A guide to the most historic, notable and distinctive 18th-, 19th- and early- to mid-20th-century homes for sale in North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad region and, occasionally, especially notable homes in nearby areas.
Piedmont Historic Homes is an independent site, not connected to any real estate firm or nonprofit organization.
Information comes from listing websites (Redfin.com, Zillow.com and others); N.C. Modernist; Preservation North Carolina; real estate agents; deeds, plats, county tax records and other legal documents; books; and other sources. North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad region consists of 12 counties — relatively urban Forsyth (Winston-Salem) and Guilford (Greensboro and High Point), surrounded by the smaller cities and rural areas of Alamance, Caswell, Rockingham, Stokes, Surry, Yadkin, Davie, Davidson, Randolph and Montgomery counties. Interesting listings from adjoining counties, including Chatham, Moore and Wilkes, and Danville, Virginia, are included from time to time as well.
All information is believed to be accurate but is subject to change without notice and cannot be guaranteed. The information on this website is not intended to provide you with advice on real estate or any other matters.
Effective September 1, 2021, Greensboro Historic Homes was wrapped into Piedmont Historic Homes. Previous Greensboro blog posts are now found here.
If you have questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know.
The site is edited and maintained by David Arneke, a former member of the Greensboro Historic Preservation Commission and former president of Preservation Greensboro. He is a 30-year resident of the College Hill Historic District in Greensboro (in the 1895 Cannaday-Ferguson House, below). He also is a moderator of r/OldHouses on Reddit.
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922 Carr Street, Greensboro (not for sale)
The Cannaday-Ferguson House
- 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 2,837 square feet, 0.30 acre
- Last sale: $143,000, April 1993
- Price/square foot: $50
- Neighborhood: College Hill historic District (local and NR)
- Note: Formerly the College Hill Bed & Breakfast, 1986-89
- “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.” (Preservation Greensboro)
- District NR nomination: “Brackets and pierced scalloped jigsaw work decorate the friezeboards of this frame house. Its later-added Craftsman style porch and porte cochere retain the same finish beneath their eaves.”
- The original owners were James A. Cannaday and Cinderella Cannaday. (Various documents give their name as Canaday, Cannaday and Cannady.) They bought the property in 1894 and were listed in the 1899 city directory. James was an engineer on the Atlantic & Yadkin Railway.
- James and Cinderella were active buyers and sellers of real estate. In 1900 they moved next door to the Queen Anne bungalow they built at 924 Carr and sold 922 to local big-shot Charles H. Ireland (1859-1932), who used it as a rental property. Ireland’s main claim to fame was running the Odell Hardware store for almost 50 years and becoming “one of the leading hardware men in the United States,” according to his lengthy front-page obituary in the Greensboro Daily News.
- In 1902 Ireland sold the house to James M. Johnson, a Southern Railway clerk. Johnson lived in the house until he sold it in 1906.
- The house became a rental again and was sold multiple times until 1917, when John Edward Ferguson (1876-1929) and Ora S. Turner Ferguson (1883-1964) bought it. John was an insurance agent. He died in November 1929, a few weeks after the Crash. He apparently suffered a heart attack (the cause of death was listed as angina and gastritis, which aren’t fatal). Ora took over the business after John’s death. She lived in the house for 47 years until her death at age 80.
- She also owned a number of rental properties, including 924 Carr Street, the cottage next door built by James and Cinderella Cannaday. At some point, presumably in the ’20s or ’30s, she annexed the rear half of 924’s backyard, probably to provide space for her daughter and son. It has remained with 922 ever since, giving the lot an unusual L shape (and giving 924 a relatively tiny backyard).
- Sadly, Ora outlived both of her children. Johnny Edward (1920-1944) died while serving in the Army; his funeral was held at the home. Carmell (1905-1961) died after marrying and moving to Florida.
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