National Register of Historic Places – Piedmont Historic Homes

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

October 28, 2021

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.

Greensboro City Council to consider green-lighting demolition of National Register home

September 20, 2021

Update, September 21, 2021: The house will be demolished. The City Council rubber-stamped the rezoning. For those who follow such things, council member Tammi Thurm was the only one who stepped out of line and voted against it.

The Kimrey-Haworth House was described as “endangered” when it was added to the National Register of Historic Places 30 years ago. But it’s never been as endangered as it is now. The Greensboro City Council will vote Tuesday evening on a rezoning proposal that would clear the way for the historic house to be demolished, along others on its block in the West Friendly Avenue-Muirs Chapel Road area, for a medical office building.

Medical office buildings can be built anywhere. There are some in the West Friendly-Muirs Chapel area already. But historic homes like the Kimrey-Haworth House, built around 1925, are increasingly rare. They can’t be replaced. The historic homes that would be demolished have greater value to the community than yet another office building. If the City Council says no to this developer, he can build his office building somewhere else and the community will get the same benefit from it. But if they say no to the Kimrey-Haworth House and its neighbors, those homes and their history be gone forever, and the value they bring to our community will be lost forever.

Sold: Mount Airy’s Edgar Harvey Hennis House, a 1909 National Register Home, for $560,000

August 19, 2021

1056 N. Main Street, Mount Airy, Surry County
The Edgar Harvey Hennis House

Sold for $560,000 on August 19, 2021 (originally $649,900)
5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 3,798 square feet, 0.78 acre
Price/square foot: $147
Built in 1909
Listed March 15, 2021
Last sale: $187,000, August 2017
Neighborhood: Lebanon Hill Historic District

Four Classic Homes for Sale in Lexington’s Most Historic Neighborhoods

August 12, 2021

Lexington’s first residential neighborhoods were built out beginning in the the late 1800s, and they’re relatively intact today. Those neighborhoods — Courtenay, Hillcrest, Oak Crest, Park Place, Robbins Heights, Rosemary Park and Westover Heights — now constitute the Lexington Residential Historic District on the National Register. It’s a sprawling area running from Business 85 and Grimes School to the north down to West 9th Street to the south. It contains the much smaller Park Place local historic district.

The district contains a variety of interesting historic homes, and four of them are on the market now. They include a gorgeous Mediterranean Revival, a judge’s austere Colonial Revival, a Craftsman bungalow and a Craftsman Foursquare, all built between 1915 and 1926.

The Birthplace of Gov. Kerr Scott and the Family’s Political Dynasty, $750,000

July 14, 2021

3210 N.C. Highway 119 South, Haw River, Alamance County
The Henderson Scott House II

Sold for $735,000 on August 20, 2021 (originally $899,000)
6 bedrooms, 4 1/2 bathrooms, 4,371 square feet (per county records), 3.42 acres
Price/square foot: $168
Built in 1848
Listed June 10, 2021
Last sale: $450,000, February 2007
Neighborhood: Henderson Scott Farm Historic District
Note: The house is the birthplace of Gov. W. Kerr Scott.

The Ray-Jamerson House: An Affordable 1886 Beauty in Eden

September 27, 2020

Update: The Ray-Jamerson House sold for $217,500 on October 29, 2020.

Maybe it’s time to take another look at Eden. I drove up there recently to visit the Central Leaksville Historic District, particularly to take a drive-by look at 527 Patrick Street. Gorgeous neighborhood, gorgeous house, and amazingly affordable. After an afternoon wandering around town, I came away wondering if the town might be the Triad’s best undiscovered place for affordable historic homes.

County records list 527 Patrick as being built in 1920, but that would be way late for a Queen Anne like this. The historic district’s National Register nomination gives a more likely 1886 date. The house has three bedrooms and three bathrooms in 2,456 square feet. The listing’s pictures show the house to be in very good condition. The lot is 0.57 acre. It’s priced at $219,900, $90 per square foot. That’s a fabulous price compared to what a similar house would cost in, say, one of the historic districts in Greensboro or Winston-Salem.

Continue reading “The Ray-Jamerson House: An Affordable 1886 Beauty in Eden”

Boxwood Lodge: An Elegant National Register Mansion-Wedding Venue-B&B near Mocksville, $3.45 million

July 21, 2020

boxwood night.jpg — Photo from https://www.boxwoodestate.com/

Update: The lisiting was withdrawn without a sale March 8, 2021.

There are only four National Register properties for sale in the Piedmont right now (that I know of, at least, plus one under contract), but they represent a wide variety, particularly in size and price. There’s the small and unforgettable Villa Fortuna in Reidsville, just 1,500 square feet and $99,900 (needs some work). And then there’s Boxwood Lodge in Davie County, 9,300 square feet and $3.45 million (needs nothing but your $3.45 million).

Boxwood was built in 1934 and has been a B&B since 1995. The listing says a $5 million renovation was completed in 2007. The house is set on 51 mostly wooded acres near the Yadkin River, It has eight bedrooms, six full bathrooms and two half-baths in 9,304 square feet (according to county records). That comes to a remarkable $371 per square foot. But, then, it’s a remarkable house.

The 1820 John Johnston House in Caswell County: An Immaculate Little Cottage on the National Register, $118,500

May 28, 2020

3125 nc hwy 62 north blanch

Update: The house sold for $131,000 on June 26, 2020, $13,000 over the asking price. The owners accepted the offer May 30, two days after putting the house up for sale.

Caswell County has some of the grandest antebellum mansions in the state. The John Johnston House is something quite different and more rare. “Though members of the Johnston family were prominent in social and economic affairs in Caswell County from the eighteenth century onward, the significance of the house derives less from the specific historical contributions of its occupants than from its representation of a class of plantation residence that has rarely been preserved,” the home’s 1997 National Register nomination says.

Continue reading “The 1820 John Johnston House in Caswell County: An Immaculate Little Cottage on the National Register, $118,500”

Villa Fortuna: An Eclectic 1888 National Register Property in Reidsville, $99,900

February 6, 2020

608 vance street reidsville.jpg

The Jennings-Baker House, also known as Villa Fortuna, is one of the most affordable National Register properties you’re likely to see. Accordingly, it also needs more work than most National Register properties. It’s not a complete wreck, though, and some of its charm has stood up to the years very well.

The brick exterior is notably elaborate. The National Register nomination calls Villa Fortuna a distinctive and vernacular mix of styles — Gothic Revival, Italianate and more — that were popular in the mid-19th century. The current real estate listing says it’s simply “the perfect blend of unpretentious elegance and a rustic urban farm,” although even an urban farmer might want more than the villa’s half acre.

Continue reading “Villa Fortuna: An Eclectic 1888 National Register Property in Reidsville, $99,900”

The 1839 Davie County Jail: A National Register Property in Mocksville Is For Sale in an Online Auction

October 17, 2019

Update: The jail and guest house sold for $402,000 in December 2021. The 2019 auction didn’t result in a sale, and the jail was taken off the market in December 2019. The other two houses were sold in 2020.

Davie County’s original jail was built in Mocksville in 1839, three years after the county was established. Now it’s the centerpiece of an online auction of five properties all on the same downtown corner. Prospective buyers can bid on the properties separately or all of them together.

The jail is the centerpiece. It housed the county’s most armed and dangerous for 70 years and then became a residence. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. In 2001 the current owner bought it and converted it to office use.

Piedmont Historic Homes

Historic homes for sale in the Piedmont Triad

Tag: National Register of Historic Places