A Mayor’s Monumental 1894 Queen Anne in Mount Airy, $675,000

Update: The house sold for $615,000 on September 14, 2023.

You never saw anything like this in Mayberry. Andy and Barney didn’t seem to have much to do with the fancier side of town, if there was one. In Mount Airy, though, there definitely is one, and when you see the James A. Hadley House, you know you’re there. The Hadley house is not only one of the most impressive in town, it’s one of the grandest Queen Annes in the region.

“A large two-story structure, the house displays a wealth of Queen Anne characteristics,” the National Register nomination for the Mount Airy Historic District says. “It is composed of a rich variety of materials, details and forms. The foundation, first story, and window sills and lintels are of granite, the second story and three-story bell-cast roof central tower are brick, the gables are sheathed in decorative wood shingles, and fancy wood brackets support the eaves.”

The granite is Mount Airy granite, which is hardly surprising today, but it’s widely said, though apparently not documented, that the house was the first to use local granite in its construction.

The Hadley house is on the market for $675,000. It has four bedrooms and three bathrooms in 4,581 square feet. The price works out to $147 per square foot, a strikingly modest price, especially for a house in such excellent condition (pristine unpainted woodwork and richly colored, elaborate wallpapers throughout). The sizable lot is 0.77 acre. The house was last sold in 1991 for $94,500.

The National Register nomination notes that “outstanding examples” of the Queen Anne style are found throughout the historic district. “The finest of these is the James A. Hadley House at 400 West Pine Street. Hadley was a tobacco industrialist, real estate developer and mayor of Mount Airy. His magnificent house reflected his prominent position in the community.”

Judging from the listing’s photos, the house is in splendid condition, spectacular, even, with its most distinctive features beautifully preserved. “Many of the windows boast colorful stained glass, while the main entrance features elaborate etched glass designs. Multiple projecting bays are outlined by an elaborate wrap-around porch,” the National Register nomination says.

The stained glass isn’t all original. Four stained-glass panels were actually stolen in the early 1980s. The owners had replacements crafted by Ed Atkins, a renowned local stained-glass artist and president of the Russell Stained Glass Studio.

“The interior of the house is equally well-detailed with fine woodwork, elaborate plaster ceiling medallions, and original lighting fixtures.” The nomination also notes the “handsome, robust staircases, paneled wainscot, ornate mantels with mirrored overmantels, plaster ceiling medallions, original lighting fixtures, and a pair of marble columns between the foyer and hallway.”

James A. Hadley,
Manufacturer and Prohibitionist

Hadley was Mr. Everything in Mount Airy. The 1913 city directory, the earliest available online, identifies him modestly as a “manufacturer,” but also lists him as vice president of the Bank of Mount Airy and a member of the local Highway Commission, the school board and the Water and Light Commission. The directory no longer listed the Hadley-Smith Tobacco Company, which may have been bought out by R.J. Reynolds, which had a factory in the city at the time.

By then, Hadley had served as mayor twice, 1898 to 1900 and 1903 to 1905. He also was a notable homebuilder. “At one time he had built and rented as many as 50 homes in the area,” a recent column in The Mount Airy News says. In addition to his position at the bank, at some point he was a director of the Workmen’s Federal Savings and Loan Association.

“Hadley’s political influence extended beyond his mayoral term,” the News recalls. “Along with other prominent businessmen, J.A. Hadley was one of the signers of a denouncement of liquor in Surry County. This was in 1908 — the same year prohibition began in North Carolina.”

James Alfred Hadley (1853-1916) was born in Chatham County. He was a graduate of Rutherford College, which operated in Burke County from the 1850s to 1930s (there’s still a town there called Rutherford College). Before moving to Mount Airy, he was a partner in the Hadley-People’s Cotton Mill in Siler City. He also married, had a daughter and suffered the death of his wife, Sarah “Sallie” Best Hadley (dates unknown).

He remarried, but his second wife, Swannanoa Brower Hadley (1864-1973), fell ill with malaria and typhoid fever. That called for a cooler, drier climate, so the Hadleys moved to Mount Airy. And it worked — Swann lived to the age of 109, outliving James by a prodigious 57 years and never remarrying.

Swann continued to live in the house after James’s death at age 63. She also outlived three of their five children. The house was sold in 1975 by their two surviving and impressively long-lived daughters, Sallie Hadley Yokley (1891-1980) and Lucy Hadley Cash (1893-1994), both widows themselves by then.