The tiny round house at Tolstoy Park has secured a fictional new address in Fairhope’s Fruit and Nut District, while the Hermit of Montrose has announced plans to relocate to Foley after reviewing the cost of living.
The house qualified on the strength of its historic status, compact footprint and willingness to arrive without requesting an additional bedroom. Henry Stuart’s fictional application was less successful.
“I built a hurricane-resistant home by hand, grew my own food and wove rugs for income,” Stuart said in this entirely invented exchange. “Apparently none of those count as proof of funds.”
A placement committee determined that the 14-foot-wide house would fit comfortably between two existing homes, provided nobody opens a gate, parks a golf cart or exhales toward the side setback.
Simple life now requires preapproval
The structure will receive a carefully prepared foundation, interpretive signage and protection as a treasured piece of local history. Its former occupant was offered a rental application, a pet addendum and the opportunity to demonstrate monthly income equal to three times the rent.
Stuart explained that hermitage traditionally produces limited recurring revenue. The committee suggested adding a detached guest cottage, short-term rental permit and small-batch rug subscription.
Instead, he selected Foley, where his fictional housing search produced several options large enough for a loom, garden and the radical privacy once associated with living alone in the woods.
The house wished him well and reminded him to visit. Parking in Fruit and Nut will be available after the next resident leaves.
History keeps moving.
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