G. G. GALLOWAY HOUSE
1. Name and location of the property: The property known as the G. G. Galloway House is located at 602 East Morehead Street, Charlotte, North Carolina.
2. Name, address and telephone number of the present owner of the property:
Mr. Nelson M. Casstevens, Jr.
Box 34607
Charlotte, NC 28234
Telephone: 704/372-2140
Representative photographs of the property: This report contains representative photographs of the property.
4. A map depicting the location of the property: This report contains a map which depicts the location of the property.
6. A brief historical sketch of the property: This report contains a brief historical sketch of the property prepared by Dr. William H. Huffman, Ph.D.
7. A brief architectural description of the property: This report contains a brief architectural description of the property prepared by Mr. Joseph Schuchman, edited and revised by Dr. Dan L. Morrill.
8. Documentation of why and in what ways the property meets the criteria set forth in N.C.G.S. 160A-399.4:
a. Special significance in terms of its history, architecture, and/or cultural importance: The Commission judges that the property known as the G. G. Galloway House does possess special significance in terms of Charlotte-Mecklenburg. The Commission bases its judgment on the following considerations: 1) the G. G. Galloway House, erected in 1914-15 for Gaston Gilbert Galloway (1880-1974) and his wife, Carrie Marshall Brown Galloway (1885-1972), is the only surviving structure in what was once an imposing residential district on the south side of the western end of E. Morehead St. in Dilworth, Charlotte’s first streetcar suburb; 2) the G. G. Galloway House was designed by William H. Peeps (1868-1950) an architect of regional significance in the first half of the twentieth century in Charlotte and its environs; 3) the G. G. Galloway House is a significant local example of the Bungalow style with English Tudor motifs also employed; and 4) the original owners, Mr. and Mrs. G. G. Galloway, were important figures in the local civic and business community of Charlotte.
b. Integrity of design, setting, workmanship, materials, feeling, and/or association: The Commission contends that the attached architectural description by Mr. Joseph Schuchman, edited and revised by Dr. Dan L. Morrill, demonstrates that the property known as the G. G. Galloway House meets this criterion.
9. Ad Valorem Tax Appraisal: The Commission is aware that designation would allow the owner to apply for an automatic deferral of 50% of the Ad Valorem taxes on all or any portion of the property which becomes “historic property.” It should be noted that the current appraised value of the property is: Improvement – $166,280. Land (.480 acres) – $79,500. Total – $245,780. The property is zoned B1.
Date of Preparation of this Report: July 5, 1985
Prepared by: Dr. Dan L. Morrill
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Properties Commission
1225 S. Caldwell St.
Charlotte, NC, 28203
Telephone: 704/376-9115
Dr. William H. Huffman
December, 1983
As the receptionist of the law firm of Casstevens and Hanner said from behind her desk in the cozy entry hall of the former Gallaway house, which has a clear view of the elegantly furnished adjoining room, “everyone says this is just like working in a home rather than an office.” Indeed, in spite of the expected compliment of desks, files, typewriters, telephones and word processors of a modern office, the decoration and restoration efforts of Barbara Casstevens for her husband’s law firm has resulted in an extensively refurbished grand house sensitively adapted for office use.
The ten-room house was built in 1914-15 by Gaston Gilbert Galloway (1880-1974) and Carrie Marshall Brown Galloway (1885-1972) as their first, and only, home following their marriage in 1913 or 1914.1 G. G. Galloway, a lifelong real estate man, hailed from Mount Airy when he became vice-president of the Charlotte-based Trader’s Land Co. in 1911.2 The president and founder of the real estate firm was Peter Marshall Brown (1859-1913), one of Charlotte’s leading citizens and Galloway’s future father-in-law. P. M. Brown was a Charlotte native who inherited considerable business and real estate holdings in the city from his father, John L. Brown (d. 1893). In 1901 and 1903, he was elected mayor of Charlotte, and had been the chairman of the county commissioners from 1898 to 1900. In addition to being a director of the Commercial National Bank, Brown was the president of the Highland Park Manufacturing Co. (textile mills), Southern Real Estate and Loan Co., and Southern Loan and Savings Bank. With his first wife, the former Jennie Beecher Bass (d. 1898), he had four children, Carrie Brown, Mrs. Dolph M. Young, John Bass Brown and William J. Brown. There were no children from the second marriage to the former Daisy Bell Pharr in 1905.3
When G. G. Galloway assumed the vice-presidency of the Trader’s Land Co. in 1911, P. M. Brown had already built his own home in the new streetcar suburb of Dilworth on East Boulevard. 4 In 1913, Galloway was shown as a first vice-president of the company, but it was a year of even greater change: P. M. Brown died suddenly.5 Shortly thereafter, G. G. Galloway became president of Trader’s Land Company, and about the same time married Carrie Marshall Brown. 6 At first the newly wed couple lived in the Brown family home on East Boulevard, but soon made plans to build a place of their own. 7Along with two other family members (Mr. and Mrs. Dolph M. Young and William J. Brown), the Galloways purchased a lot from the Charlotte Consolidated Construction Company (commonly called the 4 C’s) on East Morehead Street between Caldwell and Euclid in April, 1914.8
The 4C’s had been established in 1890 by Edward Dilworth Latta to develop Charlotte’s first streetcar suburb, which was made possible by the building of an electric trolley system from the city center to the heart of the new residential area, Latta Park. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the beautifully landscaped park surrounding a lake saw many sporting events and traveling shows in its pavilion, and was an outdoor social center and amusement park. Then, as now, the suburb contained a wide range of houses. The wealthy tended to build their great houses along the main boulevards (East and South Boulevards, and Morehead Street), but many of the side streets, there are quite modest homes, and on the south side was a mill village which belonged to the Atherton Cotton Mill (built by New South industrialist D. A. Tompkins). Latta built his own mansion on East Boulevard where the Greek Orthodox Church now stands. 9
When three of P. M. Brown’s children chose to build their own homes near the summit of Morehead Street, they had excellent sites with a commanding view of the city. All three also engaged the same architect, William H. Peeps (1868-1950), to design the new houses. Peeps was a native of London, England, and came to Charlotte in 1905 from Grand Rapids, Michigan. During his nearly forty-five years as a practicing architect here, he left a significant legacy of commercial and residential designs throughout the city. Among his best known works are the Latta Arcade (for E. D. Latta, 1914), the Court Arcade (1927-8), Ivey’s Department Store (1924), Ratcliffe Flowers (1929), and many fine residences, including that of the fourth of P. M. Brown’s children, John Bass Brown, as well as those of F. D. Lethco, J. B. Ivey, John M. Scott and a number of others. 11
When W. J. Hyndman, the builder, took out a building permit for the Galloway house on July 28, 1914, it was estimated to cost $12,000.00. 12(Deed restrictions required a house of not less than $6000 to be built on the lot, which cost $5000). 13 It was probably well into 1915 before the ten-room house was completed. Peeps’ design contained some interesting features, including an unusually large front porch, the use of exterior stone, an angled front stairway, and a den with rounded arch windows which reminds one of a second-floor office in a turn-of-the-century building. By any standard it was a large, well appointed house.
It was in this grand house that the Galloways, who did not have children, lived nearly sixty years. A niece, Carrie Marshall Gilchrist, recalls many happy hours and social occasions at the house. Mr. Galloway remained a real estate broker and developer his entire professional life, and handled many uptown transactions. (The story is told about the measure of his success that he sold the Duke mansion in Myers Park no less than three times.) 14
After Mr. Galloway passed away in 1974, the house went through a series of owners, and was for a time the Stonehenge Restaurant. Since its purchase in 1981 by Nelson Casstevens, Jr. for his law firm offices, the Galloway house has been extensively restored in a way that effectively brings back much of the quality of the original.15
NOTES
1 Charlotte Observer, Nov. 9, 1972, p. 10C; Ibid., July 2, 1974, p. 9B.
2 Charlotte City Directory, 1911, p. 201.
3 Charlotte Observer, Nov. 13, 1932, p. 1B.
4 Charlotte City Directory, 1911, p. 137.
5 Ibid,, 1913, p. 185; see note 3.
6 Charlotte City Directory, 1914, p. 231.
7 Ibid.
8 Deed Book 325, p. 58, 18 April 1914.
9 ” The New South Neighborhoods: Dilworth,” Charlotte Mecklenburg Historic Properties Commission, 1981.
10 Papers of William Peeps, Special Collections, Atkins Library, University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
11 Charlotte Observer, Sept. 11, 1950, p. 1B; George W. Hamilton, ed., William H. Peeps AIA (Charlotte: News Publishing House, 1928).
12 Building Permit No. 1349, 28 July 1914.
13 See note 8.
14 Interview with Carrie Marshall Gilchrist, Charlotte, NC 19 Dec. 1983.
15 Deed Book 4425, p. 399, 24 Aril 1981; interview with Nelson and Barbara Casstevens, Charlotte, NC 16 Dec. 1983.
Joseph Schuchman
In planning the suburb of Dilworth, the Charlotte Consolidated Construction Company or Four Cs envisioned a grid plan, tree-lined neighborhood delineated by three grand thoroughfares, East Boulevard, South Boulevard, and Morehead Street. The G. G. Galloway House is a fruition of this effort and is one of the finest of the remaining residences on East Morehead Street.
Gaston Gilbert Galloway (1880-1974) and his wife, Carrie Marshall Brown Galloway (1885-1972) purchased this lot from the Four Cs on April 18, 1914, for $5,000. The land was identified as Lot Number 10 in Square 31 at Dilworth. The deed specified a 50-foot setback from the street and a building cost of at least $6,000. Construction began within a few months after the purchase of the land.
Although the Bungalow style dominates the exterior appearance, subtle and handsome traces of the English Tudor Revival style are evident in the G. G. Galloway House. The well-preserved residence is recessed from the street and occupies a landscaped lot. The G. G. Galloway House is located near the entrance of Dilworth, as one travels from uptown Charlotte along Morehead Street. Today, the house owes its appearance not only to the designs of the British born and trained architect William H. Peeps but also to the careful restoration and rehabilitation effort supervised by Barbara Casstevens, wife of Nelson Casstevens, the current owner. The G. G. Galloway House now serves as the office for the law firm of Casstevens, Hanner, & Gunter, of which Mr. Casstevens is the senior partner.
The exterior of the G. G. Galloway House is asymmetrically arranged. Rectangular cut wood shingles are the primary sheathing material. Projecting side bays and oriels are covered in stuccoed pebble dash set within rectangular wood frames. A jerkinhead-on-gable roof covers the triple pile main block. Ornamental gable end brackets and exposed rafters are typical of the Bungalow style. Exterior openings are placed within plain surrounds with a crown molded lintel. Windows have a molded sill. Although 1/1 sash are the primary glazing light, the house incorporates a wide variety of window sizes and shapes. Tripartite segmental arched windows ornament the east and rear elevations. A series of casement windows, each with geometric lights, are centrally placed in the end gables of the sides and rear. The foundation is of brick, arranged in common bond. Asphalt shingle is the primary roofing material.
A hip roof porch dominates the front elevation, wraps around the east side to a projecting ell and terminates in a port-cochere on the west. The present owner has landscaped the area under the porte-cochere and created a new driveway a few yards to the west. The porch’s foundation and massive square piers are of field-stone construction. Rectangular grate openings are placed in the foundation of the porch, and the underside of the porch roof is sheathed in tongue-and-groove ceiling. Oversize brackets support the entrance overhang, and the off-center main entrance is framed by fluted piers which rest on a rectangular base and rise to a molded capital. The six-panel entrance door was installed by the present owner; a stationary beveled transom is located above the door, and a weatherboard bond runs across the elevation and serves as a belt course between the first and second stories.
On the second story, a tripartite arrangement of casement windows is flanked by Tudor style 6/1 window sash. Louvered shutters ornament the double sash. A hip-roofed dormer, with casement windows and exposed rafters, is centrally placed and projects from the attic.
On the side and rear elevations, continuous bands of weatherboard serve as a belt course between the first and second story and the second story and the attic. On each side is a straight run fieldstone chimney, which cuts through and rises sharply above the roofline. On the east side, a shallow two-story ell projects from the center bay. Diamond paned casements, a typical English Tudor Style feature, light the first story. A series of geometrical shapes, covered in stucco, encircles the base of the second story. A series of ells and oriels highlights the west elevation, and brackets support the underside of a stair hall and second story projection. Diamond pane transoms highlight the front bay window grouping.
Two ells run across the first story of the rear elevation. A formerly open porch, which formed a major portion of the larger ell, was enclosed by 1981 and is sheathed in rectangular cut wood shingles similar to those which cover the remainder of the house. The raised concrete walkway and handicapped entrance were added by Mr. Nelson Casstevens. The remainder of the elevation is flush with the exterior wall.
The interior has been handsomely restored and rehabilitated for office use. Rooms are simply appointed, typical of early twentieth century design, but the woodwork is elegantly detailed. Openings are framed by molded surrounds.
The main entrance leads into a reception hall from which first story rooms radiate. A molded baseboard and chair rail encircle the room. An entablature, composed of a molded architrave and cornice and a plain frieze, frames the vertical ceiling beams. Identical roofline cornices are found in the living and dining rooms.
Paneled double doors, approximately eight feet high, lead to the former living room, which now serves as a conference room. Similarly executed doors also connect the living and dining rooms. A cast iron mantle, typical of English Tudor motifs, is centrally placed between the fenestration on the east wall. The Tudor arch frames the rectangular opening and a marble surround. Spandrels are ornamented with floral details. The entablature, consisting of a denticulated architrave, plain frieze, and molded cornice and shelf, is set between the ornamented end piers. The beamed ceiling, like that in the reception hall, is indicative of the English Tudor influence. A baseboard, chair rail, and roofline entablature encircle the room.
Remaining first story rooms open off an irregularly shaped center hall, which runs from the reception hall to tile rear of the house. The dining room, perhaps the house’s most elaborate interior space, contains fine woodwork. Vertical piers, set between rectangular plastered panels, form a wainscot between the molded baseboard and a bracketed chair rail. A built-in buffet is set beneath the diamond pane casements. This recessed space is set between piers which rest on the baseboard and rise to molded capitals. The brick fireplace is faced in vertical and horizontal soldier courses. Brackets support a simple mantle shelf. Ceiling beams are geometrically arranged, and the diamond shaped beams, at the room’s center, reflect the shape of the casement window panes.
The main stairs to the second story are set at a 45 degree angle in the reception hall, diagonally across from the front entrance. The open string stairs rise five steps to a landing. Plain banisters and tapering newel posts rise to a plain handrail. Newel posts rise to a geometrically ornamented top, the simplicity of which recalls the Prairie School designs of Frank Lloyd Wright. A tripartite grouping of 1/1 sash light the stair landing. An enclosed stair-well (possibly for servants’ use) runs off the center hall and joins the main stair at this landing. The staircase turns east and rises enclosed. Plain banisters rest on bracket-like supports. Second story newel posts are similar to those found on the first level.
The former den is located at the rear of the house. A tripartite segmental arch window, with stationary transoms, is located on the east and rear walls. The fieldstone mantle displays a segmental arch opening and a rectangular wood shelf. A molded baseboard and cornice encircle the room.
The floor plan of the (now enclosed) rear porch, kitchen and pantry has been altered to serve the office needs of the present owner. The renovations are sympathetic to the building. The kitchen mantle had previously been removed by a former owner.
Second story rooms radiate off the center hall. Rooms have a molded base-board and cornice, and openings are set in molded surrounds. Second floor mantles were removed by a former owner.
The present owner has added a front bedroom mantle. Yellow tile flanks the rectangular opening, which is framed by an egg and dart border. The plain frieze has clipped ends with an egg-shaped inset. The molded shelf rises to an egg and dart molded cornice.
The largest of the bedrooms (likely the former master bedroom) has been divided to form two offices. The remainder of the original floor plan remains largely intact. An enclosed stair rises to the unfinished attic.