1300 Pinecrest Drive
Set on a hill above Blythe Street, the Tudor Revival/Normanesque style Erle Stillwell House is located just west of downtown Hendersonville, in an area which developed during the 1910s and 1920s. The nominated property consists of the 1926 house and an extensively landscaped garden, occupying the northern half of a lot that runs from Pinecrest Drive on the north to Iowa Street on the south. It is bordered by Blythe Street on the east, and Wetmur Street and large undeveloped lots to the west. The nominated tract is .88 of an acre, and consists of the northern portion of the original lot which Erle Stillwell purchased in 1920. The northern portion of the lot and the nominated house were lost in the Depression, but Stillwell retained ownership of the southern portion and later built a second residence ca. 1935. An original stone retaining wall and slate footpaths wind through the garden that surrounds the house on the east, south and west sides.
Facing south, this two-story Tudor Revival/Normanesque style brick house is an L-plan with the main entry located at the juncture of the two wings of the building. Although the entry faces southeast towards Blythe Street, the entrance to the property is from the drive at the northeast corner which fronts onto Pinecrest Drive. The house was built almost exactly as shown in the architectural plans drawn by Stillwell. Tudor revival elements of the house include the single, double, or triple multi-light casement windows, all of which are leaded glass with built-in screens. Windows on the first floor have fixed transom lights. The brick walls still display some evidence of parging, a technique used by Stillwell in many of his brick structures. The current multi-gable and hip roof with flared gable ends is covered by asphalt shingles, but the original drawings called for tile. Two brick chimneys with chimney pots were also built as shown on the original drawings. A ribbed copper roof covers the front and rear entries and the sun porch to the south. The only apparent changes to the exterior of the building since its construction is the enclosure of the sun porch on the south side by French doors, and the replacement of the rear entry door. The drawings show the sun porch as an open porch framed by an arched lattice.
The garden that surrounds the house on the east, south, and west sides retains many of the original landscape elements. One of the main features is the approximately 4'-high retaining wall which runs along the eastern edge of the property above the sidewalk on Blythe Street. A second 5'-high retaining wall, shown on the original plot plans drawn for the property, is set back from this east boundary of the lot. This wall wraps around to the south side of the drive and forms the boundary for the driveway and part of the garden, and turns north towards the house near the front entry and stops at the southeastern edge of the front terrace. This level terrace area above the retaining wall was originally a more formal garden which was a "bow tie" shape. The area to the south below the driveway and terrace continues at a lower elevation and opens into a large side garden on the west side of the house, including a sitting area at the northwest corner of the property, several curvilinear planting beds, and a rose garden added by the current owners. Many large trees remain on the property, including a spectacular collection of cedars, Carolina spruce, and hemlocks. The current owners have followed as closely as possible the original location of pathways, and have restored them in place with slate walkways. The current owners also added the granite piers framing the entrance to the driveway. A privacy fence was added along the south boundary of the property in the 1990s, dividing this house from the later Stillwell house to the south. The original driveway was gravel, but was converted to concrete at a later time.
Inside, the house has an irregular floor plan which is consistent with the overall L-plan of the exterior. Interior rooms consist of a living room/dining room/bedroom wing which runs north-south, and a garage/kitchen/bedroom wing which runs east-west. There is also a finished attic space and a full basement. In the basement, the fireproof masonry construction of the building is evident in the concrete walls and floors. Granite bedrock forms a portion of the foundation. In the basement, the boiler room and remainder of the original trash incinerator are still evident as shown on the drawings. All doors in the house are eight-panel cherry, except for the former maid's room which contains single panel doors. Much original hardware remains in the house, including many wall sconces, brass and glass doorknobs, and brass switchplates. The walls are all metal lath covered with plaster. Closets are all cedar-lined, and floors throughout are oak.
On the first floor, a small entry foyer opens into a large living room to the west and into a narrow stair hall to the east. Set at an angle to the house, the front door within the entry foyer is v-board, with multi-light leaded glass above. Small, narrow leaded glass windows flank the entry. The living room walls are covered with cherry paneling. The ceiling is rough plaster, and the fireplace is carved limestone. French doors lead from the south wall of the living room to the sun porch. The floor of the sun porch is slate, with windows and doors added after the original construction to enclose the room. To the north side of the living room is the dining room, with a decorative crown molding. Maid call buttons are still located on the floor. To the east of the dining room is the kitchen, which originally consisted of a butler's pantry and a cooking area. Renovated in the early 1990s to create one space, the kitchen retains some original cabinetry. The downstairs bath, located just off the stair hall, retains its original tile floor and walls. The stairs have simple balusters with concave sides and an applied scroll pattern up the sidewall. Upstairs, there are three bedrooms, a former maid's room, back service stairs, and a sewing/ironing room, all built as shown on drawings. Baths appear to have their original wall tile.
The Erle Stillwell House at 1300 Pinecrest Drive was built in 1926 as the residence of Erle Stillwell, prominent Hendersonville architect. It is significant for its association with Stillwell at a time when he designed some of the most architecturally sophisticated buildings in Hendersonville. Stillwell was a prolific, well-educated architect with the ability to design in many different styles from the Neo-Classical Revival to Art Deco. His contribution to the architectural fabric of Hendersonville is immense and many of these buildings remain today as a legacy to his genius. The nominated property located at 1300 Pinecrest Drive is a highly intact example of his work, showcasing the use of top quality materials and design elements. It is one of two residences designed and built by Erle Stillwell for his own home, and is representative of one of the most prolific and significant periods of the early years of his career in Hendersonville. The second house Stillwell built, located on the lot just south of the nominated property, is associated with the latter part of his career from the late 1930s into the 1970s and is not part of this nomination.
Erle Gulick Stillwell was born in Hannibal, Missouri on August 29, 1885, the son of Amos John Stillwell and Frances Anderson Stillwell. He attended the U. S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, and then studied at the University of North Carolina, Cornell University, and the University of Pennsylvania. In addition to his academic studies, Stillwell traveled extensively in England, Scotland, France, Italy, and Greece. He visited Hendersonville in 1905 and decided to stay. In 1907 in Hendersonville, he married Eva Douglas Smith. Eva Smith was the daughter of William A. Smith, the developer of Laurel Park, just outside the city limits of Hendersonville. In 1916 Stillwell opened an architecture practice. He became a member of the American Institute of Architects in 1916, and served as Treasurer/Secretary of the North Carolina Chapter from 1917 to 1921, and again from 1934 to 1937. Stillwell also served as president of the North Carolina Chapter from 1922 to 1923 and again from 1942 to 1944. In 1942, he became a Fellow in the American Institute of Architects. Stillwell continued in private practice until 1942, when he became a founding partner in the Asheville-based firm, Six Associates. Only the larger firms were being granted government work at the time, so Stillwell joined with Charles E. Waddell, a civil engineer, and architects Henry Irven Gaines, Anthony Lord, William W. Dodge, and Stewart Rogers to form the company. The company was, and still is, located near Biltmore between Asheville and Hendersonville on Highway 25. Stillwell continued for thirty years as part of Six Associates, retiring in 1971. In addition to his architecture practice, Stillwell was an active member of St. James Episcopal Church in Hendersonville, along with several clubs including the Masonic lodge, the country club, and the Kiwanis Club. Eva Stillwell died on November 12, 1971, and Erle Stillwell died on October 22, 1978.
Erle Stillwell's early practice of architecture took place during one of the most economically rich times in the history of Hendersonville. Among his clients were some of the most prominent businessmen and women in the city. In Hendersonville and the surrounding area, Stillwell designed the Michael Schenk House (ca. 1910), an addition to Rosa Edwards School (1912), the Queen Theater (1915), a bungalow for Dr. J. L. Egerton (1917), the Kantrowitz bungalow (1917), St. James Episcopal Church (ca. 1917-1919), the Gillican Residence (1919), the F. A. Ewbank Residence (1920), the Brownlow Jackson Building (ca. 1920; 1926), First Bank and Trust Company (1922), State Trust and Citizen's Bank (1923), First Baptist Church (1923), Hendersonville High School (1926), Blue Ridge School for Boys (1926), the A. Patterson Residence (1926), the A. A. McCall Residence (1926), alterations to the R. P. Freeze Residence (1926), bungalow for F. S. Wetmur (1926), Hendersonville City Hall (1927), Etowah Grade School (1927), Citizen's National Bank (1928), Edneyville Grade School (ca. 1920s), Flat Rock School (ca. 1920s), Fletcher Elementary School (ca. 1920s), Mills River District Public School (ca. 1920s), the Tuxedo School Building (ca. 1920s), the W. M. Sherard Residence (ca. 1920s), the Hafford Jones Residence (date unknown), a showroom and service station for Hendersonville Brick Company (date unknown), the Ewbank & Ewbank office building (date unknown), a store building for Ewbank Brothers (date unknown), and the E. W. Ewbank Residence (date unknown).
The 541 Blythe Street house is more directly associated with the latter part of Stillwell's career, when he still worked some in Henderson County but also became active all through North Carolina and the southeast, especially in the design of numerous Art Deco and Art Nouveau theaters, and was a founding principal in the firm Six Associates, based in Asheville. Since Stillwell's death, the property has changed hands several times. Stillwell willed the house to his niece, Helen G. Rake, and her husband Lorraine P. Rake. The Rakes sold the property on December 20, 1978 to Jennifer F. McConnachie. Jennifer McConnachie sold the property to William H. and Joan L. Bell on June 1, 1979. The Bells sold the property on November 15, 1982 to Patrick L. McNutt. Patrick McNutt sold the property to David S. Cowan on June 26, 1986, and Janet and James Johnson bought the property from the Cowans in 1999.
(Excerpts from the Local Historic Property Designation Report 4.25.01)
103 South Washington Street
The King-Waldrop House is a two-story residence built c. 1881 that exemplifies features of both the Queen Anne and the Italianate building styles. Its most distinctive feature is a square three-stage cupola with a concave pyramidal roof. The house has irregular, blocky massing under front, side, and rear gables with wide eave returns. There are brackets under all the eaves. The second floor porch, which wraps around the tower, has been partially enclosed as a sunporch but still retains turned spindles. The original fabric of the house is relatively unchanged. The one-story rear section appears to have originally been a back porch that was enclosed. A one-story wing extending from the left side is an early 20th century kitchen addition. Most of the windows have 2/2 sash, but the third stage of the tower has 6/6 sash. The single front entrance door, which has a paneled lower half and glazed upper half, has a four-pane transom. All openings have wide plain surrounds.
The interior of the house is simple in both its form and detailing. The floor plan consists of a central hall on both stories, with rooms opening from it. Downstairs, upon entering the house, the parlor is to the right and the dining room is to the left. The parlor is by far the most elaborately decorated room in the house. Its central feature is a delicate Victorian mantel with oval mirror above, probably an early 20th century replacement. A bay window projects outward at the front of the house. All woodwork, as everywhere else in the house, is dark typical Victorian. Floors throughout the house are hardwood stained dark.
The dining room is the largest room in the house, expanded to its present size (by enclosing part of the front porch) when the Waldrops took in boarders around 1913. The mantel here is a simple, late Greek Revival style mantel with pilasters supporting a plain frieze and shelf that is probably original, as are mantels in all the remaining rooms in the house. Corner blocks on all the windows and doors are faceted. Windows in the dining room addition have bullseye corner blocks. Through the rear of the dining room, one enters a small screened porch and kitchen added to the house in the early 1900s. Originally, the kitchen was a separate building reached by a covered passageway from where the present kitchen is now located. Walls and ceiling in the kitchen are all painted beaded boards. Two bedrooms, one behind the parlor and one behind the dining room, complete the downstairs.
Bedrooms throughout the house are simple, the only decorative features picture molding and simple original mantels. All doors are four-panel, some crowned by transom lights. Upstairs, there are six additional bedrooms opening off the central hallway. Stair balusters are simple in design. All walls retain original plaster finishes. Four of the six bedrooms are directly above the four downstairs rooms. The other two were formed from part of the second story porch. Stairs wind upward from the second floor hallway to the cupola above, which is also a simple square room with minimal decorative features. Windows here are six over six, and walls are plaster.
Overall, the interior of the house, like the outside, has retained its original integrity. Built as a large functional home and altered to accommodate a large family, it still maintains a feeling of spaciousness and simple, gracious comfort. The King-Waldrop House (Maple Grove) is one of the few surviving 19th century dwellings in downtown Hendersonville. The once primarily residential Washington Street, two blocks from Main Street, is rapidly being encroached upon by commercial development.
The house was built for Laura V. King, the daughter of Col. Valentine Ripley, one of Hendersonville’s earliest businessmen and entrepreneurs. Ripley was responsible for constructing some of the earliest buildings on Main Street. Col. Ripley died in 1879. On November 2, 1879, a deed was signed by Judge H.G. Edward, executor for the Col. Ripley estate, conveying property to Laura King "containing one acre more or less." This land was comprised of lots #92 and 93 of the original town plat for Hendersonville (Henderson County Deed Book 17, p.442). Mrs. King paid $700.00 for the property. The work on the house was probably finished in 1881 or 1882. The builder/architect is unknown.
The Ripley family enjoyed early prominence in Hendersonville, especially the colonel himself. According to Laura's sister, Lila Ripley Barnwell in an article that appeared in the Times News on August 29, 1938, "Colonel Valentine Ripley, a native of Rockbridge County, Virginia, came to this section in the (eighteen) thirties, settling first in Asheville, where he married Miss Ruth Smith, daughter of James Smith, who was the first white child born west of the Blue Ridge in North Carolina. Shortly afterward Henderson County was cut off from Buncombe, and because of interest in the mail route, Colonel Ripley came here to live. He had large land interests, owning thousands of acres in the county. No citizen was ever more interested in the progress and development of this section. After the War Between the States, Colonel Ripley formed a partnership with Captain M.C. Toms in the mercantile business. He was too much a lover of the out of doors and fine horses to like the confinement of that life, and while he carefully attended to the business the practical management was left largely in the capable hands of Captain Toms. One of the greatest ambitions of his life was a railroad for Hendersonville and for years he spent time and money for this accomplishment, living to see his dream realized about four months before his death in 1879."
The King-Waldrop House's distinctive styling, accentuated by an eye-catching tower, is a fitting reflection of the Ripley family's prominence in the community. The importance of the house as an indicator of Laura King's perpetuation of the family's high social standing is augmented by its location on a portion of her father's extensive land holdings and the fact that it is the only remaining, relatively intact residence associated with the early generations of the Ripley family. In 1897, Laura King and Dr. J. G. Waldrop consummated a delightful trade between friends: house for house. Dr. Waldrop, a local general practitioner, began to look about Hendersonville for a home with ample space for his wife Nancy and their eight children. On October 21, 1897, Dr. and Mrs. Waldrop joined Laura King at the courthouse to sign over each of their properties to the other. Mrs. King paid $1,000.00 for the Waldrop property, while receiving $1,500.00 for her own. The Waldrops received "...the Laura King homeplace on Washington St. and Chestnut St..." along with about 3/4 acre of land (Henderson County Deed Book 36, pp.476-478). This property has remained in the Waldrop family, and by cherishing their home, they have maintained a link with Hendersonville's past.
Numerous newspaper items about Dr. and Mrs. Waldrop, who christened their new home "Maple Grove," recall the high esteem in which they were held by the citizens of Hendersonville. Traditionally, physicians were considered community leaders due to their healing abilities and professional contacts with so many of their fellow citizens, and apparently Dr. Waldrop was no exception. Undoubtedly, the spacious King-Waldrop House filled with the large Waldrop family was a focus of the neighborhood and Hendersonville social life generally, as suggested by notices of parties and other family activities. The King-Waldrop House is one of the few surviving homes in an area of Washington Street which was once mainly residential. It is also a good example of Queen Anne/Italianate homes from the late 19th-early 20th century period of growth in Hendersonville. It is still used as a residence in an area that has become primarily commercial. It is representative of the Residential Buildings property type and its relationship to Hendersonville is explained in "Residential Development in Early Hendersonville, N.C. 1879- 1929," Hendersonville Multiple Property Documentation Form. The house also is an important reflection of Hendersonville's late 19th and early 20th century social history as the home of two of the town's most prominent citizens, Mrs. Laura King, daughter of esteemed local businessman and entrepreneur Col. Valentine Ripley, and Dr. J.G. Waldrop, Hendersonville's leading physician from c. 1880 to 1910.
(Excerpts from the National Register of Historic Places, Registration Form 12.28.88)
More information on the Waldrop Family can be found as part of the Special Collections of the Ramsey Library on the UNC-A campus. http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/mss/waldrop_j_g_family/default_waldrop_j_g.htm
(Aloah Hotel)
201 3rd Avenue West
The former Aloah Hotel, once known as the Carson House, the Hendersonville Inn, and most recently the Inn on Church, is a large, three-story, relatively severely designed brick hotel on a corner lot at 201 Third Avenue West, just west of downtown Hendersonville. The only stylistic elements are the modest Classical Revival porch and entrance. The rectangular building, with shallow T projections on the east and west sides, has a flat roof, overhanging boxed and molded eaves, and an ample one-story frame porch extending around three sides of the building. Porch entrances face Third Street and Church Street. The northernmost bay of the east side porch is enclosed as a sunroom. Six-over-six pane windows occurring singly or in pairs or triplets, generously illuminate the building. The main entrance, facing Third Avenue, is a single beveled glass door with four pane beveled sidelights. The building rests on a low stone foundation, and a low rough quarried stone retaining wall outlines the narrow grassy lawn on the two street sides. The hipped roof porch is supported by paired square posts, occurring in triplets at the corners, with a plain wooden balustrade. The hotel is remarkably unaltered on the exterior. The only obvious change is the metal awnings which shelter the south side of the porch, probably replacements for earlier canvas awnings.
On the interior, the hotel is equally well-preserved. Like the exterior, the interior treatment is spare and utilitarian, with a slight Craftsman flavor to the dark stained woodwork and the fireplace in the lobby, a simple arched brick design with a heavy dark stained bracketed shelf. The lobby occupies the south half of the first floor, and this large space is supported at intervals by wooden paneled and plastered posts and exposed ceiling joists. The closed-string stair rises in two flights with a landing along the south front wall to the second floor. It has a handsome dark stained railing, with heavy square newels and simple balustrade similar to the front porch railing. A dark stained paneled registration desk, apparently original, is nestled beneath the staircase facing the entrance. French doors open from the lobby into the dining room and kitchen area, which occupy the rear half of the first floor. The dining room space has paneled wooden posts and exposed boxed ceiling joists. The entire interior retains its original doors, with five horizontal panels, dark stained woodwork, and wooden floors and plaster walls. Each of the guest rooms bas a louvered door in addition to the solid paneled door.
The Aloah Hotel is one of the few hotels in Hendersonville still operated as a hotel. Known later as the Carson House and since the early 1930s as the Hendersonville Inn, the Aloah is one of the last of the town's hotels, and its plain sturdy brick design and ample wrapround porch reflect comfort and continuity. It is representative of the Inns, Boarding Houses, and Hotels property type.
Originally, this section of Hendersonville was filled with other hotels catering to the tourism boom: most notably the Hodgewell Hotel, which was at the corner of 4th Avenue West and Church Street, a block north of the Aloah Hotel; and the Kentucky Home at the northeast corner of Washington and 4th Streets, a block northeast of the Aloah Hotel. Both of these structures have been demolished. Aside from its historical associations, the Aloah Hotel is also notable for its continuous use as a hotel.
The 90' x 150' rectangular lot on which the Aloah Hotel sits was originally owned by Dr. Columbus Few, who sold the property for $1,500.00 to his son C. Few, Jr. in 1914 (Henderson County Deed Book 84, p. 257). The deed mentions the lot only with no mention of improvements. Few, Jr. sold the property to J. O. Bell in 1910 for $10,000.00 with a bank note of $1,800.00, indicating the balance due. It appears that J. O. Bell was the builder of the Aloah and sold the property in 1921 to Mrs. Etta Carson. The building’s name was changed to the Carson Hotel or Carson House. Apparently, Mrs. Carson lost the hotel during the Depression, because it was sold on the Courthouse steps at auction in 1932.
At this time, Mr. W. H. Britt bought it for $25.00 from the Green River Manufacturing Company (Henderson County Deed Book 203, p. 134). Once again, it experienced a change of identity, becoming the Hendersonville Inn. In 1943, the hotel was sold to Ira E. Johnson (Henderson County Deed Book 249, p. 305). Finally, in 1985, I. E. Johnson deeded the property to his son, E. Leland Johnson. It was known as the Inn on Church for a number of years, until current owners Michael and Jeanne Gilligan renamed it The Henderson.
(Excerpts from the National Register of Historic Places, Registration Form 12.28.88)
301 Fourth Avenue East
The Grey Hosiery Mill, built in 1915 with additions in 1919 and 1947, is the only historic industrial building remaining in the city of Hendersonville. Located three blocks east of Hendersonville's historic Main Street area, the mill occupies approximately one-half of the western side of the block bound by Fourth Avenue East to the south, Grove Street to the west, Fifth Avenue East to the north, and Pine Street to the east. The mill is located in the downtown area of Hendersonville, but is removed from the Main Street Historic District by one block of modern non-contributing structures.
The horizontally-massed, one-story mill building is typical of early 20th century industrial architecture with its large multi-pane steel sash windows, plain brick exterior, and stepped gable roof with clerestory. Overall the building is shaped like a backward J, with the 1915 and 1947 portions positioned in a north-south orientation along Grove Street connected to the 1919 section--which is also positioned in a north orientation--by a hyphen located at the south side of the parcel. To the east of the mill is a small parking lot and yard. The entire building rests on a coursed stone foundation. The interior consists of large open areas with exposed heavy timbers. Partition walls, which do not extend from the ceiling to floor, divide all of the open areas into temporary offices but do not detract from the overall scale of the original spaces.
1915 Original Portion of Mill
Built in 1915, the original portion of the mill served as the knitting room. The facade of this long, rectangular building faces south towards Fourth Avenue East with its long side along Grove Street. A low hip roof portico supported by plain square columns marks the entrance to the building on Fourth Avenue. Concrete steps lead to a pair of glazed-over-single-panel doors, which are each topped by a six-light transom. Large multi-pane steel-sash windows with concrete sills flank the entrance, and the facade rises to a stepped parapet that is peaked slightly in the center. The side elevation on Grove Street consists of the same large steel-sash windows running the length of the building. A double-leaf, nine-over-two-panel door located in the center of the elevation is accessed by a low wooden deck ramp. A second entrance, which is fitted with a metal roll-up door, replaced the next-to-northernmost window bay on the Grove Street elevation. The northernmost window bay has been partially enclosed around a seven-by-seven glass block window.
The interior of the original section has wood floors, beaded-beard ceilings, and clerestory windows on both the east and west elevations that can be opened and closed with the original pulley system. The heavy timber posts supporting the roof beams and truss system are chamfered. The exposed ends of the timber beams project through the exterior walls and are carved to a rounded end. The interior plan is open except for the new partitions added by the City of Hendersonville upon occupying the mill.
1919 Addition to Mill
In 1919, the building was enlarged with a roughly rectangular-shaped brick addition extending to the east along Fourth Avenue and then north within the block. This addition created an overall backward J-configuration, with a courtyard separating the two north-south oriented sections of the building. The one-story-on-basement brick wing along Fourth Avenue that connects the two parallel sections of the mill was used for shipping and storage and is similar in detail to the original portion of the building, although it lacks a clerestory. A portico that mimics the detail of the main entrance shelters a pair of separate entrance doors that face Fourth Avenue. A simple loading dock stands on the east side of the portico. The windows on the Fourth Street side of the addition have been replaced with pairs of six-over-six, double-hung wooden sash windows and enclosed above. On the courtyard elevation facing west, similar modern six-over-six windows have replaced the lower half of the original steel sash. A stepped parapet with a slight peak in the center dominates the unadorned brick east end of the addition. The portion of the wing extending north into the block contained rooms for finishing, boarding, and drying. At the rear of the wing and projecting from the mill to the east stands a four-bay, shed-roof shop, which is constructed of corrugated metal siding on all elevations and a brick foundation. The shop is accessed through four metal roll-up doors.
1947 Addition to the Mill
Another brick addition, constructed in 1947, extends from the north side of the original mill building and completes the block face along Grove Street. This portion of the mill is utilitarian design with only small square louvered vents punctuating the west elevation. Four pairs of double-hung windows and a recessed doorway mark the north end or Fifth Avenue elevation of the addition. This section of the mill has concrete floors, steel roof beams, no clerestory, and is open in plan.
Historical Background
Grey Hosiery Mill was established in February, 1915, at the request of the citizens of Hendersonville in order to bring industrial development to Hendersonville. The citizens contributed the sum of $600.00 to Captain James P. Grey and son James P. Grey, Jr. Captain Grey, a native North Carolinian and Davidson College alumnus, began his career as a teacher, then after investing wisely in a Louisville, Kentucky, timber company he retired early. Capt. Grey grew bored with retirement and learned the textile business through a large operation in Johnson City, Tennessee. He later moved to Hendersonville and established the mill. Capt. Grey's brother, Charles L. Grey, joined the company in 1919. James P. Grey, Jr., who had attended Davidson College for a short time, was previously employed at Freeze-Bacon Hosiery Mills in Henderson County. Capt. Grey later left the business and relocated to Bristol, Tennessee, where he started another mill. James Grey, Jr. and Charles Grey remained in Hendersonville to supervise operations.
The mill operations first began in a small brick building and a small frame structure in 1915 at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Grove Street. The mill originally produced knee-length ribbed stockings for children, manufactured on 32 knitting machines. At this time, the mill employed approximately 25 people. With the invention of nylon around the time of the second World War, production was changed to women's seamless hosiery. Grey Hosiery produced 66,000 pair of hosiery weekly and employed 250 people at its peak. The city of Hendersonville gained recognition through the distribution of Grey Hosiery Products, and James Grey, Jr. held several exclusive patents. The company distributed its products through sales agents and into department stores under their well-known brand names. Grey Hosiery also distributed stockings under its own brand names (e.g., "Betty Grey," "Dolly Grey," "Grey Moor," "Flamingo" and "Sarita"). James Grey's wife also ran a mail order business that sold the Flamingo brand. In 1965, Grey Hosiery mill was sold to Holt Hosiery Mills Inc. of Burlington, North Carolina. Holt Hosiery operated on this site for only two years and halted production in 1967.
During the 50-year period that the mill operated under the management of the Grey family, Grey Hosiery was a key employer in Hendersonville and Henderson County, and the expansion of the company coincided with the expansion of the town. The mill also employed personnel residing in neighboring counties. The Grey family was highly regarded by the employees of the mill for their progressive management. Although the company did not provide housing for its workers, the mill provided insurance for its employees, a nurse on duty, and childcare. The mill also sponsored a number of sports teams. Upon the sale of the mill to Holt Hosiery, and after 50 years in the business, James Grey, Jr. expressed his appreciation for all the past and present employees of the mill: "If there is any pleasure to be had in operating a hosiery mill, the greatest pleasure to me has been my association with a very fine group of Henderson and Polk County people who have worked with me for so many years.”
Since 1967 the building has served a number of uses, including a craft store and temporary home for the Henderson County Library. The building is owned by the City of Hendersonville.
(Excerpts from the National Register of Historic Places, Registration Form 5.11.99)
Grey Hosiery Mill ca. 1940s
1210 Greenville Highway
Located in a fast-developing area just south of Hendersonville, North Carolina, the Mary Mills Coxe House sits on a 1.8-acre tract with wooded edges. It faces west across a shaded lawn towards the Greenville Highway, formerly known as the Flat Rock Road. The property is bordered on the north and south by other residential properties, some on wooded lots. Behind the property, to the east, is a partially-wooded trailer park. Across the Greenville Highway are mid- and late-twentieth century commercial properties.
An asphalt-and-gravel driveway enters the property north of the house, continues deep into the lot, and circles around to reach the porte cochere. At the rear of the property is a carriage house contemporary to the house but altered unsympathetically, and two later, non- contributing buildings. A low, curving granite wall forms a front entrance to the property from the road, which, at the time the house was built, was a gravel road with banks on each side and a dirt path atop each bank.
Built ca. 1911 as a single family residence, the Mary Mills Coxe House is notable as one of only a handful of pebbledash houses remaining in Henderson County. The house itself is a two-and-one-half-story frame, Colonial Revival-style dwelling set on a raised basement and stuccoed with pebbledash siding. Pebbledash was made popular in the area by Richard S. Smith, who came to Asheville with Richard Morris Hunt to supervise construction of Biltmore House. Pebbledash is a rough-textured stucco, an architectural concrete aggregate called "roughcast" by architect Smith.
The house is three bays wide with a two level side-gabled roof, a pedimented front dormer, and a rear gable ell. The roof is sheathed in pressed metal shingles and pierced by three interior brick chimneys. Pent roofs characteristic of the Colonial Revival style are applied directly to the walls of all gable ends enclosing the gables. Deep overhanging boxed eaves with beaded-board soffits and frieze are on all sides of the house. At the front (west), a one-story hip-roofed porch wraps on the south side and extends to the north to create a porte cochere. The high foundation is of rough cut, regular coursed granite that matches the wide front granite steps and the steps leading from the north end of the porch beneath the porte cochere. It is similar to the granite of the low front entrance wall.
The house has little decorative detailing, with the emphasis of the front (west) facade on the porch and central entrance. The large porch is formed by fifteen columns with simple Doric caps and bases supporting an unadorned entablature and asphalt hipped roof. The ceiling is of beaded boards. The wide overhangs of the main roof are repeated beneath the porch roof. A wood wheelchair ramp, sympathetically designed to reflect the square picket balustrade of the porch, was added to the south side porch elevation in 1993, and rotted column bases were replaced in kind.
The three-bay form elevation is symmetrically balanced, with a central doorway and paired nine-over-one windows on the first level. The front door with beveled glass is set within a broad, three-part molded frame. Four-light sidelights above paired panels and a three-part transom with eight small lights complete the composition of the central entrance. The top of the transom and of the front windows abut the crown mold of the porch. Typical of the Colonial Revival style, the second-story fenestration is of similar but smaller paired windows in all three bays.
The side elevations of the house have paired nine-over-one windows at the frontmost bays and single nine-over-one windows at the rear bays at both levels. A flared-roof bay window projects on the north side just behind the porte cochere, and another near the back of the south elevation projects onto the wrap porch. The north side elevation of the rear ell has nine-over-one single windows at both levels. In the attic level, the original nine-lighted fixed sash in the front dormer windows and side and rear gable windows were replaced in 1993 with single-pane sash. The sills of the attic windows rest on the ridge line of the pent roofs, while the second-floor windows seem to hang from just beneath the frieze, and those on the front and south side elevations rest on the porch rooftop. At the rear (east) elevation at basement level are two six-over-six windows replaced in 1993 to match the originals and a doorway beneath the back porch.
Across the rear of the house is a two-story shed-roofed porch with enclosed upper-level sleeping porch protruding from just beneath the pent roof of the rear ell. Of odd configuration, it appears originally to have been a one-story porch. The porch is supported by granite piers similar to the roughcut granite of the foundation, with lattice screening and a new wooden stair built in 1993 to replace what was then existing. At the first floor level, four square posts support a plain wide frieze. Decorative sawn purlins are exposed on each side. The second story extends beyond the first floor on all sides, supported by three sawn curved brackets more closely resembling false knee braces and similar to the purlin ends. Two slender square wood posts provide additional support at the protruding corners. This early alteration created an enlarged upper porch level that was converted into a sleeping porch with vertical beaded-board wainscot and a ribbon of six-light windows on all three sides. The single-hung sashes open down into the wainscot.
During the renovations of 1993, pebbledash siding matching that of the exterior was found on the rear wall of the house at the second-floor porch level. A center partition was removed and the eight-inch floor incline typical of porches was made level. In addition, the rear eaves of the porch were reduced from about a three-foot overhang to a two-foot overhang.
The interior of the Coxe House follows a modified center hall plan. Rising along the rear wall of the hall is an open string stair with a gracefully curved, rounded oval handrail and turned and tapered Colonial Revival balusters. The stair turns at a lighted landing before rising to the second floor. The newel is a composite of a turned central baluster, more Victorian in nature, ringed with the more delicate turned balusters of the balustrade. Beneath the stair is a paneled closet door. Immediately behind the front staircase is a small stair hall with two sets of enclosed back steps, one leading down to the basement and the other, the servants’ stair, to the second floor and attic. Access from the wide central hall to each of the front formal rooms is through tall pocket doorways. On the north side is the dining room with its bay window and, behind it, the pantry and kitchen. A later bathroom built into part of the pantry opens into the hall behind the dining room. On the south side are the large living room and smaller library with bay window.
The first floor rooms and hallway have fairly simple door surrounds typical of the first decades of the twentieth century. In the hallway stairway and three formal rooms of the first floor is a wainscot of recessed vertical panels with inverse molded trim. Windows exhibit the same surround as the doors, with the wainscot continuing as a low row of panels beneath the sills. All doors on the first floor have six recessed horizontal panels on both sides, with the exception of the taller seven-panel pocket doors. Fairly simple Colonial Revival mantelpieces are found in the three formal rooms, the most decorative in the two front rooms. The picture rails are original. A servant buzzer system, no longer operable, was wired throughout the house. The built-in desk and bookshelves in the library are later additions.
On the second floor the hall opens onto three front bedrooms, a smaller back bedroom, and the servants' stairhall which in turn leads to the sleeping porch. Door surrounds, doors, and picture rails are similar to those on the first floor. The panelled wainscot of the lower level is replaced here by tall baseboards with simple top molding. Mantelpieces in the front corner rooms are of Colonial Revival style with slender fluted classical columns on plinth blocks.
The interior of the house is a coherent whole and retains to a remarkable degree its floorplan, mantels, woodwork, hardwood floors and plaster walls on both levels. The 1993 renovation modified bathroom and service areas, but retained original decorative elements and structural material. Beneath the house is a full basement with earth floor and freestanding supporting beams.
Carriage house. Non-contributing, ca. 1911.
Historical Background
Major Theodore G. Barker, a Charleston lawyer, bought Brookland Manor in Henderson County, with its 1841 summer house, in 1882. Barker acquired land throughout the 1880s and 1890s, including land his wife had inherited, until they became some of the largest land owners in Henderson County. During the same period, he and wife Louisa Preston Barker sold many parcels as well. Years before his death in 1917, they had sold off their Flat Rock Road frontage as individual parcels, including the 1907 sale to Mary Mills Coxe, widow of Colonel Franklin Coxe.
Colonel Franklin Coxe, who died four years before his widow bought this land, was credited with the late 19th century boom in Asheville. Asheville, about 25 miles north of Hendersonville in Buncombe County, had seen explosive growth in the 1880s in large part due to the efforts of Colonel Coxe. Coxe had been president of the Commercial National Bank in Charlotte and in 1881 became vice president of the Westen Carolina Railroad, the pioneer railroad company of the mountains. He contributed private funds to construction of the railroad to Asheville in 1885. Coxe invested heavily in western North Carolina real estate. He built Asheville's Battery Park Hotel, "the first modern hotel in the state," which opened in 1886. It is said it was from this hotel that George Washington Vanderbilt saw the Pisgah Mountains and decided to build his Biltmore Estate. A decade after Coxe's death the Asheville newspaper reported that “…he had come to Asheville when it was a little town unknown to the world and with confidence and judgment which inspired others built the Battery Park Hotel and in doing this and by his influence and energy had given Asheville an impetus to its career or progress and advertised it far and wide as the premier health resort.."
Coxe owned timber lands in North Carolina and anthracite coal mines in Pennsylvania. He had property in Knoxville and in the Okefenokee Swamp. He was elected president of the Charleston, Cincinnati and Chicago Railroad. He acquired large tracts of land in the Montford section of Asheville and made heavy investment elsewhere in western North Carolina and, the Asheville Citizen reported, "all of them were profitable."
Mrs. Coxe died late in 1914 and her five children sold the house in 1917. The house was bought in 1920 by the Wharton family who held it for 43 years until 1963. The house was known as "Gray Gables" during the Whartons' ownership, though it is not known whether the name originated with the Coxes or the Whartons. James B. Wharton was a merchant from Greenwood, SC, who first summered here and later moved to this house year-round after his retirement. After changing ownership four or five times, the property was purchased in 1993 by Flat Rock Limited Partnership, a construction and development firm.
(Excerpts from the National Register of Historic Places Registration, Form 7.18.94)