The 26-room
Italianate mansion was designed by architect
Samuel Sloan for
Robert Jemison, Jr., a local planter, politician, and businessman. John Stewart supervised construction, and had been a partner with Sloan. Construction began in 1859, as the nearby
Alabama State Hospital for the Insane, designed by Sloan, neared completion. Stewart was in Tuscaloosa supervising the construction of the hospital. Jemison had been a significant political force in getting the
Alabama Legislature to locate the proposed Alabama Insane Hospital in Tuscaloosa, since the state
capital had been relocated to
Montgomery in 1846. Construction on the mansion continued into the early years of the
American Civil War, being primarily completed in 1862. Although some items were never completed as planned due to the war and the resulting
Union blockade of the
South, the house made use of the latest technology. This included an elaborate plumbing system which featured running water, flush toilets, a hot water
boiler, and a copper bathtub. This was some of the earliest modern plumbing in the state. The property also had its own
coal gas plant, which provided the mansion with
gas lighting and fueled a kitchen stove. Jemison died at the mansion on October 16, 1871. The property remained in the hands of his descendants into the 20th century. Robert Jemison's best-known descendant,
Robert Jemison Van de Graaff, was born there in 1901. The house was sold to J.P. and Nell Burchfield in 1945, who would later complete the first major restoration. Following their ownership it was converted to use as Tuscaloosa's
Friedman Public Library from 1955 until 1979. Once the library was relocated it was used by two national publications, first
Horizon and then
Antique Monthly. Finally, it was acquired by the Jemison–Van de Graaff Mansion Foundation in 1991. Since that time it has been fully restored and is now operated as a historic house museum and event location. ==References==