Updated March 24, 2023
Condos in historic buildings are found in Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Mount Airy and other towns. Some are in classic apartment buildings; others are in repurposed industrial or commercial buildings, often with ultra-modern interior design.

238 Willow Street, Unit 103, Mount Airy, Surry County
Sale pending February 23, 2023
- $374,500
- 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1,454 square feet
- Price/square foot: $258
- Buildings in the complex date back as far as 1888; it’s not clear when this building went up, but it appears to be from the 20th century.
- Listed January 10, 2023
- Last sale: $280,000, December 2017
- HOA: $250/month
- Neighborhood: Mount Airy Historic District (NRHP)
- Note: Condo in Spencer’s Mill, a former apparel manufacturing complex in downtown Mount Airy.
- The complex received a 2019 North Carolina Main Street award for downtown revitalization.
- The condo features a built-in Miele Coffee system, wine refrigerator, quartz counter tops, workstation with moveable filing cabinets, Brizo plumbing fixtures and heated guest bathroom floor.
- District NRHP nomination: “In 1926, J.H. Crossingham moved to Mount Airy from the Philadelphia area of Pennsylvania, where his father had established the Crossingham Knitting Mill in 1889 to produce ‘Dr.
Spencer’s’ union suits. In Mount Airy, on July 8, 1926, the young Crossingham joined with W.E. Lindsey, John Banner, and F.L. Hatcher in establishing the Mount Airy Knitting Company. … J.H. Crossingham Jr. later became president, chairman of the board, and chief operating officer.- “Although the company initially manufactured union suits and other forms of underwear, this use evolved in the late 1940s. Seeing the opportunity presented by the baby boom after World War II, the company began to produce, almost exclusively, infants’ and children’s wear.
- “In 1962, the company changed its name to Spencer’s Incorporated of Mount Airy, N.C., in honor of the ‘Dr. Spencer’s’ underwear the company had produced in its early days. For more than three quarters of a century, it prospered, with numerous expansions … until it became one of the largest and most respected producers of infants’ and children’s wear in the United States. The company that started in 1926 with only twelve employees grew to have some 2,000 employees, in Surry County alone, by the late 1980s. It closed in 2007.”

165 Virginia Street, Suite 12, Mount Airy, Surry County
National Register of Historic Places
- $349,900 (originally $369,900)
- 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1,505 square feet
- Price/square foot: $232
- Built in 1893
- Listed December 2, 2022
- Last sale: $188,000, April 2021
- HOA: $235/month
- Note: Condo in Renfro Mills, National Register building
- Part of the building dates to the 1890s. It was originally a tobacco-industry building known as the R. Roberts Leaf Tobacco House. This condo appears to be in part of the structure built in the late 1940s.
- NRHP nomination: “Renfro Mill — initially the R. Roberts Leaf Tobacco House — is an excellent surviving example of the form of building typically used by the tobacco industry in Piedmont North Carolina for both factories and leaf houses during the late nineteenth century. These buildings, becoming increasingly rare, tend to be three-to-five story rectangular brick structures with stepped parapet gable ends, segmental-arched windows, and often decorative brickwork on the facade.
- Renfro Mill is also a prime example of the adaptation of a building from one industrial use to another. When small tobacco companies failed during the first two decades of the twentieth century because they could not compete with the big tobacco conglomerates, many of their buildings were taken over by other burgeoning industries. These buildings offered both good space and quality construction. In 1921 Renfro Mill, a new sock-making company, took over the former tobacco leaf house whose large open spaces served well the manufacturing needs of the company.
- “Shortly after World War II, Renfro’s success demanded that it greatly expand its space. The additions to the original factory, still intact, specifically addressed the needs of the manufacturing processes used in the apparel industry. Renfro occupied its Willow Street plant until 1997. The Renfro company has been significant in the local economy for much of the twentieth century. When Renfro began manufacturing socks in 1921, it was the first real hosiery operation in Mount Airy.
- “By the late 1990s, Renfro had become the nations’s largest sock manufacturer. Today, Mount Airy is a sock manufacturing center and the apparel industry as a whole is the largest branch of industry in town. Renfro Mill’s period of significance extends from ca. 1893 to 1947. It encompasses the building’s ca. 1893 date of construction as a tobacco leaf house, the date (1921) when the Renfro company, a sock manufacturer, purchased the building, and the date (1946-47) when the building was more than doubled in size so that all the company’s sock manufacturing processes could be consolidated in one location.”

165 Virginia Street, Suite 404, Mount Airy, Surry County
- $321,900 (originally $324,900)
- 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1,651 square feet
- Price/square foot: $195
- Built in 1893
- Listed January 10, 2023
- Last sale: $270,000, April 2022
- HOA: $225/month
- Note: Condo in Renfro Mills, National Register building
- The listing says is the only two-floor unit in the building.
- Part of the building dates to the 1890s. It was originally a tobacco-industry building known as the R. Roberts Leaf Tobacco House.
- NRHP nomination: “Renfro Mill — initially the R. Roberts Leaf Tobacco House — is an excellent surviving example of the form of building typically used by the tobacco industry in Piedmont North Carolina for both factories and leaf houses during the late nineteenth century. These buildings, becoming increasingly rare, tend to be three-to-five story rectangular brick structures with stepped parapet gable ends, segmental-arched windows, and often decorative brickwork on the facade.
- Renfro Mill is also a prime example of the adaptation of a building from one industrial use to another. When small tobacco companies failed during the first two decades of the twentieth century because they could not compete with the big tobacco conglomerates, many of their buildings were taken over by other burgeoning industries. These buildings offered both good space and quality construction. In 1921 Renfro Mill, a new sock-making company, took over the former tobacco leaf house whose large open spaces served well the manufacturing needs of the company.
- “Shortly after World War II, Renfro’s success demanded that it greatly expand its space. The additions to the original factory, still intact, specifically addressed the needs of the manufacturing processes used in the apparel industry. Renfro occupied its Willow Street plant until 1997. The Renfro company has been significant in the local economy for much of the twentieth century. When Renfro began manufacturing socks in 1921, it was the first real hosiery operation in Mount Airy.
- “By the late 1990s, Renfro had become the nations’s largest sock manufacturer. Today, Mount Airy is a sock manufacturing center and the apparel industry as a whole is the largest branch of industry in town. Renfro Mill’s period of significance extends from ca. 1893 to 1947. It encompasses the building’s ca. 1893 date of construction as a tobacco leaf house, the date (1921) when the Renfro company, a sock manufacturer, purchased the building, and the date (1946-47) when the building was more than doubled in size so that all the company’s sock manufacturing processes could be consolidated in one location.”

232 Willow Street, No. 202, Mount Airy, Surry County
Sale pending March 24, 2023
- $317,900
- 1 bedroom, 2 bathrooms, 1,334 square feet
- Price/square ft: $238
- Buildings in the complex date back as far as 1888; it’s not clear when this building went up, but it appears to be from the 20th century.
- Listed January 28, 2023
- Last sale: $227,000, November 2017
- HOA: $250/month
- Neighborhood: Mount Airy Historic District (NRHP)
- Note: Condo in Spencer’s Mill, a former apparel manufacturing complex in downtown Mount Airy.
- The complex received a 2019 North Carolina Main Street award for downtown revitalization.
- District NRHP nomination: “In 1926, J.H. Crossingham moved to Mount Airy from the Philadelphia area of Pennsylvania, where his father had established the Crossingham Knitting Mill in 1889 to produce ‘Dr.
Spencer’s’ union suits. In Mount Airy, on July 8, 1926, the young Crossingham joined with W.E. Lindsey, John Banner, and F.L. Hatcher in establishing the Mount Airy Knitting Company. … J.H. Crossingham Jr. later became president, chairman of the board, and chief operating- “Although the company initially manufactured union suits and other forms of underwear, this use evolved in the late 1940s. Seeing the opportunity presented by the baby boom after World War II, the company began to produce, almost exclusively, infants’ and children’s wear.
- “In 1962, the company changed its name to Spencer’s Incorporated of Mount Airy, N.C., in honor of the ‘Dr. Spencer’s’ underwear the company had produced in its early days. For more than three quarters of a century, it prospered, with numerous expansions … until it became one of the largest and most respected producers of infants’ and children’s wear in the United States. The company that started in 1926 with only twelve employees grew to have some 2,000 employees, in Surry County alone, by the late 1980s. It closed in 2007.”

165 Virginia Street, Unit 409, Mount Airy, Surry County
- $274,900 (originally $289,000)
- 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1,075 square feet
- Price/square foot: $256
- Built in 1893
- Listed January 4, 2023
- Last sale: $156,500, May 2020
- HOA: Monthly fee not listed
- Note: Condo in Renfro Mills, National Register building
- Part of the building dates to the 1890s. It was originally a tobacco-industry building known as the R. Roberts Leaf Tobacco House.
- NRHP nomination: “Renfro Mill — initially the R. Roberts Leaf Tobacco House — is an excellent surviving example of the form of building typically used by the tobacco industry in Piedmont North Carolina for both factories and leaf houses during the late nineteenth century. These buildings, becoming increasingly rare, tend to be three-to-five story rectangular brick structures with stepped parapet gable ends, segmental-arched windows, and often decorative brickwork on the facade.
- Renfro Mill is also a prime example of the adaptation of a building from one industrial use to another. When small tobacco companies failed during the first two decades of the twentieth century because they could not compete with the big tobacco conglomerates, many of their buildings were taken over by other burgeoning industries. These buildings offered both good space and quality construction. In 1921 Renfro Mill, a new sock-making company, took over the former tobacco leaf house whose large open spaces served well the manufacturing needs of the company.
- “Shortly after World War II, Renfro’s success demanded that it greatly expand its space. The additions to the original factory, still intact, specifically addressed the needs of the manufacturing processes used in the apparel industry. Renfro occupied its Willow Street plant until 1997. The Renfro company has been significant in the local economy for much of the twentieth century. When Renfro began manufacturing socks in 1921, it was the first real hosiery operation in Mount Airy.
- “By the late 1990s, Renfro had become the nations’s largest sock manufacturer. Today, Mount Airy is a sock manufacturing center and the apparel industry as a whole is the largest branch of industry in town. Renfro Mill’s period of significance extends from ca. 1893 to 1947. It encompasses the building’s ca. 1893 date of construction as a tobacco leaf house, the date (1921) when the Renfro company, a sock manufacturer, purchased the building, and the date (1946-47) when the building was more than doubled in size so that all the company’s sock manufacturing processes could be consolidated in one location.”

165 Virginia Street, Unit 201, Mount Airy, Surry County
Sale pending March 21, 2023
- $244,900 (originally $254,900)
- 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1,419 square feet
- Price/square foot: $173
- Built in 1893
- Listed February 8, 2023
- Last sale: $174,000, July 2020
- HOA: $230/month
- Note: Condo in Renfro Mills, National Register building
- Part of the building dates to the 1890s. It was originally a tobacco-industry building known as the R. Roberts Leaf Tobacco House.
- NRHP nomination: “Renfro Mill — initially the R. Roberts Leaf Tobacco House — is an excellent surviving example of the form of building typically used by the tobacco industry in Piedmont North Carolina for both factories and leaf houses during the late nineteenth century. These buildings, becoming increasingly rare, tend to be three-to-five story rectangular brick structures with stepped parapet gable ends, segmen
- Renfro Mill is also a prime example of the adaptation of a building from one industrial use to another. When small tobacco companies failed during the first two decades of the twentieth century because they could not compete with the big tobacco conglomerates, many of their buildings were taken over by other burgeoning industries. These buildings offered both good space and quality construction. In 1921 Renfro Mill, a new sock-making company, took over the former tobacco leaf house whose large open spaces served well the manufacturing needs of the company.
- “Shortly after World War II, Renfro’s success demanded that it greatly expand its space. The additions to the original factory, still intact, specifically addressed the needs of the manufacturing processes used in the apparel industry. Renfro occupied its Willow Street plant until 1997. The Renfro company has been significant in the local economy for much of the twentieth century. When Renfro began manufacturing socks in 1921, it was the first real hosiery operation in Mount Airy.
- “By the late 1990s, Renfro had become the nations’s largest sock manufacturer. Today, Mount Airy is a sock manufacturing center and the apparel industry as a whole is the largest branch of industry in town. Renfro Mill’s period of significance extends from ca. 1893 to 1947. It encompasses the building’s ca. 1893 date of construction as a tobacco leaf house, the date (1921) when the Renfro company, a sock manufacturer, purchased the building, and the date (1946-47) when the building was more than doubled in size so that all the company’s sock manufacturing processes could be consolidated in one location.”

165 Virginia Street, Suite 407, Mount Airy, Surry County
National Register of Historic Places
Listing withdrawn on or before March 5, 2023
- $239,000 (originally $369,900)
- 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1,821 square feet
- Price/square foot: $131
- Built in 1893
- Listed December 6, 2022
- Last sale: $310,000, July 2022
- HOA: $235/month
- Note: Condo in Renfro Mills, National Register building
- Part of the building dates to the 1890s. It was originally a tobacco-industry building known as the R. Roberts Leaf Tobacco House. This condo appears to be in part of the structure built in the late 1940s.
- NRHP nomination: “Renfro Mill — initially the R. Roberts Leaf Tobacco House — is an excellent surviving example of the form of building typically used by the tobacco industry in Piedmont North Carolina for both factories and leaf houses during the late nineteenth century. These buildings, becoming increasingly rare, tend to be three-to-five story rectangular brick structures with stepped parapet gable ends, segmental-arched windows, and often decorative brickwork on the facade.
- Renfro Mill is also a prime example of the adaptation of a building from one industrial use to another. When small tobacco companies failed during the first two decades of the twentieth century because they could not compete with the big tobacco conglomerates, many of their buildings were taken over by other burgeoning industries. These buildings offered both good space and quality construction. In 1921 Renfro Mill, a new sock-making company, took over the former tobacco leaf house whose large open spaces served well the manufacturing needs of the company.
- “Shortly after World War II, Renfro’s success demanded that it greatly expand its space. The additions to the original factory, still intact, specifically addressed the needs of the manufacturing processes used in the apparel industry. Renfro occupied its Willow Street plant until 1997. The Renfro company has been significant in the local economy for much of the twentieth century. When Renfro began manufacturing socks in 1921, it was the first real hosiery operation in Mount Airy.
- “By the late 1990s, Renfro had become the nations’s largest sock manufacturer. Today, Mount Airy is a sock manufacturing center and the apparel industry as a whole is the largest branch of industry in town. Renfro Mill’s period of significance extends from ca. 1893 to 1947. It encompasses the building’s ca. 1893 date of construction as a tobacco leaf house, the date (1921) when the Renfro company, a sock manufacturer, purchased the building, and the date (1946-47) when the building was more than doubled in size so that all the company’s sock manufacturing processes could be consolidated in one location.”

906 W. Market Street, Unit B1, Greensboro
Sale pending March 12, 2023
- $150,000
- 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 1,011 square feet
- Price/square foot: $148
- Built in 1929
- Listed March 10, 2023
- Last sale: $130,500, April 2022
- HOA: $300/month
- Neighborhood: College Hill Historic District (local)
- Note: Condo in the Powhatan Apartments
- The condos at 904 and 906 W. Market Street are the only properties on the north side of Market Street that are included in the locally designated College Hill Historic District. They aren’t included in the National Register district.
- “The Powhatan Apartments were completed in 1927 at 904 West Market Street in College Hill. The elegant three-story brick building was an investment of Thomas A. Armstrong, who lived nearby at 841 West Market Street.
- “Armstrong commissioned architect Harry Barton to design the initial 12-unit complex for a second phase to the west, which was completed in 1929. The expansion contained six units that were larger than the first phase.
- “The entire complex is united beneath a variegated red and beige tile roof, and includes limestone entryways and trim, and a heavy modillion cornice.
- “Powhatan was the Native American father of legendary princess Pocahontas.” (Preservation Greensboro)