Greensboro's Treasured Places

Queen Anne-style House Featured on Preservation Tour

In addition to nine other properties, the historic Cannaday-Ferguson House will be open on Preservation Greensboro's Tour of Historic Homes and Gardens on May 18-19!

Built in 1895, this Queen Anne-style house is a well-preserved example of the gracious and sturdy homes found in College Hill.  The oldest portion of the house is composed of a center-hall plan that focuses on the entry hall flanked by two equal-size rooms, each with rear fireplaces. A dining room and kitchen continued this original footprint. In the late 1910s, new mantles were built and the house grew in size as porches were enclosed. A porte-cochère, or “coach door,” extended the front verandah to accommodate the family car.

The Cannaday-Ferguson House was built by Cinderella and James Cannaday. James held a position as an engineer with the A C Rail Line, but he also bought and sold land across the city. This property was the couple's first acquisition in College Hill. They lived in this home until 1900, when they sold the property to Charles Ireland and moved into their smaller former rental house next door.

The house went through a series of owners until Ora and John Edward Ferguson purchased it in 1918. John was an insurance agent originally from Caswell County. He died in 1929, but Ora remained in the home for 46 years until she died at the age of 80 in 1964. The Fergusons are remembered for making significant changes to the home such as reworking mantles, adding bathrooms, enclosing porches, adding the porte-cochère, and expanding the gardens.

By 1987 the house was worn and needed investment. Ann and Tom Martin purchased the property and converted it into Greensboro’s second bed and breakfast inn. The College Hill Bed & Breakfast Inn took advantage of the sprawling floor plan and six fireplaces by featuring three guest rooms. The Martins sold the house to Betty Work and David Arneke in 1993. The new owners returned the property to single-family use but continued to make investments such as sprucing up the kitchen and bathrooms and further cultivating the sprawling gardens.

Preservation Greensboro's Third Annual Tour of Historic Homes and Gardens will feature ten vintage homes of the College Hill neighborhood. Plan to spend the weekend touring stunning homes of the nineteenth century that highlight interesting architecture, design ideas, and local history! Advanced tickets will be available for purchase after April 20th. Group tickets of ten or more are available for $15 per ticket!

Stay tuned to our website, this blog and our Facebook page for additional information!

Tour To Showcase Landmark College Hill Home

The historic Walker-Scarborough House will be open on Preservation Greensboro's Tour of Historic Homes and Gardens on May 18-19!

Situated on one of the largest lots within Greensboro’s College Hill Historic District, the Walker-Scarborough House is among the three oldest houses in the neighborhood and represents early features of Italianate style – articulated by the low-hipped roofline, wide overhanging eaves with exposed rafter ends, and a porch supported by chamfered posts. Interior appointments are typical to the Carolina Piedmont including a center-hall plan with steep stairs flanked by two equal rooms with end chimneys.

The house is believed to have been built by Governor John Motley Morehead as a wedding gift to his daughter Letitia and her husband, William Walker. William was from Rowan County, where his family operated a ferry used to cross the Yadkin River. Letitia and her husband didn’t live in the home long – William died in 1855 and Letitia moved her family back into Blandwood.

Samuel Scarborough, a grocer, and his wife, Elizabeth, purchased the house in 1863 and lived there for more than forty years. Confederate President Jefferson Davis is rumored to have met with his Cabinet in the house in the closing days of the Civil War as the group fled Richmond, Virginia. When
Elizabeth died in 1865, Samuel married his second wife, Julia, and raised their blended family in the home, including Rachel and Nanie and the younger children Etta, Archer, Clyde, Harry, Frank and Cora.

The Scarborough family made several important changes to the house, replacing the original detached kitchen with an attached wing, adding new bathrooms, and even erecting a classically designed porch. The family maintained ownership of the house through daughter Cora until 1933, when it passed through a succession of owners. By 1984 the home was severely deteriorated from its days as a rooming house and was vacant by order of condemnation. To save the house, the Greensboro Redevelopment Commission acquired it and transferred ownership to the College Hill Revolving Fund.

The Fund identified Jane and Bill Moore to purchase and restore the property in 1986. Bill was the director of the Greensboro Historical Museum. He commenced a major restoration of the home, returning its 1845 appearance by reconstructing the original porch, restoring early details and finishes, and added a new wing that serves as a kitchen and family room. Today, College Hill’s oldest residence at 168 years old appears much as it did when constructed with its soft earthen color scheme and woodgrained front door. The house was designated a Guilford County Landmark Property in 1991.

Preservation Greensboro's Third Annual Tour of Historic Homes and Gardens will feature ten vintage homes of the College Hill neighborhood. Plan to spend the weekend touring stunning homes of the nineteenth century that highlight interesting architecture, design ideas, and local history! Advanced tickets will be available for purchase after April 20th. Stay tuned to our website, this blog and our Facebook page for additional information!

Tracing an Architecturally Brazen Greensboro, 1944-1975

In 1955, the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce launched a program entitled “Keep Greensboro Ahead”, which was intended to ensure that Greensboro remained an industrial and manufacturing powerhouse in North Carolina. The city was second only to Charlotte in population at the time and suburbs were expanding north and west of the city, fueled by new offices of national firms such as Western Electric, Dow Corning, and J. P. Stevens as well as growth of local firms such as Lorillard, Cone Mills and Burlington. It was in the context of this expansion and prosperity that Greensboro witnessed commissions of architecture that illustrated some of the most notable examples of Modern architecture completed in North Carolina.

"Less is More" was the well-celebrated proclamation of the German design school Bauhaus, and Walter Gropius was Bauhaus' founder. In Greensboro, one building is attributed to the world famous designer that helped introduce modernist design principles to the American public.

A native of Berlin, Gropius was an architect and art educator who founded the Bauhaus in 1919. The school became a voice in architecture and the arts for the then-radical belief that design should be both functional as well as aesthetically-pleasing. In the world or architecture, the Bauhaus school advocated a functional and machined architectural style that eliminated surface decoration and extended the use of glass. Gropius left Nazi Germany secretly in 1934 and eventually joined the architecture faculty of Harvard University where he introduced Bauhaus concepts and design principles to a generation of American architects. Gropius worked on projects around the world, including Columbia, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and Greensboro before forming the Architects Collaborative in 1945. Among the Collaborative's commissions were the U.S. Embassy in Athens and the University of Baghdad. The Pan Am Building (now the Metropolitan Life Building) in New York City was one of his later designs, developed in alliance with Pietro Belluschi.

His Greensboro project, annotated in his records as "Entwurf für eine Fabrik (Design for a factory) in Greensboro, North Carolina," was constructed between 1944-46 on East Market Street as a local facility for Container Corporation of America. The expansive industrial building features Gropius's trademark banded windows, multi-colored brick, and clean, plain walls (image, right). The main office exhibits large windows overlooking Market Street, and a small landscaped plaza. Unlike most industrial buildings of the time, Gropius presented a pleasing facade to the the public street while relegating loading areas and venting to the rear. Copies of the drawing and early photos can be found in the Harvard Art Museums collection.

Greensboro’s economy began to show signs of rapid growth in the years just after World War II, when Sears, Roebuck and the United States Postal Service both opened southeastern hubs in the city. Accordingly, another early example of Modern design came to Greensboro in 1949 when the New York firm Voorhees, Walker, Foley and Smith designed the austere Ellis-Stone department store on South Elm Street (image, right). The firm was led by partner Ralph Walker, once voted “Architect of the century” by his peers. The firm was well-known in New York as designers of the 1939 World’s Fair complex, 1 Wall Street (now the Bank of New York), the Barclay-Vesey Building, and New York Telephone Company headquarters Building in Lower Manhattan. Walker was the president of the American Institute of Architects when he designed the Greensboro department store. Known today as the South Elm Center, the building retains its Carrera marble entry, clean brick walls and rectilinear forms that exemplify early Modern period designs.

Greensboro-based architect Ed Loewenstein came to the city from Chicago in 1946, and immediately set a new standard for modern designs. Educated at MIT, Loewenstein was influenced by the organic architecture of Chicago architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and often incorporated large expanses of glass, natural textures, and dramatic interior spaces into his designs. Loewenstein is well-known in Greensboro for having designed the old Public Library (today the Elon Law School; image, right) at Greene Street and Friendly Avenue, as well as the Stern House, and UNC-G’s Alonzo Towers. The Elon Law School features contrasting aggregate walls, with sculpted relief panels designed by UNCG artist Gregory Ivey. Loewenstein’s own home on Granville Rd features hand laid stone walls, broad expanses of tilted windows, clerestory windows, and a relationship between interior and exterior space and light. The house was featured in the New York Times Magazine in June, 1955.

San Francisco native George Matsumoto also brought nationally popular contemporary designs to Greensboro in his 1958 plans for the E. K. Thrower House in Sedgefield. A graduate of the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan, Matsumoto studied under internationally renowned architect Eliel Saarinen. In 1948, he and several other faculty and students assisted Henry L. Kamphoefner to establish the School of Design at North Carolina State University. During his tenure at the School of Design between 1948 and 1961, Matsumoto designed the Thrower house incorporating sleek lines within a natural setting that won an Award of Excellence from Architectural Record Annual Honor Awards in 1961. The notable landscape drew the attention of the American Society of Landscape Architects, which recognized Matsumoto’s gardens and terraces by way of an Award of Merit.

In 1962, A&T graduate W. Edward Jenkins established his own firm in Greensboro. Jenkins initially practiced design and engineering with Ed Loewenstein, but on his own, he designed a broad range of Modern style buildings, such as the J. Kenneth Lee House on Broad Avenue in east Greensboro (image, right), and the gymnasium for Dudley High School, for which Jenkins was recognized with an award. As one of the first African American architects in North Carolina, Jenkins is remembered for his innovative designs of brick and wood, as well as his engineering proficiency for spanning large spaces, as exemplified in his design for the Three College Observatory atop the Cane Creek Mountains south of Burlington.

By the late 1960s, Greensboro’s Modern movement was in its highest expression, and interest in Modernism resulted in local designs from architects of national and international significance. One such firm, Odell and Associates, had a strong influence on Greensboro’s corporate architecture. Arthur Gould Odell Jr., a native of Concord, N.C., graduated from Cornell University as well as the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. In 1940, he founded Odell Associates in Charlotte, which became an influential firm in spreading Modern designs across the southeast. In Greensboro, the company designed several buildings, including the 16-story gray steel and blue glass Wachovia Building in 1966 (reskinned; image, right), the sleek Novartis complex on I-40 and Swing Road in 1967, and the striking Burlington Corporate Headquarters on West Friendly Avenue in 1971 (destroyed). Odell specialized in corporate architecture that demonstrated progress and innovation.

Another contribution to Modern design in Greensboro came from Eduardo Catalano of Cambridge Massachusetts. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Catalano engineered unique modern structures such as his home in Raleigh (destroyed), built in 1954 after arriving to teach at the School of Design in Raleigh, NC. Catalano’s work synthesized art, architecture, engineering, and science into designs. His Greensboro project was the Government Center, constructed on three blocks on downtown Greensboro between 1965 and 1975. Designed in the Brutalist style, the concrete buildings are massive and permanent, evoking simple geometric shapes often cantilevered over a central plaza (image, right). Other buildings designed by Catalano include the US embassies in Buenos Aires, Argentina and in Pretoria, South Africa and the Juilliard School of Music at New York City's Lincoln Center.

Those interested in learning more about Greensboro’s Modernist past will have the opportunity to attend a free lecture entitled Mayberry Modernism on WEDNESDAY, March 6th at 6:00pm in Room 207 at the Elon Law School Building, 201 N Greene St, Greensboro. George Smart, founder of Triangle Modernist Houses will explore some of Greensboro’s wonderful Modernist gems and the architects who designed them, such as Lamar Northup, Willie Edward "Blue" Jenkins, Clinton Gravely, William Streat, Gerard Gray, and Ed Loewenstein. Presented jointly by Triangle Modernist Houses and Preservation Greensboro. This event is FREE. Email us or call 336-272-5003 to RSVP.

Cascade Saloon Dodges Demolition

Thanks to the efforts of preservationists in our city, Greensboro City Council took a stand today against demolition of the Cascade Saloon on South Elm Street. In recognizing its historic value and its importance in the fabric of the city, they also had the wisdom to understand the expenses associated with NOT saving it. No building could be constructed on the site if the landmark were demolished, and it would remain a vacant lot in the middle of our historic downtown. Stay tuned for what is next in this
developing story.

Read more about the Cascade Saloon at a Crossroads here.

Greensboro's Nine Award Winning Preservation Projects

Preservation Greensboro met on February 12th to celebrate historic preservation in Greensboro at its 47th Annual Meeting held at the Greensboro Country Club. The organization reviewed accomplishments of 2012 and looked forward to planned events and activities in 2013 such as the Tour of Historic Homes and Gardens in College Hill in May, and the Blandwood Ball planned for January 2014.

The organization also honored noteworthy projects that have made significant contributions in preservation in our community. A total of nine preservation awards recognized historic preservation initiatives that were sensitive to historic character and architectural integrity.

This charming Queen Anne-style home was constructed around 1895 by William Moore, an early Greensboro photographer. As College Hill changed in the mid-century, so did the Moore House. Like so many houses in the neighborhood it was divided up into apartments by 1960. Around 1990 it caught the eye of Sheryl and Rich Jackson, and they acquired the house and lived there for many years. However, with the passage of time the Jacksons moved away and the house became a neglected rental property again. In 2012, the historic house gained a new lease of life when it was acquired by Jillian Brady and Peter Williams. Over the past few months the house has received a fresh coat of paint and has reclaimed its spot as one of College Hill’s most charming homes.

The vernacular farmhouse-style Beasley House is among the first constructed in the Aycock neighborhood, and has been restored through the efforts of several owners over the past 25 years. Harriette and William C. Beasley were the first to occupy this house. The couple likely constructed the house in 1904, where they lived with their nine children! Through the 1960s and 70s, the house fell into poor condition and was left virtually vacant. The house was renovated in the mid-1980s with upgraded utilities, and recent owners Christina and Robert Cantrell have continued to invest in making the house a wonderful home. Their most recent improvement, orchestrated by Southern Evergreen Design/Build, expanded a master bath and provided for a modern laundry room. Their project illustrates that old houses don’t require pioneer living – but with the right eye, the best of the past can be enjoyed alongside the best of the present.
 
Located at the highly visible intersection of 5th Avenue and Yanceyville Street, this Craftsman Bungalow was built around 1923 and first occupied by P. C. Clapp, a travelling salesman. Through the years, the house suffered by not enjoying modern updates and investment other houses enjoyed as the Aycock neighborhood was revitalized. That changed last June when Peggy McGinty and Fifth Avenue Investors LLC purchased the house and immediately set out to give it that much needed care. One of the first major changes to the appearance of the site was the removal of false siding in order to re-expose the original wood siding that was subsequently painted. As the project progressed, the crew grew more and more enamored with the house, even preserving the front door when it was slated for the trash heap. Today, the Clapp Bungalow stands proudly in the heart of the Aycock neighborhood as a great example of the neighborhood’s revival!

The third in a trio in the Aycock neighborhood to be recognized for preservation stewardship, this Craftsman Cottage was not destitute, but it needed investment to bring it from the 1960s to the 2010s. When built in 1914, its first owner was D. R. Hunt, the Chief Pipefitter at Cone Mills. Appropriately, he installed a steam pipe as the handrail in the house! In the 1970s, Dr. James Waller and his wife lived in the home. Dr. Waller was one of five people killed in the Greensboro Massacre of 1979. As a leader of the Greensboro Communist Workers Party, he kept a mimeograph machine in a small room tucked under the front eave of the house. The room remains intact featuring old posters extolling the Workers Party on the wall. Last year the careworn house was purchased by NC Home Buyer. The partnership invested in a new kitchen, bathrooms and refurbished charming historic features such as the floor, a wonderful built-in china cupboard, and gave the exterior a new upgrade through paint and a backyard  entertainment space. With attention to history, even the little space under the eaves where Dr. Waller kept his promotional material was preserved.

Poplar Hall is a landmark in the Irving Park neighborhood, with ancient boxwoods surrounding the grand Tuscan portico of this stately 1912 mansion that overlooks a sweeping lawn studded with centuries-old poplar trees. This home was designed by Hartford Connecticut architect A. Raymond Ellis around 1912.  It has been home to three generations of the Brooks family, and even Eleanor Roosevelt, a family friend, was a frequent guest in the house. Poplar Hall was never in poor condition, but it needed repairs that could have been done without sympathy to historic preservation doctrine. The home’s current owner, Dr. Helen Brooks, oversaw work to refresh the house and today, Poplar Hall stands as gracious as ever, with the careful eye of its steward taking a preservation approach.

The Wysong and Miles Office Building is known by many as the home of the Rose Spa, an operation with a bawdy reputation in our city. In spite of its risqué past, many residents recognized the potential of this curious building near the railroad underpass on Fulton Street. Few knew that it was once the center of a bustling factory complex that supplied factories across the country. Two years ago the property found itself in the hands of the capable preservation team of Joe Bauer and Joe Thompson of New Age Builders, who initiated a restoration of the 110-year old building for use as office space. Down came the glass brick and the red lights, and in their place were returned double hung windows and wonderful light fixtures that make this building as light and airy as any big city loft. Happily, the history of the Wysong and Miles offices has been preserved for future generations to enjoy.
 
Charles Barton Keen was a North Carolina Star Architect in the 1920s, and commissions like the McAlister House are the projects that helped put him on the map. This was his first commission after designing Reynolda House in Winston-Salem, and the McAlister House certainly shares many of the same characteristics and features including the trademark green Ludowici Tile roofline, the smooth plaster walls, pergolas, and the long symmetrical façade. Since it was constructed in 1918, the house has held a prominent site overlooking the second fairway of the Greensboro Country Club’s golf course. Though it has long been a celebrated property, voluntarily recognized as a Landmark Property by the Guilford County Preservation Commission in 2004, the house was in foreclosure last year when it was purchased by Liz and David Johnson. The couple devised a comprehensive rehabilitation of the house with architect Steven Carter Price and Classic Construction to update bedrooms and baths, renew the kitchen, and reconstruct the garage so that it was more in keeping with the design of the main house. Thanks to the Johnsons and their team, this landmark property still shines and another important example of Charles Barton Keen is celebrated.
 
Located in the Fisher Park neighborhood, the Sweeny – Penn House was recognized in 2009 as one of Preservation Greensboro’s most endangered properties because city officials had initiated an order for its demolition.  That’s when the Preservation Greensboro Development Fund contacted the owner to see how they could be of assistance. Volunteers cleared legal obstructions to the sale of the property, removed truckloads of materials and opened the home during the Tour of Historic Homes. Several suitors stepped forward but Cheryl and Tracy Pratt placed the winning bid. As an architect, Tracy’s knowledge blended with DLM Builders to create a plan to address this challenging restoration project, while Cheryl investigated sources to incorporate the philosophy of Craftsman architecture into the home. Long anticipated, neighbors and preservationists are excited to see this once derelict home turned into the pride of Fisher Park!
 
The UNCG Quad was constructed between 1919 and 1923 by prominent Greensboro architect Harry Barton, and it quickly became a treasured place in the hearts of alumni for generations. When plans were announced in 2009 that the complex would be demolished, students, alumni, and activists asked the UNCG Board to consider an alternative plan for the complex that including preservation. In the fall of that year the Board announced plans to rehabilitate the Quad for continued use as student housing. Over the next three years, general contractors D.H. Griffin Construction Co. and Balfour Beatty competed a $55 million renovation of all seven residence halls which make up the Quad. The comprehensive project invested in reinventing the iconic parlors which serve as the “living rooms” for the students. Restrooms, modern utilities, ADA access, and efficient energy systems were installed behind the old walls. Outside, the large oaks were protected during the construction process. Perhaps the largest preservation project in Greensboro history, a new generation of students calls the Quad home.
 
Preservation Greensboro is a membership organization and the city’s leading advocate dedicated to the conservation of treasured places. Established in 1966, it operated Architectural Salvage of Greensboro, Blandwood Mansion, the Blandwood Carriage House, and serves as an advocate for historic preservation throughout Guilford County.

Iconic Guilford County Neighborhoods Receive National Register Recognition

Two iconic Guilford County neighborhood nominations were accepted by the National Park service this month that expanded the National Register of Historic Places program to hundreds of homeowners.

The National Register of Historic Places is the America’s list of places worthy of recognition and preservation. The program was authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, and is part of an initiative to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect our nations's historic and archeological history. Places may be listed as individual properties, or as multiple-property districts.

Here in Guilford County, residents were quick to realize the benefits of designation. The first property to be listed was the Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, listed the same year the program was initiated; in 1966. It was followed by Blandwood Mansion in 1970. With the two most recent additions, Guilford County has 101 inscriptions on the National Register – more than any other county in North Carolina with the exception of Wake (Raleigh) and Buncombe (Asheville).

The benefit of National Register designation is its service. Although property owners may still maintain (or destroy) their properties as they wish, incentives are available to Contributing properties in the form of tax credits that benefit those who strive to adhere to the Secretary of Interior’s Standards for their restoration project. In doing so, residents receive a 30% income tax credit from the state if expenses exceed $25,000 within a 24 month period. Commercial and rental properties (defined as “income-producing” by officials) can earn even higher credits through state and federal applications. Beyond financial benefits, the documentation of neighborhood history as part of the National Register nomination process is invaluable for neighborhood promotion and pride.
 
The struggling economy has renewed interest in National Register designation as a way to promotes historic neighborhoods and encourage reinvestment in the tax base.  Property owners may manage their individual holdings as they choose, however the tax incentives are available for those who wish to invest with an eye to history. It is a useful tool for the stabilization of older neighborhoods.

In High Point, the new district is entitled “Uptown Suburbs,” and comprises multiple neighborhoods with a total of 759 contributing buildings. The newly listed neighborhoods include Johnson Place, Roland Park, The Parkway, Sheraton Hill, and Emerywood, all platted between 1907 and 1946. The neighborhoods contain some of North Carolina’s best examples of Period Revival architecture and examples of work by High Point’s best-known architects including Tyson Ferree, Herbert Hunter, Fred Klein, Mays and Park, Louis Voorhees, Greensboro’s Harry Barton, and Winston-Salem based Northup and O’Brien.

The High Point report traced several historic themes. The early-twentieth century suburbs adopted gridded street-plans that ran parallel to streetcar lines and attracted prominent business owners and upper-level managers.  Later, the Emerywood development “was designed by Earle Sumner Draper and utilized wide, curvilinear streets with deep lots and irregular intersections to contribute to the park-like feel of the neighborhood” to cater to an increasingly auto-based client base. The Uptown Suburbs Historic District contains a remarkable collection of architectural house forms and styles, ranging from the Turn-of-the-Century Queen Anne-style to Mid-Century Modern Style of the 1960s. 

In Greensboro, the Sunset Hills neighborhood has replaced Fisher Park’s 541-building-district as the city’s largest National Register Historic District with 912 buildings included. The report found the community to be “abounding with mature trees and lush vegetation and following a grid plan intermingled with some curvilinear streets.” The 370-page document concluded that “Sunset Hills remains an outstanding local example of conscious suburban planning for residential development in the period just before the onset of the Great Depression.”

A few surprises were discovered. The oldest residence in Sunset Hills is the frame dwelling at 2702 West Market Street. According to neighborhood residents, the house was built in 1895 on the south side of West Market Street, but was moved to its present site around 1932. Its current appearance reflects more recent alterations.

The report documents early restrictions that were common during the period, such as deed restrictions. “Like other suburban neighborhoods in Greensboro in the 1920s, deeds for property in Sunset Hills carried restrictions aimed at creating a quiet, attractive, and racially exclusive neighborhood,” the report says. “Deeds stipulated where a house or garage could be built on a lot in relation to the street and the side lot lines. Dwellings could not cost less than $5,500 and any house plans had to be approved by Moore Realty. The final restriction noted in these early deeds was that ‘no person of negro descent shall own said lot or shall occupy said lot except as domestic servants.’” Such restrictions have long ago expired.

The report also explains that Greensboro became the first North Carolina city to create a municipal planning commission, established in 1920. This resulted in the orderly development that kept industrial and commercial development out of Sunset Hills and preserved the neighborhood that continued to develop into the mid- 1960s.

These two nominations represent a resurgence of interest in historic preservation initiatives county-wide. Although High Point has enjoyed recent district inscriptions to the National Register – most recently the Washington Street Historic District in 2010 – Sunset Hills is the first new National Register district in Greensboro since the Irving Park Historic District was listed in 1995.

Residents and property owners of both new districts may refer to the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office website for more information on how to utilize tax credits on their next project.

The Secrets of Hamilton Lakes

In spite of the high profile that the name “Hamilton Lakes” enjoys in western Greensboro, many in the Gate City are unable to attach to name to any specific location. Is the area part of Starmount? Is it the Guilford College area? Is it near Westover? Few people who zip along Friendly Avenue and West Market Street have ever seen the “lakes” of Hamilton Lakes.

The truth is – Hamilton Lakes is one of Greensboro’s most treasured places.

Hamilton Lakes is a community created as one of the largest assemblages of property in the history of the Greensboro. Beginning as early as 1900, Alfred Moore (A. M.) Scales, an attorney and nephew of a former North Carolina Governor with the same name, began to acquire tracts of land north and west of the city. With business partner Alexander Worth McAlister, the pair developed the easternmost tract of this land as the Irving Park golf course community in 1912, under the auspices of the Southern Real Estate Company.

Leveraging the success of Irving Park, Scales purchased farms owned by established Quaker families such as the Caldwells, Coffins, and Ballingers located along the primary thoroughfares west of the city. By 1922 he had amassed 4,683 acres that extended from West Market Street and Wendover Avenue on the south and east to Battleground on the north and Jefferson and New Garden roads on the west. With his land secured, he set out to create a resort-like community to accommodate the growing demand by middle and upper income residents for large lots in a bucolic and relaxing setting.

Scales’ vision resulted in the Town of Hamilton Lakes, incorporated 6 March 1925 and containing 1,600 acres, ten miles of roads – four of which were paved with distinctive tan-colored asphalt, water and sewers mains, and numerous recreational opportunities such as playgrounds and lakes (image, right). Scales, as mayor of his newly formed village, marketed the community to prospective homeowners as:

“Out from the crowded streets of the town, far from the congestion and traffic, a beautiful village is designed to soothe the senses. Parks and lakes replace crowded corners – the songs of birds, the noise of motors and trolleys – and flowers and shrubs bloom on every side. Thousands of rose bushes grace the roadsides, and dogwood, redbud, and laurel have been planted in the work of beautification.”

Hamilton Lakes expanded on the prospect of a recreational lifestyle established with his earlier development, Irving Park. Irving Park had a country club and golf course, but Scales expanded recreational opportunities in Hamilton Lakes to include “Lakes – tennis courts – bowling greens – wading pools – parks – gardens that are scattered over the village. Plan to come out and live where you play.” Central to the pastoral lifestyle theme of the neighborhood were two lakes; Lake Euphemia (named after Scales’ mother) and Hamilton Lake that were impounded behind decorative fieldstone dams (image, right). The large lakes provided a focus for the community, and distinguished Hamilton Lakes from any other community in the Gate City.

Though Scales broke new ground in offering amenities, he continued the tradition in Greensboro of dedicating lowlands for use as park space and encircling these natural spaces with curvilinear roads. Begun in Fisher Park in 1901, the technique allowed for Sunday afternoon drivers to enjoy scenic vistas and architectural confections from opposing sides of their car. Scales called these parks “dales” and incorporated four such spaces in his plan: Keeling Dale, Erskine Dale, Kemp Dale, and Nut Bush Dale.

The earliest houses were erected in the neighborhood in 1926 and 1927, many designed by distinguished architects.

Likely the first was Scales’ own house, a grand neoclassical composition at 1207 Lakewood Drive (image, right). The house was designed by architect Christopher Gadsen Sayre, at that time a resident of the city, and an accomplished architect who was among the first in the state to be licensed. The brick house overlooks Lake Hamilton and features two remarkable facades: one focused landside and the other looking lakeside. The landside elevation is formal with a classical entryway centered within eight Corinthian pilasters, four sets of French doors and a full modillion cornice. The lakeside is just as elegant, with a grand portico topped by a Chippendale balustrade.

The Ruth and Joseph R. Morton House at 302 Kemp Road East is attributed to Baltimore architect William Duncan Lamdin, a partner in the firm Palmer, Willis and Lamdin. The firm was proficient in designing homes of early American and European-style architecture, having composed numerous estates and educational buildings in the Mid-Atlantic. The Norman-inspired house features sweeping rooflines of multi-colored clay-tiles, a conical stair tower, and a massive chimney. The home was complemented by the surrounding gardens that were designed by Ruth Morton The Morton House is the only know structure designed by this firm in North Carolina. Joe Morton was the founder of Morflex, a Greensboro-based chemical supplier.

The architectural momentum in Hamilton Lakes was so attractive that it lured the investment of one of Greensboro’s primary architects, Harry Barton. Barton, designer of the Guilford County Courthouse, the UNCG Quad, High Point Central High School, and the War Memorial Stadium, built his striking home at 104 Kemp Road West (image, right). The home is an exotic Spanish Colonial composition that includes a Spanish tile roof, stucco walls, and numerous details such as spiral columns, shields, and iron balcony and a quatrefoil window above the main entry. The house is one of the only examples of Spanish architecture in Barton’s vast portfolio of designs across the state.

In addition to the diversity of domestic architecture within Hamilton Lakes are impressive examples of stonemasonry in the form of utilitarian improvements such as dams (image, right), bridges, culverts, and recreation space. These stone features are crafted of native fieldstone, set with as rubble stone, and often sporting a semicircular arch motif for rails and guards. These features were likely constructed to enhance the resort-like atmosphere of the community, and are the most significant group of a family of stone landscape features that distinguish Greensboro from other Piedmont cities.

In the 1920s, golf was a growing sport, especially among the upwardly mobile leisure class that Scales was targeting to buy land and construct homes. To meet his high expectations, Scales selected the golf course design duo Wayne Stiles and John Van Kleek to plan a course for Hamilton Lakes. An amateur golfer, Stiles was based in Boston and oversaw the construction of over 100 courses throughout the country. His partner Van Kleek was a professionally trained landscape architect with experience designing municipal parks and playgrounds. By 1924, the pair formed their partnership to leveraged growing interest in golf course development into a nationally-recognized firm.

Scales grandly announced the Hamilton Lakes golf course (image, right) with an advertisement stating:

“In one of the most sightly sections, an eighteen-hole golf course is being built. It was designed by Stiles and Van Kleek, and constructed under their supervision. It will be of championship caliber, and provide a severe test for the most expert, as well as countless hours of pleasure for the beginner. The course will be open for play in the early fall.”

Stiles and Van Kleek specialized in designing challenging courses, and it is said they sometimes designed fairways beginning with the greens first. The greens were often hidden from the teeing ground by native vegetation, and the pair’s skill in cultivating the aesthetics of their courses is much admired. The course was the only one in North Carolina designed by this famous pair, and it has since been reconstructed twice, once in 1971 and again in 1999.

The golf course opened in 1930, an auspicious period in the history of the Hamilton Lakes community. The Great Stock Market Crash occurred in October 1929, but overbuilding in Greensboro in the years prior caused the financial panic that threw highly leveraged investors such as Scales into foreclosure with their lenders. Scales had received financing from the Sternberger brothers, Emanuel and Herman, investment partners with the Cone family and the Cone Mills Corporation. Upon foreclosure, the 4,683 acre tract of land assembled by Scales became the property of Emanuel’s daughter Blanche Sternberger Benjamin and her husband Edward Benjamin.

To confront sluggish sales, Benjamin re-oriented Scales original vision for the Town of Hamilton Lakes by developing land closer to the city of Greensboro and extending West Market Street into the community (image, right). This provided a direct route to downtown Greensboro and Lindley Park Elementary school. Benjamin leveraged the new Stiles and Van Kleek golf course into the Starmount Country Club, so named by anglicizing the surname “Sternberger.”

With an improved market position and a strengthening local economy, sales of homes in the newer section of the community known as “Starmount Forest” gained momentum throughout the late 1930s.

In 1948, as part of the promotion of the H. C. Potter comedy film “Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House” starring Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, and Melvyn Douglas, film producer R. K. O. Studios partnered with General Electric to construct 60 “Dream Houses” across the country. Starmount Forest was selected as the location for one of only two such homes constructed in North Carolina and opened for public tours and promotions (image, right).

A year later, Sternberger Elementary School was opened for neighborhood students. Blanche Sternberger Benjamin donated a nine acre tract of land for the school, which honors her mother, Bertha S. Sternberger.

Starmount Forest grew increasingly popular in the 1950s, yet its residents still lived in a primarily rural setting with few retail amenities. Benjamin examined several options to provide residents with shopping opportunities – including a village of shops along Madison Avenue – before choosing to recast an unrealized subdivision known as Friendly Village as a suburban shopping center. Opened in 1957, the new Friendly Shopping Center featured popular stores such as Belk, Colonial Stores grocery, and Woolworth's, all with convenient access to a sea of 1,300 parking spaces (image, right).

In 1957, the Town of Hamilton Lakes was annexed into the City of Greensboro. The town’s small police force and other services were disbanded, but the community maintained its own parks and walking trails through neighborhood association dues and private contributions.

Into the twenty-first century, Hamilton Lakes and Starmount Forest remain popular neighborhoods that are defined by the vision of A. M. Scales and Edward Benjamin, the contributions of designers Sayre, Lamdin, Barton, Stiles, and Van Kleek, and the generosity of the Scales and Benjamin family. In 1988 the Scales Mansion was recognized by the Greensboro City Council as a Guilford County Landmark property. As recently as 2007, the Starmount Company, heir to the Benjamin family interests, donated a verdant five acre tract of land to the city of Greensboro in honor of Blanche Sternberger Benjamin. 

Special thanks to J. Taylor Doggett for his private publication “Memories of the Town of Hamilton Lakes”

Landmark Cascade Saloon at a Crossroads

Greensboro grew and prospered in the nineteenth century due to its location at the intersection of two major transportation routes; the north-south road from Virginia to Fayetteville; and the east west railroad that connected Charlotte to the seaport of Morehead City. The Fayetteville Road is known today as Battleground Avenue north of downtown, Elm Street through downtown, and Martin Luther King Jr Drive south of the city.

At the intersection of these two trade routes is a three-story brick landmark known as the Cascade Saloon, itself at a metaphorical intersection of major Gate City themes of business, culture, and ethnicity. Over 110 years old, this building might be on the verge of preservation that could unite downtown Greensboro, or pending destruction that could divide the historic district at the railroad tracks.

The building was constructed in 1896 on South Elm Street between the North Carolina Railroad tracks to the north, and a spur of the Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railway to the south. This unusual location between two rail lines resulted in the structure having no adjacent buildings, resulting in its stand-alone setting and high-profile presence along Greensboro’s main business street. Although the architect of the building is unknown, it is clearly part of a family of Elm Street buildings designed by the same hand. Shared characterizes of these buildings include Mount Airy Granite window sills and lintels, use of patterned brickwork, and elaborate cornices.

The structure originally had twin storefronts, the northernmost addressed as 408 South Elm Street and the southernmost as 410. The earliest records of the building in 1897 include grocer George. T. McLamb in 408, and saloon owner Samuel J. McCauley in unit 410.  By 1907, two new businesses moved into the building, including Wiley Weaver’s “eating house” or café, in the space at 408. Weaver and his wife Ida were African-American, and the couple had just been married in 1903 in High Point and lived in a home on North Macon Street in East Greensboro. They operated the café at a time when Jim Crow Laws sought to segregate African-Americans away from white-owned businesses. The fact that the Weavers ran their business on Greensboro’s main commercial street is an unusual footnote in Greensboro’s history. By 1913, the café was operated as the Cascade Billiard Parlor, one of only five pool halls in the city. It was during this time that the building was photographed for what is now an iconic view of old Greensboro (image, right: see far left).

Throughout the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, numerous businesses occupied the twin spaces at 408 and 410, and even the upper floors. These included cafes, cigar manufacturers, grocers, furniture sales, and a roller rink. Baker Furniture Company occupied the building through the 1950s and 60s, and in 1974 the building was home to the Greensboro Times.

The Greensboro Times was a newspaper published by attorney Ross Strange, who acquired the building to house his publishing operations. The paper was discontinued around 1980 and the structure has remained vacant since that time. In 1982, thanks to the efforts of the Old Greensboro Preservation Society, portions of Elm Street including the Cascade Saloon were included on the National Register of Historic Places.

As South Elm Street enjoyed a revival, preservationists grew increasingly concerned with the state of the Cascade Saloon as it deteriorated throughout the 1990s. Downtown developed as a popular home for artists and antique dealers who were lured by the charming architecture of the street, and their investments and improvements were followed by retailers and restaurants. However, the Cascade Saloon, a centerpiece to the neighborhood, remained dark. City officials, concerned with the abandonment of the building, sought to have the structure destroyed.

In 2005, Ross Strange sought to have the building recognized as a Guilford County Landmark property by the Greensboro City Council. The designation triggered delays in demolition but also awarded the property owner with a 50% property tax deferral. The tax deferral, applicable to all Landmarked properties, is intended to assuage the cost of maintenance of historic properties. However, the Cascade Saloon continued to deteriorate with no visible improvements to stabilize the structure.

To complicate matters, the adjacent North Carolina Railroad claims a right-of-way that includes the Cascade Saloon. If the building is destroyed, the railroad will likely block any reconstruction on the parcel, denying Greensboro the tax revenue, the connectivity north and south of the tracks, and economic revenue that the property could contribute to the city as a rehabilitated and occupied structure. If removed (mock photo, right), the railroad would likely only allow replacement with a gravel parking lot, creating a wide rift separating the 300 and 500 blocks of Elm Street.

Today, the Cascade Saloon remains at a crossroads. Although it is privately owned, the building cannot be left to deteriorate as it has for the past 30 years. However, as a Landmark property in a neighborhood recognized as one of the best “big city” downtowns in North Carolina, the structure mustn’t be destroyed. The aesthetics, economics, and environmental sustainability of the site all indicate the building is best preserved through a careful restoration program that takes advantage of state and federal tax credits, which could compensate the total project costs by as much as 40%.

Concerned citizens are drawn to this case from a variety of perspectives, including history and architecture, the vibrancy of downtown, the movement to restore buildings for sustainability and even building our city’s tax base. You can help efforts by joining the Save Cascade Saloon Facebook page or by watching announcements from Preservation Greensboro about these efforts.

Old House in High Point Gets a Vintage Use

The Prairie-style Sherrod House on Main Street in High Point will soon have a new owner!

The sprawling house located at 1100 North Main Street with an iconic green tile roof could close as early as September 14th, according to purchasers Martha Ann Barnard and Chip Harris. The pair currently operate Vintage Thrift and Antiques from a storefront on Hillcrest Place, but the shop will move into the larger new space once renovations are complete. In addition to Vintage, the couple will rent booth space on the first floor to individual antique dealers and run a furniture consignment operation on the second floor.

The Sherrod House was built by prominent High Point businessman Archibald Sherrod and his wife Lizzie in 1915. Sherrod was originally from Martin County in eastern North Carolina and relocated to High Point in 1898 after purchasing the High Point Chair Company. An active businessman, Sherrod held interests in the Sherrod Shirt Co. on North Main Street, as well as real estate and insurance ventures. He was the principal developer of Sherrod Park, now an historic district centered on Woodrow Avenue.

At the time the house was constructed, the neighborhood that is considered “Uptown High Point” today was residential in character. The house likely caused a stir among High Point residents when it was constructed due to its stark, modern appearance that stood in sharp contrast to the traditional Colonial Revival styles constructed on neighboring lots. The house features a wide porch set upon a foundation of Mount Airy granite, the material of choice for fashionable early twentieth-century houses in the piedmont. Dramatically wide overhanging eaves block the strong vertical summer sun while allowing the warming rays of low winter sunlight into the house through oversized windows. The Prairie-style details of this home, a genre popularized in the Midwest by Frank Lloyd Wright, are rarely seen in North Carolina. The house will be inscribed to the National Register of Historic Places as part of the larger Uptown Suburbs National Register Historic District currently under review.

Interior details continue the Prairie theme within a more traditional floor plan (right). Unlike Wright’s organic floor plans, formal parlors open to the right and left of a generous reception room. Rising from the reception room is a grand staircase distinguished by a simple, straight-cut balustrade. The dining room exhibits handmade paneling of American cherry, and oak floors unite all the rooms of the first-floor.

Barnard, a native of Greensboro and Harris, a native of Jamestown, saw the opportunity of expanding their business into the historic home as interest grew in vintage items and furniture in High Point. With similar operations in nearby cities, High Point residents will now have a local option within the setting of one of High Point’s most unique properties.

Individuals interested in being a part of this project by consigning furniture or renting space to sell antiques may contact Harris at this email address.

Barn Again! Can These Two Barns Find a Second Chance?

Available: Two tobacco barns, indigenous to Guilford County. Must be moved - first come, first served.

Have you ever wanted an historic workshop in your backyard? How about a log guesthouse…or a charming artist’s studio?

Two authentic Guilford County tobacco barns might serve any number of new roles, with nineteenth century craftsmanship and history to boot!

The Gate City was one of several Old (Bright) Belt tobacco market town, along with Burlington, Madison, Mebane, Mt. Airy, Reidsville, Roxboro, Stoneville and Winston-Salem. The Old Belt extended into Southside Virginia, and is recognized as the birthplace of bright-leaf tobacco production.

Old Belt tobacco markets opened in the late summer and early fall. The Old Belt was the last to open in our state, as the tobacco season started earlier in belts located south and east. The Middle Belt centered on Durham and Sanford, the North Carolina Eastern Belt included Wilson and Kinston, and the Border Belt along the North and South Carolina border.

Bright tobacco is differentiated from other leaves (such as Burley) in having leaves are picked as they ripen from the ground up. The picked leaves are then bundled and tied to sticks and hung in air-tight barns. The barns are heated by wood or gas, with metal flues carrying the heat into the barn to bake the leaves slowly. As the green tobacco leaves dry out and cure in the dry heat, the leaves turn bright yellow, hence the name “bright-leaf.”

Flue-cured bright tobacco was mild and buttery in taste. First popular as a chewing (plug) product, it grew in popularity as a cigarette product in the 1870s. Some historians propose that cigarettes made their first popular debut at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia where they were heavily marketed through displays.

Cigarette consumption grew rapidly in the final decades of the nineteenth century, and with increased demand, the profitability of tobacco leaf sales soared and farmers across the Old Belt scrambled to place land under cultivation. Tobacco production was notoriously labor-intensive. Tobacco plants quickly drained nutrients from the soil, and the plants required constant attention to increase quality and yields. The harvest of leaves required multiple passes through the same field by hand.

It was in the context of growing consumer demand that the two tobacco barns pictured here (right) were constructed in southern Guilford County. Likely dating from the last two decades of the nineteenth century, the log structures are classic examples of tobacco barns of North Carolina’s Old Belt. Standing roughly 20 feet in height, the logs appear to be pine with half-dovetail corner joinery. Spaces between the logs were chinked using wood slats and red-clay mud. Logs with chinking were necessary because they retained heat in the curing process. Later, perhaps in the 1950s, corrugated metal was added to one of the barns to aid in heat retention. Other exterior features include a galvanized metal roof and shed roofs to shelter activity areas. Interior appointments include exposed old growth log walls and horizontal tier-poles from which sticks holding tobacco leaves were hung for drying. Tobacco barns are modest in size, but they might be adaptively reused for many contemporary purposes.

For questions related to salvaging these two barns, please contact Terri Cartner by email or phone 336-334-5056.