Construction on Glencairn began in 1830 and was completed in 1837 by John Erwin. Erwin was an influential attorney, slaveholder, and a Democratic politician. He was born on September 10, 1799 in Pendleton County, Virginia and had relocated to Alabama by 1821. He married Eliza Margaret Chadwick on October 5, 1822. He was elected as Greene County's representative in the Alabama Senate in 1831 and was chosen as president pro tempore the next year. He went on to also serve in the lower house in 1836, 1837, and 1842. He was a Congressional candidate in 1845 and 1851, but was defeated in both instances. Erwin owned 169 slaves in 1860 and was a leader in the secession movement that led to the formation of the Confederate States of America. He was heavily involved in the 1852 and 1860 Democratic National Conventions. He died at Glencairn on December 10, 1860 and was interred in Greensboro Cemetery. His son, George Erwin, inherited Glencairn and owned it until his death in 1916. It then passed to George's son, Cadwallader Erwin, until his death in 1955. The home remained in the hands of John Erwin's ancestors, being occupied after Cadwallader Erwin by his daughter, Ida Vernon Mahood and her husband Danner Lee Mahood, until the former's passing in 1987. The house then passed to daughter Katherine Rugg and husband Samuel Rugg before going to daughter Audrey McCulloh in 2015. After her death in August of that year, the house passed to her widower Mark McCulloh, who resides there now and is overseeing renovations to the interior.
Architecture
The two-story Greek Revival structure is frame construction. Some insist the style of the architecture is actually Georgian, a rarity among antebellum homes in the South. In any case, "Glencairn" features a five-bay main facade with a two-tiered portico over the central bay. The portico is supported by four Doric columns on each level, with Doric pilasters and elaborate wooden panels ornamenting the wall surface. The doorways on both levels are recessed and are surrounded by sidelights and a transom. A plain pediment crowns the portico. The exterior corners of the house have paneled pilasters, reaching up to a plain entablature above the second floor. The roof is hipped.
