The "Poet of Tolstoy Park"

By T. Jensen Lacey

As an author of 23+ books and contributor to 17 anthologies, I have garnered enjoyment from learning about all kinds of places and people and sharing stories about them with the reading public. 

A “tourable history” book series of mine, “Lacey’s Amazing America,” includes Amazing Alabama: The Bicentennial Edition (Moon Howler Publishing). In writing it, I researched many interesting and amazing places to be found in The Yellowhammer State. One of those that still fascinates me is the story about “Tolstoy Park” and its builder and resident, Henry Stuart.

One of Fairhope’s settlers, who arrived later than the rest—in the 1920s, to be more precise—Henry Stuart was a widower who hailed from Idaho. His doctor had given him a diagnosis of tuberculosis (what they used to call “consumption”) and Stuart was told he had only a few months to live unless he moved to a better climate. When others might have simply given up and gone home to die, Stuart packed his most treasured belongings, left his grown children and home in Idaho, got on a train, and headed to Fairhope.

He made his home, not in Fairhope proper, but with his own hands, built a round-house in nearby Montrose. He dubbed it “Tolstoy Park” after Russian author Leo Tolstoy and tried to live like a hermit. Over the course of the years he lived there, though, he was visited by thousands of people. From his little hut, he became a well-known and respected writer and philosopher. Locals still refer to Stuart as the “Hermit of Montrose.”   

One person who became totally fascinated with Stuart’s story and his round-house was Fairhope resident and author Sonny Brewer. “When I first encountered Henry Stuart’s round-house in Montrose,” he said in an interview, “I knew there was a story behind it. I mean, who would hand-pour 80-pound concrete blocks and stack them in a 13-foot circle, add six windows and a door, a dome-shaped concrete roof, and call it home?” 

Brewer added, “The more I learned about Henry over 20 years, the more determined I became to write his story.” The result of Brewer’s research was a novel he titled The Poet of Tolstoy Park. The enduring public acclaim for that work of historical fiction was a kind of pleasant surprise to Brewer. “I never thought the novel would make such an impact on so many people,” he said.  “I’m deeply grateful readers have kept the book going for so long.”

As for Stuart’s round-house, it still exists; you can visit “Tolstoy Park” near the intersection of Parker and Greeno Roads. For inspiration, many local writers, musicians, and artists visit Stuart’s little round-house, which is now decorated with period furniture, books, photographs, and other artifacts.

By the way, Stuart himself lived on for many years, much longer than his doctor predicted, dying peacefully in 1946. He would be pleased to know that his round-house is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and his story is out for all to read through Brewer’s The Poet of Tolstoy Park.