The Haywood House, an 1802 Mansion near Mount Gilead, $350,000

It’s a sign of the times that the Haywood House went up for sale May 8, and the sellers accepted an offer four days later. Nineteenth-century mansions that need “a little updating and TLC” can linger for months before just the right buyer comes along. But these are still not ordinary times, and the Haywood House is no ordinary home.

Built in 1802, it’s a Classical Revival mansion with four monumental columns out front. It has four bedrooms and two-and-a-half bathrooms (one with a fireplace in what must have originally been a bedroom) in 4,330 square feet (per county records; the listing shows 4,800). That divides out to a very modest $81 per square foot. The once-sprawling grounds have been reduced to a manageable 10 acres. The property is a few miles east of Mount Gilead in the Uwharrie National Forest. The address is 2989 Thickety Creek Road.

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A Remarkable 1905 Home in Winston-Salem’s Waughtown, now Needing a Heroic Restoration, $189,900

1402 Waughtown Street, Winston-Salem

The Ernest Nissen House is one of the most striking and historic homes in the Waughtown-Belville Historic District, and this is the entire description in its new for-sale listing: “PROPERTY HAS NO PERMANENT HEATING.” May St. Joseph protect it, because the owner and listing agent don’t appear to care much what happens to it.

The house is associated with the Nissen family and the more than 100-year history of the Nissen Wagon Works just down the street. It’s listed at $189,900. It needs cosmetic work, but a surprising amount of interior detail has survived.

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A 1964 House in Sedgefield Designed by Edward Lowenstein and 22 UNCG Undergraduates, $765,000

3307 Gaston Road is one of Edward Lowenstein’s “Commencement Houses,” the three homes designed by Lowenstein and his students when he taught at the Women’s College (which had become UNCG by the time this one, the third, was built). Two of the houses still stand, and this one in Sedgefield is now for sale at $765,000.

The house is a Mid-Century Modern classic. The entrance hall has a 17-foot high wall of windows. There are large windows throughout the house, an open staircase and minimal ornamentation. At the back, a second-floor deck provides a view of the Sedgefield Country Club golf course. The house sits well back from the street in a forested landscape. The kitchen is modern but maintains its strikingly 1950s look.

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New Listing: One of Greensboro’s Most High-Profile B&B’s, the Iconic 1909 Double Oaks, $1.795 Million

Update: The MLS listing was withdrawn on March 28.

The owners of Double Oaks, the Harden Thomas Martin House, are selling it as a turnkey business, including the furnishings and fixtures. But if you need 6 bedrooms, 9 bathrooms and a commercial kitchen just for yourself and your family, it would serve quite nicely as a $1.795 million single-family residence.

The house has been impeccably restored. The interior is as attention-grabbing as the exterior. Originally operated as a B&B from 1998-2007, the current owners bought and reopened it in 2016. They’ve restored the formerly closed third floor and added extensive landscaping, making it an active venue for weddings and other events.

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The Best Example of Tudor Revival in Eden’s Central Leaksville Historic District, $245,000

In the first half of the 20th century, James W. Hopper was the man to see about designing just about any kind of building in Leaksville, Spray or Draper. In 1923, he designed his own Tudor Revival home at 817 Washington Street in Leaksville. It’s been for sale for a long time (on and off for eight years) at a conspicuously low price, now $245,000 ($62/square foot). It’s now under contract.

There are some visible reasons for that price. The listing’s photos don’t make the house look like an all-out restoration project, but it could use quite a bit of updating (to use the language of the internet, your jaw will not drop when you see the kitchen and bathrooms). It’s right on the edge of the neighborhood, facing a busy thoroughfare. The air conditioning is unusual.

It’s an outstanding house, though, “the best example of the Tudor Revival style“ in the fine Central Leaksville Historic District, the district’s National Register nomination says.

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New Listing: A Mid-Century Modern Mansion in Greensboro Designed by a Top New York Architect, $550,000

The George and June Newman House is in Greensboro’s Latham Park neighborhood, 1307 Latham Avenue. It was designed by architect J.P. Coble, who practiced in New York City.

Jack Pickens Coble (1909-1984) was born in Greensboro. “He graduated from the Cornell University College of Architecture, where he won first prize in the 1934 Baird Prize Competition, $35 and a gold seal, for designing a proscenium arch and a curtain for an opera house,” his obituary in The New York Times reported. His residential clients included Edgar Bronfman, Bennett Cerf, Stephen Sondheim and Mrs. Marshall Field.

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An Affordable Mid-Century Classic in Mount Airy with a Turquoise Kitchen Unspoiled by Time, $229,900

Update: The house sold for $205,000 on September 13, 2022.

Kitchens are among the trickiest rooms of historic houses. How do you balance historic character with practicality? Most homeowners are willing to sacrifice character for the benefits of modern lighting, adequate cabinet space and a convenient outlet for the microwave. With Mid-Century Modern, though, a time-capsule kitchen can be both livable and authentic.

Consider 108 Jackson Road in Mount Airy. Joe and Eleanor Powell built their home around 1955. Now, for sale for the first time, it’s in very good condition. The kitchen is beautiful, a trip back into the Age of Turquoise. Undisturbed by nearly 70 years of decorating styles, trends and fads, it’s worth celebrating.

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The 1798 Philip and Johanna Hoehns House: In Forsyth County, They Don’t Come Much More Historic Than This

If you don’t recognize the name, various members of the family also went by Hoenes, Höhns, Haenes, Haines and Haynes. Also Hanes, which is how it’s pronounced. Eventually, this particular branch of the family started spelling it that way, and that’s how the world knows them today. Philip Hoehns, a second-generation Moravian American, was the first of the family to move to North Carolina, bringing along his parents and siblings from Pennsylvania in 1774. A few years earlier, he had bought land in Wachovia, the large Moravian settlement that contained most of what is now Winston-Salem and Forsyth County. He ultimately accumulated 1,800 acres in the area.

In 1778, Philip (1752-1820) married Johanna Salome Frey (1760-1845). “Settling on land Philip had purchased, tradition claims they first lived in a hickory-pole hut, followed by a log house,” the home’s National Register nomination states. “In the winter of 1797-1798, they began construction of their last house, a commodious and sophisticated two-story, four-bay-wide, double-pile, Flemish-bond brick dwelling.”

Philip became a prosperous farmer and distiller, and after his death it was said that “his industry and economy were accompanied by the blessing of God in an evident manner.” The blessing is still evident, as that commodious and sophisticated house of his has come up for sale at $1.695 million.

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Mebane Has Been Discovered, as the Prices of These Two Craftsman Bungalows Show

Mebane’s future has arrived. In recent years, the town has become a bedroom community, nicely situated on I-40/I-85 between the Triad and the Triangle. With the current momentum for telework, the town may be better positioned than ever. If you have to commute only once or twice a week, or less, to Chapel Hill, Durham or Greensboro, why not live in Mebane?

The town’s home prices suggest that many people feel that way. Two current examples are a couple of 1920’s bungalows that have come up for sale recently. Both are immaculate, and both occupy relatively large in-town lots. 304 S. 5th Street is a 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom home, 2,363 square feet. The price is $430,000, $182 per square foot. A few blocks away, 100 N. 6th Street is a 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom home, a bit bigger at 2,633 square feet, and a bit more expensive at $498,000, $189 per square foot.

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