Piedmont Historic Homes

Farmhouses, mansions, bungalows — May was an interesting month. The most notable historic homes sold in the Triad last month include a grand 1900 house in Sanford (and I know that Sanford is a bit of a stretch, but the house is worth looking at), a strikingly well preserved 1926 farmhouse in Rockingham County and an 1880 church in Pinebluff. A Winston-Salem mansion, a Greensboro Queen Anne and three diverse bungalows round out the best of the month.

381 Huffines Mill Road, Rockingham County

• Sold for $645,000 on May 24, 2024 (listed at $675,000)
• 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2,376 square feet, 40.08 acres
• Price/square foot: $271
• Built in 1926
• Last sale: $347,500, September 2018

Located about 12 1/2 miles east of Reidsville, just off N.C. 65, and about 20 miles north of Greensboro. The property has a Reidsville mailing address. The property includes a log cabin and an RV-size garage with workshop.

151 Hammond Road, Pinebluff, Moore County
Free Liberty United Christian Church

• Sold for $23,000 on May 16, 2024 (originally $60,000)
• 1,448 square feet, 0.31 acre
• Price/square foot: $16
• Built circa 1880
• Last sale: $18,000, October 2020

Near the Addor community, about 10 miles south of Southern Pines and Pinehurst. It has a Pinebluff mailing address. The property is protected under preservation covenants held by Preservation North Carolina. Little, if any, history of the historically African American church can be found online, apart from a news report of a racist vandalism attack 21 years ago.

280 Halcyon Avenue, Winston-Salem

• Sold for $1.65 million on May 10, 2024 (originally $1.79 million)
• 5 bedrooms, 4 1/2 bathrooms, 5,360 square feet, 0.63 acre
• Price/square foot: $308
• Built in 1928
• Last sale: $1.1 million, December 2014
• Neighborhood: West Highlands

The property had two owners from 1925 to 2003 — RJR advertising manager William Thomas Smither and Minnie Gray Marshall Smither, who bought the property in 1925, and West End preservation advocate Suzanne Walker McCarthy, who bought the house from Minnie’s estate in 1970.

605 5th Avenue, Greensboro

• Sold for $375,000 on May 3, 2024 (listed at $375,000)
• 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1,950 square feet, 0.16 acre
• Price/square foot: $192
• Built in 1905 (per county, but probably earlier; see note)
• Last sales: $218,000, October 2016; $210,000, July 2006
• Neighborhood: Dunleath Historic District (local), Summit Avenue Historic District (NR)

The address was first listed in the city directory in 1901. District NR nomination: “Queen Anne”

• Sold for $645,000 on May 3, 2024 (listed at $635,000)
• 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, 1,820 square feet, 0.19 acre
• Price/square foot: $354
• Built in 1913 (per county, possibly a bit later; see note)
• Last sale: $365,000, July 2015
• Neighborhood: Fisher Park Historic District (local and NR)

The house appears to have been a rental for its first 18 years. In 1922, Frank Thomas Miller (1884-1960) and Louise Davis Miller (1888-1983) were listed as the tenants. By 1931, they had bought the house, and it stayed in their family until 1983. Frank was a consulting engineer.

701-703 5th Avenue, Greensboro

• Sold for $550,000 on May 15, 2024 (listed at $495,000)
• 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, 2,136 square feet, 0.75 acre (two lots)
• Price/square foot: $257
• Built in 1923 (per county, but probably a couple years earlier; see note)
• Last sale: $273,000 total — $18,000 for 701 5th Avenue, February 2015; and $255,000 for 703 5th Avenue, June 2016.
• Neighborhood: Dunleath Historic District (local), Summit Avenue Historic District (NR)

District NR nomination: “This eclectic cottage draws from a number of late nineteenth and early twentieth century styles; its round-arched porch recalls the Richardsonian Romanesque and its continuous shingled walls the Shingle style, while its diamond-paned windows and exposed rafter ends harken to the more contemporary Tudor Revival and Craftsman styles.”

505 Atwater Street, Burlington, Alamance County

• $Sold for $285,000 on May 30, 2024 (listed at 290,000)
• 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, 1,355 square feet, 0.26 acre
• Price/square foot: $210
• Built in 1928
• Last sale: $212,000, October 2023

The original owners may have been Charles T. Wingfield (1887-1954) and Susanne Miles Wingfield (1891-1963). Charles was the proprietor of Wingfield’s Barber Shop. After Susanne’s death the house was sold to John Alvin Cox (1914-1990) and Glennice Jones Cox (1922-2006). John worked for Western Electric and was a member of the Telephone Pioneers. Glennice owned the house until her death.