COMING SOON
1453 SHADES CREST ROAD HOOVER,
AL 35226
$1,199,900
Includes Two Cottages
1455 & 1457
Shades Crest Rd
Welcome to Historic Stonecroft c1923. This private estate enclave is nestled on over 2.5+ wooded acres atop Shades Mountain and includes THREE private Tudor Revival style residences located on two separate parcels. This one-of-a-kind historic home is rich in history and registered on the National Register of Historic Places, AL Register of Landmarks & Heritage, and the Jefferson County Historical Register. Built of sandstone, the manor house is the crown jewel of this estate. The interior has retained all its original architectural details including original millwork, 10’ ceilings on main level, 9’ ceilings on upper levels, white oak flooring, pocket doors, leaded glass windows, original light fixtures, steam heat and 8 wood burning fireplaces. Main level living includes 3 fireplaces, a grand staircase, formal dining room, kitchen, butler’s pantry, library, formal LR & DR, den, full bath, sunroom, back entry hall & second staircase. The second floor offers 4 large bedrooms, 3 fireplaces, 3 full baths, sewing room, dressing room and a second-floor kitchen. A spacious 3rd floor flex space includes 2 bedrooms, and large sitting room with fireplace. Full basement includes a half bath and several large gathering rooms, one of which contains an enormous original stone fireplace. Stone terraces, patios, loggias, & gardens offer plenty of outdoor space for entertaining. Original stone walls surround the property offering privacy from the carriage houses and neighbors. Parts of the stone walls even include an original watering trough for horses and a built-in brass bell to call the family home for supper!
Two separate carriage houses, 1455 & 1457 Shades Crest Road, currently used as private residences, provide up to $30K a year in rent producing income. The larger carriage house is a 3 bedroom 1 bath,1144 SF home & the second carriage house is a 1 bedroom 1 bath, 682+ SF home. The roofs on both carriage houses were replaced in 2023.
ACTIVE September 15, 2026
STYLE
HISTORIC 1920's
TUDOR REVIVAL
REPRESENTATION
LISTING AGENT
WHERE
HOOVER
STATUS
ACTIVE SEPT 15,
2026
The History of Stonecroft Manor Estate
John Bedford Weakley was born in 1863 into a prominent Florence, Alabama family. He was admitted to the bar in 1884, married Anne Rather of Tuscumbia in 1891, and moved to Birmingham in 1901. John was a member of Alabama's Constitutional Convention of 1901. He represented Jefferson County in the state legislature in 1915, and wrote the city codes of both Florence and Birmingham. He served as president and chief stockholder of the Alabama Water Company of Birmingham, sat on Florence's Board of Education, was a trustee of what is now the University of North Alabama, and worked to establish branch libraries across the Birmingham district.
Mrs. Weakley was raised at Locust Hill in Tuscumbia — an 1823 brick house believed to be among the oldest surviving residences in Alabama, itself listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Her niece, the Alabama artist and author Mary Wallace Kirk, grew up in that same house and later wrote a book about it, illustrated with her own prints. Two National Register houses, one family, two ends of the state.
Why Shades Mountain?
The Weakleys purchased a large tract on Shades Mountain around 1916 and built a cottage on it in 1917 — four years before beginning the main house.
To understand what that meant: at the time of construction, this site was half a day's buggy ride from Birmingham, roughly fifteen miles from Southside along primitive roads through undeveloped landscape. The nomination notes that building this far west on Shades Mountain in 1917 "was extremely sporadic and required something of a pioneer spirit."
Robert Jemison Jr. would not begin planning Mountain Brook until 1928. The Weakley’s were here first, by more than a decade, and they were here alone.
Mrs. Weakley's gardens became a destination in their own right. A newspaper article marking her 100th birthday recalled that the house and grounds drew Sunday afternoon excursionists up the mountain — because in those days, getting here was an excursion.
John Weakley died in 1928, only a few years after moving in. Mrs. Weakley sold the property 8 years later, in 1936, and moved to the Tutwiler Hotel downtown.
The current Schilleci family's connection begins in 1958, when Lillie G. Allen purchased it — the grandmother of the present owners. It has been in the same family for sixty-eight years.
