Update: The house sold for $365,000 on March 1, 2023.
If you’re looking for a historic home in a small Triad town, the Wade-Arscott House may be the best buy available today. The classic Queen Anne is just $369,000, a bargain at $106/square foot. That is, of course, if the house is as sound and well-functioning as it looks. And if you’re seeking, or at least can live with, the relative remoteness of Troy.
But if that all checks out, 214 N. Main Street is a lively, rambling piece of 19th century history. It’s a B&B today (well reviewed), but a fairly small one (3,474 square feet), manageable for a family home. The house has four bedrooms and four bathrooms. The lot is a quarter-acre. It’s one of just five structures in the National Register’s tiny Troy Residential Historic District.
Architecturally, there’s a lot going on here. “A notable example of Queen Anne architecture in Troy is the two-and-a-half-story Wade-Arscott House, a rambling frame residence that is enlivened by widely spaced windows, a one-story wraparound porch supported by square posts and enclosed by plain balustrades, a cylindrical, weatherboarded and shingled tower capped by a helmet roof at the southwest corner of the structure, and a peaked gable dormer incorporating a recessed balcony,” the district’s nomination states.
“Two entrances afford access to the house: from Main Street, steps lead to a central bay containing a four-panel door framed by paneled sidelights and a three-section transom; on the south side, similar steps rise from the driveway to the porch where a glazed upper-panel door opens into a narrow stair hall.
“Windows contain two-over-two sash within simple frames, but the upper story of the tower is enlivened by small-paned curved sash containing colored glass inserts. A heavy cornice surrounds the house and the gabled roofs are covered with asphalt shingles. A large central chimney rises through the roof ridge, while a secondary flue marks the location of the kitchen in the rear wing.”
The house was originally much smaller. “Marks in the floors and walls of the North section indicate that the two-story house originally contained two rooms, with four Greek Revival-style mantels, two-panel doors and a staircase in the Northeast corner of the North room,” the nomination says.
That modest little house was built in 1871 for Christopher Columbus Wade (1837-1915) and Sarah Margaret DeBerry (1845-1920), according to The Heritage of Montgomery County, North Carolina, by Winnie Ingram Richter.
Twenty years or so later, the Wades expanded the house and transformed it into a thoroughly modern Queen Anne. The large addition included the wraparound porch, the cylindrical tower, and a new entrance and staircase. It was a fitting residence for a man of C.C. Wade’s stature.
Judge Wade
C.C. Wade enlisted in the Confederate Army in 1861 at age 24. He soon contracted bronchitis and was invalided out eight months later. He and Sarah were married in 1866.
He became the county clerk of court in 1868, serving for 21 years. He also served as probate judge. In 1904 he was elected state House; he declined to seek re-election, “preferring the quiet of his home and attention to his farming and business interests,” The Asheboro Courier related in a wonderfully laudatory obituary. It filled an entire column on the front page. The newspaper called him “an able, wise, prudent member, always carefully guarding the public good. Few members have served in the general assembly in our memory who ranked higher.
“His wisdom and sound judgment appealed to all, and his advice was often sought and always followed. His long experience and knowledge of men and public affairs peculiarly fitted him for the position.”
In 1930, 10 years after Sarah’s death and 59 years after its construction, the house was sold by the administrator of C.C.’s estate for $8,015 in a public auction. The estate may have been a complicated one; parties to the sale included at least seven descendants, three other individuals and, perhaps reflecting diverse business interests on C.C.’s part, the American Exchange Bank of Greensboro, Stylebuilt Garments Company, Process Trim Hat Company, Flo Frocks Inc., and G.W. Allen & Son.
The property was purchased in 1946 by Lloyd Arscott (1901-1967), owner of a local office supply business, and his wife, Millie Blake (1906-1996). Their heirs sold the house 51 years later for $88,000.
After that, the house must have fallen on hard times. It was sold for just $37,000 in 2003 and $21,000 in 2004. It apparently was restored before selling for $120,000 in 2016.
214 N. Main Street, Troy, Montgomery County
The Wade-Arscott House
- $369,000
- 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 3,474 square feet, 0.24 acre
- Price/square foot: $106
- Built in 1871
- Listing date unknown
- Last sale: $120,000, December 2016
- Neighborhood: Troy Residential Historic District (NR)
- Click here for photos
Piedmont Historic Homes 