In 1969, with the Ordeman House restoration progressing Landmarks Foundation moved its first house, the deWolfe-Cooper Cottage, which dates from the mid1850s. Newspaper editor Thomas deWolfe built his home on the corner of Columbus and Bainbridge Streets, a prosperous middle-class neighborhood. DeWolfe edited the Advertiser and State Gazette, one of the leading newspapers of central Alabama.
Italianate elements, such as brackets and fanciful ventilator covers, outline the cornice, but the inviting, arched latticed front porch is steamboat gothic, a popular style at the time. The house has the typical interior of the period with a T-shaped hall that widens into a much larger chamber to the rear. Two rooms open to each side of the central hallway. Between the front and back halls are double-paneled doors with glass lights.
Mrs. Annie Cooper was the house’s last private resident, and it was from her that Landmarks Foundation acquired it in 1970. Moved about three blocks from its original site, the Cooper Cottage underwent restoration almost simultaneously with the Ordeman House in 1971 and served as the Reception Center and office for the museum. The deWolfe-Cooper Cottage is leased as commercial property.