The Coe House

The Coe House. John Valentine Coe, president of Birmingham Lumber and Coal Company, commissioned this two-story Craftsman-Tudor Revival style house in 1908. Coe, who had previously been a lumber merchant in Selma, moved his family and business to Birmingham at the turn of the 20th century. As the business thrived, he built this house in the Rhodes Park area of the Highland Park neighborhood. At the time, Highland Park's gracious homes and trolley network made it one of Alabama's most exclusive residential areas., As a young child, the Coe's daughter, Frances, was stricken with polio and remained largely confined to the house for most of her life. , (Continued on other side) , In 1970, the Coe family sold the property and it housed the Morningside Commune until 1975. In 1977, the Alabama United Methodist Children's Home acquired the property and for more than two decades assisted over 3,600 children. The Coe House was purchased from the UMCH and restored as a private residence in 1999. , The house was individually listed to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage in 1977. Also in 1977, the Highland Avenue - Rhodes Park Historic District was included in the National Register of Historic Places. The Coe House was added to the historic district when it expanded in 1982 to include the Rhodes Park area. The Highland Park neighborhood contains some of Birmingham's most notable residential architecture and is representative of some of the earliest urban residential planning efforts in the state.