Piedmont Historic Homes

April 20, 2026

A 1906 Farmhouse on 2 Acres Near East Bend, $315,000

3724 Smitherman Road, East Bend, Yadkin County
The David Smitherman House

• $315,000
• 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1,416 square feet (per county), 2.06 acres
• Price/square foot: $222
• Built in 1906
• Listed April 17, 2026
• Last sale: $7,500, April 1966
• Neighborhood: Located about 3 miles west of East Bend.

The State Historic Preservation Office identifies the house with David Anderson “Yank” Smitherman (1878-1951). Yank was a farmer. He served on the county Board of Commissioners for eight years. He bought several properties between 1912 and 1935. The descriptions on the deeds are too vague to identify which one belongs to this property. Later deeds show the property once included 50 acres. The house is now being sold by the estate of a descendant.

April 19, 2026

A Doctor’s Well-Preserved 1902 House in Gibsonville, $400,000

222 E. Minneola Street, Gibsonville, Guilford County

• $400,000
• 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1,858 square feet (per county), 0.39 acre
• Price/square foot: $215
• Built in 1902
• Listed April 16, 2026
• Last sales: $345,000, June 2025; $145,000, December 2001

The property was bought in 1902 by Dr. Harlan Page Bowman (1869-1937), a physician. Around 1912 he moved his practice to Greensboro. He sold the house in 1921 to the nearby Minneola Mill, by then owned by Cone Mills, which owned it until 1962.

April 19, 2026

A Relatively Affordable 1932 Cottage with Tudor Flair in Thomasville, $287,000

• $287,000
• 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2,264 square feet, 0.29 acre
• Price/square foot: $127
• Built in 1932
• Listed April 18, 2026
• Last sales: $247,500, May 2023; $169,900, May 2019
• Neighborhood: Colonial Drive School Historic District (local)

Ethel Elizabeth McCormick Cox (1891-1973) bought the property in 1920, and it remained in the Cox family for 99 years. Carson Clay Cox (1893-1948) was a coffee roaster and later vice president and general manager of the Lexington Grocery Company. Ownership passed to their son Carson Jr. (1926-2000). His heirs sold the property in 2019.

April 17, 2026

A 1798 Log Cabin in on 8 Acres in Lewisville, $575,000

7198 Spring Hill Road, Lewisville, Forsyth County

• $575,000
• 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 1,440 square feet, 8.63 acres (3 lots)
• Price/square foot: $399
• Built in 1798
• Listed April 16, 2026
• Last sale: $150,000, July 2002
• Neighborhood: “in the heart of Lewsville”
• Note: The property includes an outdoor kitchen.

For a house so old, remarkably little information about it exists online. It has no national or local historic designation and no owner’s name attached to it. Even the Lewisville Historical Society’s list of historic properties doesn’t mention it.

April 16, 2026

A Furniture-Company Founder’s 1916 Home in Lexington, $549,000

8 Vance Street, Lexington, Davidson County

• $549,000
• 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 3,944 square feet (per county), 0.49 acre
• Price/square foot: $139
• Built in 1927 per county but probably by 1916 (see note below)
• Listed April 14, 2026
• Last sales: $420,000, August 2022; $324,500, April 2020
• Neighborhood: Lexington Residential Historic District
• Note: Online listings show 4,868 square feet, 23 percent more than county records, a relatively large disparity.

Something you don’t see every day: The property includes “two 100+ year old Deodar Cedar trees recognized by the Lexington Treasured Tree program” (from 2022 listing).

District NRHP nomination: ““This dwelling appears on the 1916-17 city directory map and is illustrated on the 1923 Sanborn in its current form. Jacob A. and Fannie H. Lindsay occupied the house in 1925-26. Mr. Lindsay was the secretary-treasurer of Lexington Home Furnishing Company.” Jacob Arthur Lindsay (1873-1958) and his brother John Wilson Lindsay (1867-1933) founded Lexington Home Furnishings Company. Jacob succeeded his brother as president after John died.

April 15, 2026

An ‘Outstanding’ Federal-Georgian Mansion in Mount Airy, $849,900

302 Cherry Street, Mount Airy, Surry County
The Edward and Sara Ashby House

• $849,900
• 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms and 2 half-baths, 4,782 square feet, 0.78 acre
• Price/square foot: $178
• Built in 1937
• Listed April 7, 2026
• Last sales: $615,000, November 2021; $425,000, April 2009
• Neighborhood: Mount Airy Historic District (NRHP)
• Previous listing: “Grand entry with spiral staircase, granite countertops, original lifetime slate roof, copper gutters. Finished attic. Original smokehouse on property with a mature English garden. The Dr. Edward C. Ashby house has undergone significant rehabilitation since 2009 to restore the home to its proper condition and to upgrade the home to current living standards.”

District NRHP nomination: “During the 1930s more academic versions of the Colonial Revival style were constructed reflecting Colonial Georgian and Federal periods. The district’s most outstanding example of this style is probably the Edward C. Ashby House at 302 Cherry Street. Designed by the Winston-Salem architectural firm of Northup and O’Brien, the c. 1930 two-story brick house is five bays wide, has a steep slate-clad gable roof with paired interior end chimneys, round-arched dormers, a denticulated cornice, segmental-arched first story windows, and a handsome Classical entrance with dentiled pediment, Doric columns, and a round-arched transom.”

April 15, 2026

A Distinctive 1927 House in High Point’s Emerywood, $519,000

712 W. Farriss Avenue, High Point
The Bales-Abeles House

• $519,000
• 4 bedrooms, 3 1/2 bathrooms, 4,435 square feet, 0.78 acre
• Price/square foot: $117
• Built in 1927
• Listed April 10, 2026
• Last sales: $315,000, February 2018; $252,000, December 2015; $112,000, November 2004
• Neighborhood: Emerywood, Uptown Suburbs Historic District (NR)
• Note: The property includes two lots.

District NR nomination: “This one-story, clipped-front-gabled, Craftsman-style bungalow is two bays wide and triple-pile with a projecting front-gabled bay on the left (west) end of the facade. … The fifteen-light French door has five-light sidelights and is sheltered by a low, hip-roofed porch that extends in a semi-circular form from the facade; it is supported by tapered wood posts on stone piers. A side-gabled hyphen extends from the right (east) elevation and connects to a projecting, clipped-front-gabled bay on the right end of the house.”

Stenographer Aura Kinney Grimes Bales (1895-1983) and mill superintendent Nathan Wanamaker Bales (1890-1949) were the original owners from 1927 to 1943. In 1951, Murray Julius Abeles (1903-1983) and Cora M. Abeles (1912-2004) bought the house. They owned it for 53 years. Murray was co-proprietor of Universal TV Furniture Manufacturers, which produced television tables and consoles, “individually designed for all models.”

April 14, 2026

Designed with Edward Lowenstein, the 1958 Home of a Distinguished Greensboro Couple, $875,000

1710 Wright Avenue, Greensboro
The Warren and Helen Ashby House

• $875,000
• 3 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 3,018 square feet, 0.42 acre
• Price/square foot: $290
• Built in 1958
• Listed April 10, 2026
• Last sales: $740,000, November 2022; $266,000, December 2016
• Neighborhood: College Park
• Note: Designed by Helen Ashby and Edward Lowenstein, one of North Carolina’s most renowned Modernist architects

Dr. Warren Ashby (1920-1985) is a major figure in the history of the Women’s College and UNCG. He joined the Woman’s College faculty in 1949 and taught there until he retired in 1983. “Ashby, who specialized in Western ethics, originated and served as head of the Department of Philosophy for twenty years. In 1970 he founded a residential college on the campus, later named Warren Ashby Residential College at Mary Foust in his honor.” (Wikipedia)

Helen Ashby (1915-2014) was assistant director for the Institute for Child and Family Development at the Woman’s College and UNCG from 1958 to 1964. Helen served as a board member and executive director of the YWCA and later became a professional weaver. She exhibited nationally; her work can be seen at UNCG’s Jackson Library and the Three College Observatory. She and Warren were prominent figures in Greensboro’s progressive and civil-rights politics.

April 12, 2026

A circa 1920 Bungalow in Greensboro, $495,000

307 Victoria Street, Greensboro
The Ginsberg-Hall House

• $495,000
• 3 bedrooms, 1 1/2 bathrooms, 1,558 square feet, 0.20 acre
• Price/square foot: $318
• Built in 1917 (per county, or a few years later; see note)
• Listed April 11, 2026
• Last sales: $276,000, October 2005; $285,000, September 2002
• Neighborhood: Fisher Park Historic District (local and NR)
• District NR nomination: “Gable-end bungalow with shaped triangular knee-braces; stuccoed first story, shingles above; engaged front porch with replacement posts”
  • The address first appeared in the city directory in 1921, and by 1924 it had had two owners.
  • In 1924 the house was bought by the third owners, Benjamin G. Ginsberg (1888-1969) and Ella Frankl Ginsberg (1893-1971). They owned it for 25 years. Ben was a manufacturer’s agent for Thomasville Furniture.
  • In 1949, the impressively long-lived couple Calvert Royal Hall (1899-1998) and Ruth Kohn Hall (1901-1999) bought the house and owned it for 44 years. Ruth had been a school teacher. Calvert was a salesman and later district manager for American Enka. He served on the boards of Goodwill Industries, the Mental Health Association in Greensboro, the UNC Greensboro Musical Arts Guild and the local chapter of the North Carolina Symphony Society. They were into their 90’s when they sold the house in 1993.

April 10, 2026

A 1928 Tudor in Greensboro’s Irving Park, $725,000

812 Dover Road, Greensboro

• $725,000
• 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 2,494 square feet (per county, see note), 0.31 acre
• Price/square foot: $291
• Built in 1928
• Listed April 10, 2026
• Last sale: $65,000, May 1974
• Neighborhood: Irving Park
• Note: Online listings show 3,351 square feet, an unusually large discrepancy.

The house is a well detailed Tudor cottage with brick and stucco walls. Most of the front windows are casement. Dormers sit atop the wings; one has the only double-hung window on the front elevation. An arched hood and doorway lead to a batten door with strap hinges and diamond-paned, leaded-glass window.

The original owner was Madeline Stafford White (1896-1983). She bought the property in July 1928, three months after the death of her husband, Leonard White (1894-1928). Leonard had been chief associate of prominent Greensboro architect Harry Barton. He was a veteran of World War I. His tragic death, after a period of illness, was front-page news in the Greensboro Daily News, reported in the straightforward manner of the time. Madeline owned the house until 1944.

April 10, 2026

A Mid-Century Gem in Winston-Salem with a Very Unusual Price, $550,055

434 S. Westview Drive, Winston-Salem
The Frank and Ellen Forsyth House

• $550,055
• 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 2,681 square feet, 1.30 acres
• Price/square foot: $205
• Built in 1955
• Listed April 9, 2026
• Last sale: $60,000, May 1971
• Neighborhood: Westview
• Note: The price is a palindrome, probably the only one I’ve seen in nine years of doing this.

Designed by Fred Washington Butler Jr. The original owners were orthopedic surgeon and professor Dr. Harry Francis Forsyth (1914-1988) and educator Ellen Blanche Clancy Forsyth (1917-1996).

Juanita Bruton Tredwell (1912-2007) and Wachovia executive Kenneth I. Tredwell Jr. (1919-1983) bought the house in 1962. Juanita was an ambulance driver in London during the Battle of Britain. Kenneth worked with the BBC in London to produce radio interviews with American soldiers for broadcast in the United States. They sold the house in 1971; the buyer’s estate is now selling the house.

April 10, 2026

Restoration Project: A Mostly Unspoiled 1927 Foursquare in Reidsville, $255,000

712 S. Main Street, Reidsville, Rockingham County
The George and Florence Burton House

• $255,000
• 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 3,024 square feet, 0.33 acre
• Price/square foot: $84
• Built in 1927
• Listed April 9, 2026
• Last sale: Deed not found online
• Neighborhood: Old Post Road Historic District (local), Reidsville Historic District (NR)
• Note: The house needs cosmetic work throughout (and updated bathrooms and kitchen), but it hasn’t been ruined with vinyl floors and other cheap crap.

District NR nomination: “A substantial number of ‘four-square’ houses — two-story, double-pile, hipped-roof frame dwellings — exhibit classical details. For instance, the house at 712 south Main Street has Tuscan columns supporting the full-facade porch and sidelights flanking the entrance.”

The earliest known owners were George Washington Burton (1857-1936) and Florence Lee Mims Burton (1864-1942). George had an eclectic career, working in Milton in the retail trade, later entering the tobacco business in Reidsville. “When his health began to fail, he became the proprietor of the Piedmont Hotel, which business he continued until his death,” his obituary said.

April 9 2026

A Remarkably Affordable 1916 Queen Anne in Eden, $275,000

127 Boulevard Street, Eden, Rockingham County
The Krantz-Stewart House

• $275,000
• 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 3,358 square feet, 0.33 acre
• Price/square foot: $82
• Built in 1916
• Listed April 8, 2026
• Last sale: $99,000, November 2025; $18,000, December 1984
• Neighborhood: South Spray
• Note: Flipped house. Caveat emptor, although they appear to have done a better job than usual in maintaining the historic character of the house.

“One of the largest of the very few brick houses in the South Spray area, the two-and-one-half story Krantz House dominates the northwest end of The Boulevard,” says A Tale of Three Cities (1998). “The two-room deep dwelling features a slightly projecting central pavilion that rises through the first ad second floors to the attic, where it is capped by a gabled dormer extending from the steeply pitched hipped roof of the main block. …

“Spray Water Power and Land Company built the house early in this century for J.W. Krantz, general superintendent of the American Warehouse, where all of the products manufactured in the Morehead family’s area mills were finished.”

April 7, 2026

A Distinctive Colonial in Greensboro’s Sunset Hills, $849,000

1907 Madison Avenue, Greensboro
The Truitt-Wells House
Listing withdrawn July 8, 2022
Relisted April 6, 2026

• $849,000 (originally $789,750)
• 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 3,784 square feet, 0.25 acre
• Price/square foot: $224
• Built in 1928
• Listed July 8, 2022
• Last sale: $430,000, August 2017
• Neighborhood: Sunset Hills Historic District (NR)

District NRHP nomination: “The one-and-a-half-story, three-bay, front-gabled, brick Colonial Revival-influenced house displays a flat-roofed portico graced with a dentil cornice. Tuscan columns and pilasters support the portico that is topped by a picket balustrade with crowning finials on its corner posts.”

William Brooks Truitt (1886-1962) and Esther Pearl Lowe Truitt (1892-1973) were the original owners. William was a co-founder of Carolina Steel in 1919 and served as vice president until leaving to found Truitt Manufacturing Co. in 1941. The house was bought in 1973 by Henry Herbert Wells III (1935-2020) and Ellen F. Wells (d. 2025). Henry taught psychology at UNC Greensboro for 31 years. They sold the house to the current owner in 2017.

April 5, 2026

1850s Log Cabins, Moved, Joined Together and Expanded in Winston-Salem, $750,000

4285 Shattalon Drive, Winston-Salem

• $750,000
• 2 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms and 2 half-bathrooms, 3,361 square feet, 2.47 acres
• Price/square foot: $223
• Built in 1852 (but it’s complicated; see note)
• Listed April 3, 2026
• Last sale: $71,500, August 1979
• Neighborhood: Old Town

The home is a group of mid-19th century log cabins that were moved to the site and reconstructed into a single residence around 1930: “The den and sunrooms were added later & the primary suite/bonus rm added in 1994.” The property includes a gunite pool, pool house, barn and detached garage.

Gilbert Ellis Ashburn (1891-1957) and Ollie Hastings Ashburn (1891-1968) bought this property as part of a 22-acre tract in 1934. Ellis was assistant treasurer for R.J. Reynolds. They lived in town for many years, but apparently were living here by 1952. Ollie sold it in 1959.

April 3, 2026

A Striking 1917 House in Greensboro’s Fisher Park, $599,000

609 Magnolia Street, Greensboro
The Reece-Morton House

• $599,000
• 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2,249 square feet, 0.09 acre
• Price/square foot: $266
• Built in 1917
• Listed April 3, 2026
• Last sales: $350,000, June 2018; $305,000, June 2014
• Neighborhood: Fisher Park Historic District (local and NR)
• Note: The house was the model for “Nonie’s House” at the Miriam P. Brenner Children’s Museum.

District NR nomination: “Large gable-end bungalow with sweeping asymmetrical front gable and balcony that give it a chalet-like appearance.”

The address first appears in the city directory in 1917 with Francis Prescott “Frank” Morton (1860-1924) and Juanita Robertson Morton (1874-1960) listed as residents. They lived in the house for the rest of their lives, for Juanita, 43 years. Frank was office manager for Royal Blue Transportation. They rented the house from Juanita’s widowed aunt, Euphia Alice McMurray Reece (1852-1931). Alice lived elsewhere. She died in 1931, but the house remained in her name and Juanita continued to live there.

April 2, 2026

A ‘Simple but Bold’ 1910 Colonial in Winston-Salem’s West End, $785,000

1224 Glade Street, Winston-Salem
The Carroll-Trivette House

• $785,000
• 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, 2,976 square feet (per county), 0.21 acre
• Price/square foot: $264
• Built in 1910
• Listed April 2, 2026
• Last sales: $690,000, May 2022; $465,000, August 2009
• Neighborhood: West End Historic District (local and NRHP)
• Note: The house has been a rental since 2022. The owner’s address of record is in Rancho Santa Fe, California.
  • The property has no driveway from the street. An alley runs behind the house, providing access to a detached two-car garage.

District NRHP nomination: “The Carrell-Trivette House is a simple but bold example of the Colonial Revival style typical of many built in the first quarter of this century, including several in the West End. … Beneath the porch is a projecting central entrance with Craftsman door, sidelights, and transom. Of necessity the house has steep front steps and steep flights of steps leading up the terraced front lawn. A stone retaining wall borders the front yard.”

April 2, 2026

A 1910 Farmhouse on 21 Acres in Stokes County, $499,000

6071 N.C. Highway 89 W., Westfield, Stokes County
The Rachel and Thomas Hart House

• $499,000
• 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 2,933 square feet (per listing), 21.85 acres
• Price/square foot: $170 (per listing)
• Built in 1910
• Listed April 2, 2026
• Last sale: $80,000, July 2012
• Neighborhood: Located about 10 miles east of Westfield and 10.6 miles northwest of Danbury.

The property consists of two lots within a 131-acre tract. In 1935, the house and 112 acres were given to Rachel Margaret Christian Hart (1915-2002) and Thomas Woodrow Hart (1913-1965) by 14 members Rachel’s family. Rachel sold the property in 1999.

April 2, 2026

Another Impeccable 1930s Tudor Cottage, This One in High Point, $350,000

514 West Parkway Avenue, High Point
The Franklin and Evelyn Welch House

• $350,000
• 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 1,356 square feet, 0.28 acre
• Price/square foot: $258
• Built in 1934
• Listed April 2, 2026
• Last sale: $137,000, August 2003
• Neighborhood: Emerywood, Uptown Suburbs Historic District (local and NR)

District NR nomination: One-story, side-gabled Period Cottage. The batten door has strap hinges and is inset in a front-gabled entrance bay with arched opening. An uncovered brick terrace extends across the right two bays of the facade and wraps around the right elevation where it is sheltered by a side-gabled roof on tapered full-height brick piers. The property includes its original one-car garage with a second-floor room.