mid-century modern – Piedmont Historic Homes

This Week’s Best: An Intriguing Restoration Project, a French Eclectic Gem and a Glencoe Mill House

September 23, 2025

An intriguing restoration project, a variety of historical styles and a mixed bag of sales are among the most interesting historical homes for sale this week. In Yadkinville, the Mackie Family House, 420 Carolina Avenue, went up for sale at $325,000, $126/square foot. The house is one of three in town with the Mackie family name attached. This one belonged to Solomon Lee Mackie (1863-1929) and Fannie W. Robertson Mackie (1867-1946) for about 40 years. Lee operated a tannery, which was just southwest of the house.

“The front block of this house appears to be a 1910s addition to an older turn-of-the-century one-story dwelling which is now the ell,” the State Historic Preservation Office says. “There is a shed roof porch on the original front elevation of this house and another along the north side. An enclosed porch carries across the rear of the two-story addition and along the ell.”

This Week’s Best: An 1871 Italianate on the National Register, a Notable Architect’s Bungalow and a Relatively Affordable MCM

September 7, 2025

This week’s most notable new listing was built by a member of Alamance County’s Holt family in 1871. Sunny Side, 2834 Bellemont Alamance Road, was originally owned by Lawrence Shackleford Holt (1851-1937), a third-generation member of the pioneering mill owners. they were to 19th-century Alamance County what the Scotts were to 20th-century Alamance, although the Holts produced only one governor (Thomas, 1891-1893) compared to the two Governor Scotts (Kerr, 1949-1953, and his son Bob, 1969-1973).

The house is way down on the south side of the village of Alamance, an Italianate with well preserved Gothic Revival details.

This Week’s Best: An 1825 Cottage in Milton And in Eden a 1972 MCM and a 1928 Brick Foursquare

August 31, 2025

It was an interesting week up along the Virginia border. A cottage built in 1825 came up for sale at $349,900 in Milton. There are now six 19th-century houses for sale in Caswell County, including three in Milton.

Also, two of the week’s most interesting new listings are in Eden. A striking 1928 brick foursquare in the Leaksville historic district was listed Monday for $550,000. Its original owner was a surgeon and a founder of Leaksville Hospital. The next day, a 1972 Mid-Century Modern came onto the market for the first time. The current owner built the house 53 years ago and has lived in it ever since.

This Week’s Best: Two National Register Houses, a Sweet MCM in Asheboro and an 1875 House in Greensboro

August 3, 2025

Two houses on the National Register were put up for sale this week. The John Randle House, circa 1800, on Lake Tillery near Norwood has 27 acres, a richly detailed history and a million-dollar price tag. The J.L. Hemphill House in Wilkesboro is an 1895 Queen Anne with just about the shortest National Register nomination you’ll ever see. Those things usually read like the writers got paid by the word.

This 1979 Mid-Century Modern home in Asheboro is an outstanding example of the style, which isn’t too common in the region’s smaller towns but does keep popping up here and there, now and then.

The 7 Most Interesting Historic Homes Sold in June

July 3, 2024

June’s most notable sales include an 1881 Italianate farmhouse, a couple of particularly sweet bungalows, a Mid-Century Modern house designed by one of the state’s first African American architects and a pair of intriguing restoration candidates.

Of particular note among the past owners is James Holt Green, owner of the Glencoe mill and village in the 1930s and one of the state’s great heroes of World War II. Although rejected by the Army, he was determined to join the war effort and finagled a posting with the Office of Strategic Services. He led units behind German lines in Yugoslavia and Slovakia, rescuing downed airmen and wreaking havoc. He didn’t make it back home.

Click on the links below for more information about the houses and their histories.

Think Small: The 12 Most Intriguing Bungalows and Cottages Sold in 2023

January 2, 2024

Historic mansions and other big houses tend to draw out-sized attention, overshadowing smaller but still remarkable bungalows and cottages. Here are 12 smaller, and sometimes even affordable, historic homes sold in the Piedmont Triad this year.

Their histories are often less well documented than the typical historic mansion; so, too, are the lives of their owners. But they are long on charm and elegant design. Details on each house are below; click on the address links for more information.

221 Spring Street, Thomasville, $259,000

More of the Best of 2023: 12 Remarkable 20th-Century Houses Sold in 2023

January 1, 2024

The most notable 20th-century historic homes sold in the Piedmont Triad this year are a diverse lot. They range from a 1905 Queen Anne in Troy to Mid-Century classics in Graham, Winston-Salem and, again, Troy. Oddly, the newest of the group is in Old Salem, a masterful 2010 reproduction of a lost house from the 1840s. The year’s only other historic house sale in Old Salem that I found was another reconstruction.

Other standouts include one of the oldest houses in Sedgefield, the party house of one of Gibsonville’s most colorful families and a monumental Neoclassical mansion no longer used as a residence in Winston-Salem. Details on each house are below; click on the address links for more information.

Greensboro Modernism, Past and Present: A Benefit House Tour, Saturday, June 17

April 10, 2023

Update: The tour has been canceled, which is a shame.

A Modernist House Tour
Saturday, June 17, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

From NCModernist:

North Carolina’s brilliant mid-century Modernist houses are frequently endangered and often torn down, largely because buyers, sellers and realtors often do not realize the importance of how to identify, preserve and protect these livable works of art. You can’t save something if you don’t know where it is and why it is important.

This tour supports NCModernist, an award-winning nonprofit digital archive for owners, students, journalists, researchers, real estate agents, historians, preservationists, architects and architecture fans to protect and preserve the state’s Modernist houses. With documentation on over 5,000 houses, NCModernist is an unrivalled resource for Modernist research and preservation.

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

April 26, 2022

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.

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

February 22, 2022

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.

Piedmont Historic Homes

Historic homes for sale in the Piedmont Triad

Tag: mid-century modern