terminus of Fairhope’s park system

How to donate and visit

Anyone can visit the hut for free whenever they’d like. Tolstoy Park is located at 22787 Highway 98 in the Montrose Office Park. Visitors can explore both the interior and exterior of the house. 

There are a few ways to donate to the project: 

• Pay through the city by check, payable to the City of Fairhope with “Tolstoy Park Fund” in the memo line. Mail to City of Fairhope “Tolstoy Park Fund,” P.O. Drawer 429, Fairhope, AL 36533.
• Pay through the city with credit card in-person at the Fairhope City Hall, located at 161 N Section St.
• Pay through the Fairhope/Point Clear Community Foundation online or by check, payable to the Fairhope/Point Clear Community Foundation with “Tolstoy Park Fund” written in check memo line. Mail to Fairhope/Point Clear Community Foundation, Tolstoy Park Fund, P.O. Box 990, Mobile, Alabama 36601.

“Henry will be glad to move out of the paved parking lot and back to paradise. Visitors will get to experience Henry’s round house as evidence of a lifestyle that disappeared decades ago.”

Sonny Brewer

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