Birmingham’s Haven for Hand-Picked Architectural Treasures
For over 30 years, Architectural Heritage has been supplying the Magic City with one-of-a-kind architectural antiques and specialty pieces you won’t find anywhere else. Get the scoop on this legendary shop! Image: Facebook / Architectural Heritage
Step inside Architectural Heritage, and it won’t take long to discover there is something different about this Homewood antique shop. The 6,500-square-foot warehouse and outdoor garden are home to a meticulously curated collection of exquisite architectural pieces: chimney pots from 19th-century England, stone troughs from the French countryside, marble and stone statuary from across 18th- and 19th-century Europe, and so much more.
But the shop doesn’t stop at antiques. Architectural Heritage also features newly handcrafted architectural pieces you won’t find just anywhere. In fact, they are the exclusive distributor of the iconic Bevolo Gas and Electrical Lanterns, and THE place to find clay and copper chimney pots.
Along with its unique inventory, Architectural Heritage’s expert designers make the shop Birmingham’s go-to source for curating a legacy home and garden that brings families together and connects clients to generations past and present.
We caught up with founder Roy Morton and co-owners Daniel and Andrew McCurry to hear the story behind Architectural Heritage, its mission, and exclusive offerings.
Origin Story: A Personal Spin on a Family Business
For Architectural Heritage founder Roy Morton, antiques are in his bones. His mother owned Bridges Antiques, and Roy’s first antiques sale was a pair of doors he sold from her garage. Realizing he might have the same knack for antiques as his mother, Roy joined her on a trip to Europe soon after.
“As I wandered around, I thought, ‘Wow, this is something I could do — but on the architectural end,’” Roy tells us.
Captivated by the beauty, history, and personality of architectural antiques from around the world, Roy returned to Alabama, and Architectural Heritage was born. He traveled back across the pond soon after and sourced his first batch of items in Lincolnshire, UK.
The Only Source of Bevolo Lanterns Outside the French Quarter
In the 1990s, Roy Morton met Andrew Bevolo through a mutual acquaintance after Andrew purchased Bevolo Gas and Electric Lights from his great-uncle. “He saw that we were fixing and refitting old Bevolo lanterns, and we thought it worked really well with what we were already doing,” Roy explains.
Bevolo’s iconic copper lanterns are still handmade the same way they were when the company was founded back in 1945. They are a mainstay feature throughout their home city of New Orleans, where the company still operates today.
Over the years, knock-offs have come and gone, but Roy remained loyal to Bevolo’s expert craftsmanship and authentic design. Roy’s commitment to Bevolo paid off, securing exclusive distributorship for Bevolo lanterns today.
(You can browse their stunning inventory of Bevolo gas and electric lanterns here.)
Architectural Antiques Trend: Chimney Pots
Architectural Heritage is also renowned in Birmingham for its exceptional selection of chimney pots, carrying over 60 handcrafted styles of Superior Clay chimney pots that can be customized to suit your home. They also offer copper chimney pots from European Copper, all handmade by metal artisans.
If you haven’t noticed these stunning chimneytop pieces around town (and other residential areas around the South), you will now!
Architectural Heritage sources antique pots dating back to 19th-century England, but also offers a selection of new pots.
Both new and antique chimney pots can be custom-fitted to provide a one-of-a-kind look to your home, but antique pots typically require more customization to ensure they are fitted properly. (Antique pots can also be repurposed as garden decor, and used as planters or sculptural elements!)
Whether old or new, Architectural Heritage’s design services can help you select the perfect chimney pot to lend a stately Victorian-era-inspired touch.
A Family Business That’s Bringing Families Together
Although Roy says he’s retired, he still plays a significant role in the shop, particularly in purchasing and selling. It’s a part of him that transcends a job title. Co-owners and brothers Daniel and Andrew McCurry bring their landscaping expertise to Architectural Heritage’s service offerings.
As the head garden designer, Daniel says every piece and placement is about a greater meaning and mission that surpasses the design trends; it’s bringing people together. “My brother’s and my ministry is to connect our clients and their families together. That’s what we are called to,” he tells us.
And Daniel brings that mission to every architectural antique he places. “The garden elements help make it feel like a legacy garden — something that the kids feel like they’ll inherit,” he explains. The idea that incorporating items from around the world lends itself to a bespoke home.
By bringing all the design elements together (which, Daniel says, can and should be a combination of old and new pieces), you create a unique sense of welcome that becomes distinctly your own.
If antiquing is in Roy’s bones, entertaining is in Daniel’s. He and his wife regularly host 80 guests or more at their home. In just the past few months, they’ve hosted an engagement party, a wedding, and a graduation party. Even if you prefer intimate events over grand ones, Daniel says it’s how your space feels that matters.
“When you go into a house that feels like a home, that’s how the garden should feel too, because you want people to want to be together in it — to feel comfortable in it,” Daniel says, “It takes a lot of little details to make it feel like that.”
That’s what Architectural Heritage is all about: Thoughtfully procuring and placing all of those elements needed to curate that garden party atmosphere for each client.
“We do decorating and staging … and the main ministry of it all is bringing families together,” Daniel says. “We want to create a space where a husband wants to have a glass of wine with his wife, and the teenagers want to spend time with their parents. A space the kids want to come back home to after they leave the nest, and the grandkids want to go back to.”
To shop Architectural Heritage’s inventory or request design services, visit architecturalheritage.com.
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Katie Leigh Matthews
A Birmingham native, Katie is a lifelong waterfall chaser and is passionate about the outdoors. She also loves connecting with remarkable women in the Birmingham community and bringing their stories to life. Katie has been writing professionally for over six years; you can find more of her work at Moms.com and Islands.com.