The Beginning of Fountain Heights

Fountain Heights is an historic neighborhood located in Birmingham, Alabama.  Separated by Enon Ridge and Evergreen neighborhoods by I-65 and 17th Avenue on the north; from the Central City neighborhood to the east by 19th St. N.; from the Five Points South neighborhood by the Railroad Reservation; and from the Smithfield neighborhood to the west by I-65, Fountain Heights also includes the former area of "Little Korea" or "Newmongo" north of 8th Ave and the NW section of downtown Birmingham which includes the Civil Rights District surrounding the Kelly Ingram Park.

The beginnings of Fountain Heights can be traced to George C. Kelley.  Mr. Kelley was born in Wilmington, North Carolina on July 30, 1847.  By 1881, he had become a resident of Birmingham, Alabama.  He built a building devoted to the mercantile trade on Second Avenue, where he established a wholesale and retail hardware business that extended throughout the South. In 1882, he purchased ten acres in the Fountain Heights area and built a beautiful residence there.

Assistant Professor Pamela King of UAB has performed extensive research into the homes at Fountain Heights and tells of her project in the film below.

The abandoned homes in Fountain Heights are some of the oldest in Birmingham. The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Assistant Professor Pamela King has surveyed its historic buildings. She says the neighborhood “has some histories that are absolutely unique in the city, so when it’s gone, it’s gone.”

According to King, it began in the 1880s as a Jewish community. Jews eventually migrated out, and by the 1940s, it was a working-class white neighborhood. Middle-class blacks began to move into the area, crossing over from Smithfield. 

“I think of it as the frontline of Birmingham’s desegregation,” says King. “And there’s a huge wave of African-Americans who move in right that year. I interviewed some and … by 1969, 1970, according to Birmingham Census and Records, it’s 100 percent Black.”

Around this time, construction began for Interstate 65. It cut directly through Fountain Heights and the neighboring community of Enon Ridge.

By the 1970s, Fountain Heights was surrounded by interstate on three sides and property values declined. Middle- and upper-income black families began to leave the area. John Colón, Birmingham’s community development director, says these outward migration patterns occurred throughout inner-city Birmingham.  “We’ve lost a third of our population essentially over the past 50, 60 years,” he says. “And as folks left the city, they left sort of a surplus of housing.”

In communities like Fountain Heights, residents look forward to change. But with each vacant home that’s demolished, they risk losing touch with the very history that led to the problem.

Early 1900's Street Car that ran between 

Fountain Heights and Avondale

In the early 1900s the streetcar carried passengers from Fountain Heights to Avondale and back.

The early 1900s also saw the opening of the weather station for Birmingham that remained in Fountain Heights for over 40 years.

One of Fountain Heights biggest claims to fame was the fact that it had a weather station for Birmingham and the weatherman, E. C. Horton even broadcast from there.   Horton was marooned in his weather observatory at Fountain Heights in a disastrous sleet storm on February 5, 1923, without telephone communication with the outside world. He made his readings by candlelight while the city of Birmingham awoke under a solid sheet of ice. The whole city was without electricity and was forced to return to kerosene lamp and old-fashioned candles. Magnificent oaks and tall pines went down as if hit by a cyclone according to The Birmingham News.

Henry F. DeBardeleben lived in Fountain Heights

Henry F. DeBardeleben, the founder of Bessemer, had his home in Fountain Heights. This mansion was later the start of St. Vincent’s Health System. The first temporary location was established in DeBardenleben's home in 1898 by the Sisters of Charity Hospital Association. “Groundbreaking for the facility shown in this photograph took place in March 1899, and this permanent location opened on Thanksgiving Day 1900. Known as Mount Saint Vincent, the hospital was the first in Birmingham to have x-ray equipment installed".

A Jewish Settlement was established in Fountain Heights

A Jewish settlement extended from near 13th Ave and then to the West.  “Hidden in plain sight", the Knesseth Israel/Beth-El Cemetery, the oldest Jewish cemetery in the city, is situated at the top of Enon Ridge in the Fountain Heights neighborhood of north Birmingham. Modest wooden houses built during the 1930s line the cemetery on two sides.  Center Street runs through the middle, with Knesseth Israel on one side and Beth-El Cemetery on the other. A strip of woods screens the peaceful grounds from the sounds of cars and trucks roaring by on I-59, constructed during the late 1960s as part of Eisenhower’s urban renewal plan. 

Fox 6 WBRC actually began in Fountain Heights

WBRC station actually began broadcasting from Fountain Heights as a radio station in the late 1920s.  WBRC AM 950 operated with a power of 10 watts. The transmitter facilities and studios were in the home of J.C. Bell in Fountain Heights, and WBRC-AM had a broadcast day of only four hours.  WBRC actually stands for Bell Radio Corporation. 

One of Birmingham’s historic fire stations, No. 11, was built in 1910 in a commercial style, in contrast to later suburban stations. The garage door sat on the left side of the building next to a central entrance door. A brick belt over the office portion of the building and an awning over the doors are the only decorative elements in the building.

There are many more stories connected to the Fountain Heights Community and it is sad to see its deterioration. I know progress is important, and we must have improvements on our Interstate system, but Birmingham has lost so much of its history that makes it a unique city. The destruction and loss of the Birmingham Terminal Station is and will forever be a disappointment felt by many.

Terminal Station in 1910

Jemison magazine of June 1910 volume 1, No. 2 stated that the “Terminal Station cost $2,000,000 and had a wonderful effect on property values on Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Avenues, East of Twentieth Street.” Can you imagine what it would cost to replace such a property today?  Unfortunately, the Terminal Station has long been demolished in the name of "modernization".   Imagine how wonderful it would be if we still had the terminal in conjunction with Railroad Park.

Old Homes Abandoned and New Homes Built

Photo on the left courtesy of the Birmingham Department of Archives. Photo on the right courtesy of Mary Scott Hodgin, Health & Science Report for WBHM

H. Clanton Miller house located at 1110 Fountain Ave. cica 1910

Not all of the houses in the Fountain Heights neighborhood is abandoned and/or neglected.  There are many well-maintained homes in the area, as well as, new builds.

Over the last several years, there has been a renewed interest in the Fountain Heights neighborhood with many new builds that mimic the bungalows and Four Squares that were original to that area.

Photo taken from the following article:  https://birminghamview.com/online/2008/01/22/new-fountain-heights-homes-signal-revitalization/

As is true of any long neglected and overlooked neighborhood, Fountain Heights will rebound into a thriving community only with the help of progressive investors.  With its close proximity to downtown and all the amenities and businesses that the downtown has to offer coupled with the easy access to interstates and major highways, the Fountain Heights neighborhood has a lot to offer.

12 Improvements that Could Devalue Your Property

A lot of things factor into how much your property is worth.  Things such as the location, square footage, school district and the number of bedrooms and bathrooms.

As a homeowner or investor, your job is to consider both what you can do to improve your home's value, as well as what you may be doing to decrease the value and desirability of your property.

One of the main things to remember while trying to boost the value of your house is that people have a wide variety of tastes, wants, and desires.  These vary greatly both geographically and demographically.  A house with the ability to suit the largest group of people will sell and/or rent quickly.  The more people who find a house attractive when it hits the market, the better.

Let's take a look at 16 improvements that many people make to their properties that can actually devalue their house.  These improvements can, and very often do, cause an otherwise desirable property to sit on the market far longer than it should and sometimes even lower the final price by thousands.

1.  Over the Top and/or 

Overly Personalized Lighting Fixtures

Bit over the top unless you're trying to sell or rent a Georgian Mansion

This is a really cool set of light fixtures.  However, I don't think I'd want to live with them and 

I'd bet most people wouldn't want to live with them either.

Nice lighting can actually help sell or rent houses.  However over personalizing anything will immediately cut your market by half or more.  If you're an investor or landlord, save the personalized items for your personal home.  If you're a homeowner looking to sell, it would behoove you to remove all personalized features whenever possible and replace with more "crowd friendly" features.  Remember, just because you LOVE it, doesn't mean that everyone will.

2.  Over the Top and/or 

Overly Personalized Tile

Example of an extravagant tile design that is very taste specific

Another example of taste specific tile

Just like lighting fixtures, it's best to remember that taste vary and what you think is stunning beyond belief, someone else might find garish beyond belief.  It should also be noted that while light fixtures are relatively easy and inexpensive to have removed, tiles are not.  Potential buyers will remember that when it comes time to make an offer.

3.  Too Much Wallpaper or too Taste Specific Wallpaper

While this wallpaper is unique, would you really want to live with it?

I'm sure the homeowners thought this was a great idea, but will potential buyers agree?

Wallpaper is making a strong comeback.  I personally think it's great.  I love the way wallpaper allows me to add textures, colors, and design to my walls and sometimes even ceilings.  However, not everyone loves wallpaper and no one loves to remove it, potentially repair wall damage and then paint.  As a side note, border wallpaper makes a room feel smaller and shorter than it really is, so I don't suggest ever using it anywhere.  People walk into a wallpapered room and the first thing they think is, "how much money and time is it going to cost to get this off the walls?" and "I wonder what's behind that wallpaper?  Did they put it up to hide issues with the sheetrock and if so, what's that going to cost me?" 

4.  Textured walls and Ceilings

The two pictures above show textured ceilings

The two pictures above show textured walls

Textured walls and ceilings were all the rage for decades.  Popcorn ceilings or the swirly designed ceilings can still be found in many many homes even today as can textured walls.  Putting a texture on the ceilings and walls was an efficient and cheap way to hide any imperfections and the practice also grew in popularity as a design feature.  These days people like smooth ceilings and walls so when a potential buyer walks into a home with textured walls and ceilings, they tend to hit the nearest exit.  Not only can removing the texture (and then repairing the ceilings/walls) be expensive but it's one of the messiest jobs in all of homeowner land.  If you have wall and/or ceiling damage, it's cheaper, in the long run, to repair it rather than try to hide it behind texture.

5.  Carpeting Everywhere

How would you like to live with the carpeting in these two houses?  

I don't know anyone who would love either of these.

Above are examples of neutral carpeting that isn't beige, brown or cream

While carpeting is another design element that is making a strong comeback after years of being the first thing new homeowners ripped out, it's still not popular enough with the majority of people to warrant installing it wall to wall in every room.  If your time and/or budget won't allow for the installation of new hardwoods or neutral tile throughout your home and you simply must install carpeting, keep it neutral....not white neutral...but a neutral that won't show dirt easily and will blend with many interior color choices.  If you go with carpeting, don't skimp on the padding.  No matter how expensive your carpeting is, if it feels "thin" when you walk on it, it will automatically feel cheap.

6.  Bright and Bold Paint Choices - inside or out

Nothing changes the appearance of a room or house quicker and more dramatically, then the addition of paint.  While paint can definitely be your best friend, making a bad paint color choice will be your very worst enemy and can cost you thousands of dollars in resale or can make potential tenants run screaming for the hills!  So while painting is probably the cheapest way to refresh, update and improve the appearance of any property, the wrong paint color(s) can wind up costing you more time and money than almost anything else.

If you must paint the exterior or the interior of your property and you like bold colors, try to limit those colors to the hues that are less difficult (and expensive) to cover.  Anything in the families of red, pink, purple, blacks or deep blues and greens will take so much primer to just reach a coverable state that potential buyers will only see dollars and time flying out the window.  If your property is a rental and you paint these outrageous colors, you can expect very few applications.

Depending on the style and age of the home there are charcoal grays, slate blues, forest greens that will make the exterior of your home feel updated while still maintaining the integrity of the period in which the home was built without feeling garish...and will still give you that pop of color that will satisfy your desire and set you apart from the rest of the houses on your block.  Inside, it's always best to go with muted tones.  Sage, gray, cream, etc.  Another great way to satisfy the tastes of those looking to purchase or rent your property would be to paint it white and give a reasonable allowance to the buyer (or renter - to be used on the interior only).  This allowance would be used to paint it the color of their choice.  If this is a renter situation, their color choices should be limited to a set of color swatches that you have pre-approved.

7.  Over-Improving the Kitchen or Bathroom

Everyone thinks that a great kitchen or bathroom can overcome any obstacle when it comes to selling or renting their property.  Everyone would be wrong.  While an updated attractive kitchen and/or bathroom goes a long long way, it is not the end all be all when it comes to a potential buyer or renters decision. 

As a matter of fact, over improving a kitchen or bathroom can actually cost you money.  Taste, trends, fads come and go.  If you install a kitchen or bathroom that was designed on your own personal taste the chances are the next folks are going to rip it all out and start from scratch so they can have the kitchen or bathroom of their dreams - not yours.  You should also realize that when you improve a kitchen or bathroom that is a lot nicer than the rest of the house, you have just accentuated the fact that the rest of the house needs massive work.  The kitchen and/or bathroom immediately feels out of place with the rest of the house.

According to Zillow, you should try to never spend more than 10 to 15% of the value of the home on the kitchen and the same applies to the master bath.  In 2015, Remodeling.hw.net estimated that the average kitchen renovation costs approximately $56,768 with a return of only $38,485 which works out roughly to a 53.9% return on investment.

Be aware that the opposite also applies.  If you replace flooring, paint and dress up the rest of the property but don't fully address the kitchen and bathrooms, you have just lost money.  Buyers understand that the most expensive and timely renovations in a property are always the kitchen and bathrooms and when they see that you have left those up to them, they will move on down the road unless you are willing to shave thousands of dollars off the price....and maybe not even then.

8.  Permanently Converting or Removing a Bedroom

Permanently converting a bedroom into anything else, is never a good idea and could devalue your property by as much as 10%.  That means converting it to a dressing room/closet, TV/Media room or home office.  That number is also true whenever you take a bedroom in order to make the master larger or to enlarge bathroom/master closet space.  If you must use a spare bedroom as a home office, TV room, playroom for the kids or even a home gym, make sure nothing in there is permanently installed so if you decide to put your house on the market down the road, everything can be removed and the room staged for its original purpose.

Combining bedrooms to make a larger bedroom might sound like a great idea at the time but according to Brian Davis, real estate investor & Co-Founder of the renting resource SparkRental.com, this is a very bad move if you don't plan on staying in that house forever.  He states, "Even small bedrooms add value to homes, as most families want children to have their own rooms but don't mind if they're on the small side."  He goes on to say, "In my experience, each bedroom can add about 15% to the overall value of a home."

9.  Sunrooms

A sunroom can be a great place to enjoy the outdoors away from the elements, but adding a sunroom is one of the worst home renovations when it comes to return on investment.  The only exception is if you go the extra, and very expensive, route of adding HVAC and highly insulated windows which in effect turns the sunroom into another interior living space. 

You should also be aware that if the sunroom wasn't properly permitted and built to code, you can be forced to tear it down before you can sell it.

Another thing to consider before deciding to add a sunroom is available outdoor space.  If your outdoor living space is already limited and you add a sunroom, you have effectively erased your outdoor area.

10.  Built-In Electronics

Home theaters are great for movie or sports fans but built-in electronics take up space in an otherwise usable room and could be very offputting to potential buyers.  As with all home renovations, personalization can deal to a decrease in home value and built-in technology that can quickly become outdated is no exception.

11. Swimming Pools and Hottubs

Unless you're somewhere that's hot at least 6 months out of the year, pools are generally more trouble than they're worth.  Research has shown that only about 50% of the population really want them so you've just narrowed your buying market by half.

When you add the cost to build a pool, the added insurance cost, fencing and maintenance expenses, swimming pools add very little potential value to your property.

Hot tubs, just like swimming pools usually aren't worth the investment.  Potential homebuyers with children might consider the pool and hot tub both as safety hazards.  Most homeowners don't want a hot tub and they must consider the costs of removing the hot tub and then repairing the damaged lawn area or deck area where it sat when they consider their offer on your property.

12.  Garage Conversions

If you're a fitness buff, if your children need a dedicated playroom or if a relative has moved in with you and you need more space, converting your garage into space for those needs may seem like a good thing.  However, many potential buyers may not agree.  Recently MarketWatch did a survey of 7,500 people on this very topic and a whopping 74% said that having a garage is extremely or very important to them.

As in the bedroom, conversion spoke of earlier, if you can convert the garage into whatever space you need without making permanent alterations, then you should be fine.  Otherwise, use the garage as a garage.