Was built ca 1890, and is Queen Anne style, with wonderful orange pressed brick, dominated by an unusual central tower. It is one of the very few large houses built in the historic Cottage Hill District during the latter part of the 1800s. Many pre-Civil War mansions were constructed up there, but after the conflict ended,the District became the domain of cottages built by the railroad workers, carpenters, clerks and the like. The original owner, Alfonso Mills, moved South in the late 1870s, and in Montgomery he became a successful cattleman, developer and building contractor. He built this house for himself, and it is said to be Montgomery’s very first utilization of brick-veneer construction. Besides that, Mills installed the city’s first ducted heating system; his home has no fireplaces –astounding for that era. Around the the 1980s it was known as the Sassafras Tea Room. Thanks to historian Jeff Benton for the great research.

-Charles Humphries