The comedy film “Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House” was released in 1948. It enjoyed a distinguished pedigree – produced by RKO Radio Pictures, directed by H. C. Potter, and showcasing stars Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, and Melvyn Douglas. Although the movie attracted modest audiences, it was cleverly paired with a national promotion of “dream…
DetailsWhy is Greensboro’s Blandwood Mansion the best place to learn about North Carolina history? “History happens here” says Benjamin Briggs, executive director of Preservation Greensboro, the non-governmental organization that owns and operates the museum. “The site’s primary associations are with two-term North Carolina governor John Motley Morehead. However, many other key figures in the state’s history…
Details“Fisher Park was the first Greensboro suburb planned and developed around a park and one of the earliest park suburbs in North Carolina.” – Marvin Brown, 1991 Captain Basil John Fisher was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1851. Little is known of his life before his military career. He was a member of the 5th…
DetailsWhether it’s the “Three Bears’ House” or “Cinderella’s House,” people who know the Thompson House at 1101 Virginia Street are enchanted by its fanciful Old World style. It stands today as a well-preserved example of Period Revival architecture in the neighborhood. In October 1917, the Greensboro Daily News reported, “Mr. and Mrs. R.L. Thompson have…
DetailsA grand Colonial Revival residence at 200 Fisher Park Circle, this house was built around 1913 for Mamie and Edgar D. Broadhurst, a justice of the peace and superintendent of public schools. Broadhurst began construction of his home overlooking Fisher Park as early as 1912 when he and several others petitioned the city to extend…
DetailsThe Lindeman House at 306 Parkway Street in Fisher Park has a remarkable past. Its builder and at least two subsequent owners were capable women with a statewide influence in historic preservation. In addition to its history, the house is representative of an architectural style that was gaining popularity in the 1920s just as the last empty lots in Fisher Park were constructed. The house is one of eight that will be open as part of Preservation Greensboro’s Tour of Historic Homes & Gardens.
DetailsThe Leak House was built in 1913 according to plans drawn by one of Greensboro’s most esteemed architects, J. H. Hopkins. It has been vacant for the past ten years, and has been the victim of neglect. It has become more memorable for the temporary supports that buttress the front porch, than for its architectural presence.
DetailsThe Margaret and Calvin Nicks McAdoo House at 350 McAdoo Street in Greensboro’s Southside neighborhood has seen both fortune and tragedy since it was constructed in 1903. Calvin Nicks McAdoo (1876-1905) was the youngest of three sons by Nannie Witcher Jones and Victor Clay McAdoo. Nannie was from Bachelors Hall in Pittsylvania County, Virginia and a descendant…
DetailsThe Booker-Benton House is a rare surviving structure built by an African American family at the height of the Jim Crow Era, in the midst of the historically white College Hill neighborhood. The early history of the house centers on Julia Booker and her daughters Mattie and Louie. Julia Forney Booker was born around 1866,…
DetailsFew among Greensboro’s preservation network have passionate associations with the architect Richard Gambier. However, any student of Greensboro’s historic architecture will know of his work – a portfolio of projects that include Gate City landmarks that are some of most celebrated places in our region. Information on Gambier can be gleaned from census data, City…
DetailsThe residence at 220 West Fisher Avenue in the Fisher Park Historic District has long been recognized as a landmark for the neighborhood. Further research reveals that its past is deeply connected the history of Greensboro. The grand two-story white frame house was constructed for Vivian and Joseph H. Armfield in 1915. Vivian Pegram (1888-1976)…
DetailsWesterwood today is a stylish neighborhood of comfortable and well-constructed homes that is convenient to nearby colleges, shopping, and downtown Greensboro. The neighborhood dates to the late nineteenth century when “Greensborough” began to expand to a ridge north and west of the small town. The high prospect of land captured the attention of high-income residents…
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