TS
The Temple of Sibyl offers tremendous views of Shades Valley and Samford University from atop Shades Mountain. One of the earliest residents of Vestavia was George Battey Ward, the well-traveled former mayor of Birmingham and a man of many interests, including the classics. He purchased twenty acres in a prominent spot on the crest and built a home in 1924 designed after the Temple of Vesta in Rome. He named his home Vestavia, or home by the way. Across the road on a peak overlooking the valley below, he added a garden gazebo, a replica of the Temple of Sibyl at Tivoli.