Cornelius
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This report was written on September 6, 1983
1. Name and location of the property: The property known as the Dr. J. J. Rone House is located on Route 1, Marvin Road, in Pineville, North Carolina.
2. Name, address and telephone number of the present owner and occupant of the property: The present owners and occupants of the property are:
Mr. and Mrs. Sam Rone Ardrey
Route 1 P.O. Box 503 B
Pineville, N.C. 28134
Telephone: 704/542-3287
3. 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.
5. Current Deed Book Reference to the property: The most recent deed to this property is listed in Mecklenburg County Deed Book 3144 at page 226. The Tax Parcel Number of the property is-229-031-09.
6. A brief historical sketch of the property: This report contains a brief historic sketch of the property prepared by Dr. William H. Huffman.
7. A brief architectural description of the property: This report contains an architectural description of the property prepared by Thomas W. Hanchett.
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 Dr. J. J. Rone House does possess special significance in terms of Charlotte-Mecklenburg. The Commission bases its judgment on the following considerations: 1) the Dr. J. J. Rone House, constructed in 1886 in the nearby community of Marvin, North Carolina, is an especially elegant local example of late 19th Century vernacular architecture; 2) the initial owner, Dr. J. J. Rone, was a leading physician in Marvin and the surrounding countryside, including the present location of the house, at the time of the construction of the Dr. J. J. Rone House; and 3) the current owners, Mr. and Mrs. Sam Rone Ardrey, have faithfully restored the house and have thereby made a substantial contribution to the cultural richness of Charlotte-Mecklenburg.
b. Integrity of design, setting, workmanship, materials, feeling and/or association: The Commission contends that the attached architectural description by Mr. Thomas W. Hanchett demonstrates that the Dr. J. J. Rone 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.” Current appraised value of the .884 acres of land is $9,000. The current appraised value of the building is $29,320. The total current appraised value is $38,320. The property is zoned R15.
Date of Preparation of this Report: September 6, 1983
Prepared by: Dr. Dan L. Morrill, Director
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Properties Commission
218 North Tryon Street
Charlotte, North Carolina 28202
Telephone: 704/376-9115
Dr. William H. Huffman
October, 1981
The charming country home of Mr. and Mrs. Sam Ardrey, presently located about seven miles south of Pineville in the county, was originally built by Dr. J. J. Rone, a country physician of rural Union County, N.C.
James John Rone was born in 1855, 1 the son of Loyd K. Rone (1817-1886) and Elizabeth Clementine Howie Rone (1829-1862). L. K. Rone was a farmer and owner of real estate in the area of the village of Marvin, which is located in the extreme western corner of Union County about two miles southeast of the Mecklenburg County line. 2 After receiving his undergraduate degree from Erskine College, Dr. Rone studied medicine at the Medical College of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, from which he graduated in 1884. Following his graduation and residency studies, he returned to Marvin to practice medicine in that rural community. 3 By one account, he started practice on November 12, 1889. In the late 1870’s, Dr. Rone had married Mary Levinia McIlwain, who was the daughter of another long-time local family, Dr. and Mrs. W. A. McIlwain. The two met and fell in love while both were attending Erskine College.
About 1886, Dr. Rone built his grand country house next to the Banks Presbyterian Church in Marvin on the New Town Road. It was an imposing structure in the village of Marvin, and became a center of social activity for the community as well. Mrs. Rone kept abreast of the latest fashion in clothes, and the household had the reputation of providing the best in Southern hospitality to its guests, which sometimes included local children who would feign illness in order to be kept at the house for observation and treatment just to take advantage of the fine care. The Rones also partly raised their own two daughters there, Blanche (later Mrs. James Potts Ardrey of Pineville, 1878-1956), and Anabel (1879-1898), who suffered an untimely death at the age of nineteen. 4
About 1891, Dr. Rone and his family moved to Pineville, where he built a house (which burned and was rebuilt) and had some 17 acres of land. 5 He practiced medicine in that community until 1896, when, following a written request from an ill classmate to take over his practice, Dr. Rone and his family moved to the town of Doe Run, in St. Francois County, Missouri (about 50 miles south of St. Louis). He practiced medicine for a time in nearby Desloge, Mo. The two daughters graduated from Carleton College in adjacent Farmington; Blanche was a graduate in music, and taught that subject and piano for a number of years. Tragedy struck the family when Annabel died in 1898, while only 19, and Dr. Rone himself died the following year. After laying her husband to rest in a Masonic cemetery in St. Francois County, Mrs. Rone, accompanied by Blanche, returned to the homestead in Pineville, where she lived the rest of her days. 6
In Marvin, Dr. Rone’s practice was taken over by Dr. William Herbert Crowell (1866-1933), who was a native of Steele Creek in Mecklenburg County. 7 The country home of Dr. Rone, however, had been sold to two sisters and a brother, Sallie A. Ross, Maggie A. Ross, and Dennis C. Ross, who managed their extensive farm holdings in the area, and lived in the house until their respective deaths after the turn of the century. 8 In their nearly identical wills probated on the same day in May, 1920, the Ross sisters left the Rone house to the Banks Presbyterian Church next door. 9
The Banks Church used the house for a variety of purposes over the years, but in 1964, the trustees decided to build a new structure on the site, and thus the house was in danger of being torn down. Dr. Rone’s fine country manse was rescued by Sam and Jennie Ardrey, the present owners, who purchased the. house from the church in 1964. In September of that year, they moved it to its present location in a pastoral setting in the southern part of the county, at the end of a long, winding drive leading from the Marvin Road. After extensive renovation efforts and the installation of furnishings which recapture a feeling of its nineteenth-century origins, the Ardreys moved in during June, 1965, and thereby the J. J. Rone house once again recaptured its place as a rural manor, the home of a country gentleman and his family. 10
NOTES
1 Union County Men of Medicine (Charlotte: Union County Medical Society Auxiliary, Monroe, N.C., 1968), p. 42.
2 Monuments in Marvin United Methodist Church cemetery; interview with Lavinia Kell and Janie Moss Ardrey, 30 September, 1981.
3 Union County Men of Medicine, p. 42.
4 Interview with Lavinia Kell and Janie Moss Ardrey, cited above; Dr. Rone inherited the property from his father’s intestate estate: Union County Deed Book 20, p. 701.
5 Ibid.; Mecklenburg County Deed Book 77, p. 330, 9 March 1891.
6 Interview with Lavinia Kell and Janie Moss Ardrey, cited above.
7 Union County Men of Medicine, p. 44.
8 Union County Deed Book 20, p. 701, 6 February 1888; Deed Book 23, p. 443, August 1892.
9 Union County Will Book 4, pp. 252 and 256, probated 26 May 1920.
10 Interview with Janie Moss Ardrey, 27 September 1981.
Thomas W. Hanchett
The Dr. J. J. Rone House is a good example of what folklorists call an”I” house; the most common nineteenth-century house type in the Carolinas. Built in 1886 by the grandfather of the current owner, the two-story frame structure shows some Victorian influences in its elaborate front porch, but generally reflects the persistence of the simple forms and decoration popular before the Civil War. The house originally dominated the tiny crossroads community of Marvin until it was moved to this completely rural site in 1964 to escape demolition.
The “I” house is a long, narrow dwelling that looks like a sans serif “I” when viewed from above. Most have a central stair hall flanked by a room on each side on each floor, for a total of four rooms. The symmetrical form came to favor along with the classically inspired Federal style sometime after the Revolutionary War, and persisted in rural Southern areas into the early twentieth-century.
The Rone house is composed of a two-story main wing, an “I” house in form, with a hip roof and a pair of exterior end chimneys. A one story wing is hidden at the rear, which has a hip roof and originally had a central chimney between its two rooms. The roofs with their asphalt shingles, and the chimneys, stepped at the eave line, both date from the 1964 move. Eaves are boxed and walls are sheathed in clapboard with simple cornerboards, except for a section of more elaborate “German” siding in the front porch area. The central front door is flanked by narrow sidelights, as is the door to the porch above it. This tripartite entryway form is characteristic of antebellum design. Windows throughout the house are six-over-six pane double-hung sash, also a pre-Civil War practice.
The conservative simplicity of exterior form and decoration is broken sharply by the~elaborate front porch. Four square-tapered, two story wooden columns support a broad roof that extends across almost the entire front of the dwelling. Under the roof is a two-story freestanding front porch with turned columns, turned balusters, a turned spindle-frieze, and scroll-sawn brackets. This porch is structurally completely separate from the square-tapered columns that support the roof that shelters it. This complex form, and the ornate machine-produced woodwork, reflect big-city Victorian ideals, the “modern architecture” of the period. They show that Dr. Rone, though enough of a country doctor to build a residence whose overall form echoed those of his neighbors, nevertheless had an awareness of new trends outside his rural community and was willing to try them.
The interior of Dr. Rone’s house is more traditional than his porch. The stairs in the narrow central hall have simple square balusters. There are two rooms on the first floor, plus the two rooms in the rear floor. Doors close off each space. Sliding doors that were beginning period. Window and door surrounds are wide and plain, without Victorian corner blocks or elaborate molding. The two downstairs mantels are built up of flat boards with only the slightest hint of enrichment. Many doors retain their cast iron panel locks with porcelain knobs.
The clean simplicity of decoration is not a fault, but an indication of prevailing tastes. This is shown clearly in the horizontal matchboarding of the walls in the stair hall and main parlor. Pine boards were carefully planed to provide smooth wall and ceiling surfaces. Unusual triangular molding strips were nailed into the corners to make a smooth transition from wall to wall and wall to ceiling. This matchboarding and the elaborate front porch are the two outstanding architectural features of the J. J. Rone house.
Over the years minor changes have been made to the house. Upstairs the mantels and fireplaces are no longer in evidence, and a small bathroom has been added in the stair hall. Downstairs a one-story bathroom addition runs behind the main wing, and an enclosed porch runs along the rear wing. The rear wing has received new windows and kitchen equipment, the central chimney has been removed, and the door from the wing into the front parlor has been widened into an archway. The front facade of the house and its major spaces are unaffected by these alterations.
The owners of the Rone house, Mr. and Mrs. Sam Ardrey, now enjoy a view of rolling Piedmont farmland from their front porch. Behind the house are a number of period outbuildings, including a log dwelling from near Burlington, North Carolina, and a well house and session house from the more immediate area.
This report was written in January 1984.
1. Name and location of the property: The property known as the W. G. Rogers House is located at 524 East Boulevard, in Charlotte, North Carolina.
2. Name, address, and telephone number of tile present owner of the property:
The present owner of the property is:
Mr. John B. Geer
800 Bromley Road
Charlotte, NC 28207
Telephone: (704) 372-4499
3. 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.
5. Current Deed Book Reference to the property: The most recent deed to this property is listed in Mecklenburg County Deed Book 4607 at page 544. The Tax Parcel Number of the property is: 121-051-12.
6. A brief historical sketch of the property: This report contains a brief historical sketch of the property prepared by Dr. William B. Huffman.
7. A brief architectural description of the property: This report contains an architectural description of the property prepared by Mr. Thomas W. Hanchett.
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 W. G. Rogers House does possess special significance in terms of Charlotte-Mecklenburg. The Commission bases its judgment on the following considerations: 1) the initial owner and most probably the designer of the house was Willard G. Rogers, an architect of local and regional importance and from 1906 until about 1916 a partner of C. C. Hook; 2) the W. G. Rogers House, erected in 1902, is one of the earliest examples of the Dutch Colonial Revival style in the city of Charlotte; and 3) the W. C. Rogers House is a well-preserved example of upper middle class housing in turn-of-the-century Dilworth, Charlotte’s first streetcar suburb.
b. Integrity of design, acting, workmanship, materials, feeling and/or association: The Commission contends that the attached architectural description by Mr. Thomas W. Hanchett demonstrates that the W. C. Rogers 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.” The current appraised value of the .241 acres of land is $31,500. The current appraised value of the improvements is $38,980. The total current appraised value is $70,480. The property is zoned 06.
The modest but attractive house built by longtime Charlotte architect Willard G. Rogers and his wife, Eva, at 524 East Boulevard in Dilworth, reflects the middle-class comfort typical of much of Charlotte’s first streetcar suburb. Dilworth was developed by Edward Dilworth Latta beginning in 1891, and was facilitated by the installation of the city’s first electric streetcar line (which replaced an older, horse-drawn one) in that year by his company, the Charlotte Consolidated Construction Company, commonly known as the 4C’s. Originally laid out in a grid pattern repeating those of the center city, and for which East and South Boulevards were the main streets, Dilworth’s main attraction, from 1891 to 1909, was Latta Park at the end of the trolley line. The beautifully landscaped park, complete with a lake and pavilion, hosted many sporting events and traveling shows, and was the outdoor social center of the city. Dilworth was always an eclectic neighborhood, which ranged from the mill village surrounding the Atherton Cotton Mill (1892-3, built by D. A. Tompkins, the city’s New South industrialist) on the south side of the town, to the various modest but solid houses of a prospering middle class, to the great houses of the wealthy. Latta himself built his grand manse on East Boulevard in 1902 on the site presently occupied by the Greek Orthodox Church.1
It was the same year that Willard and Eva Troy Rogers bought their property from the 4C’s on the same side of the street less than a block away.2 Willard G. Rogers (1863-1947) and Eva Troy Rogers (1871-1942) were both natives of Cincinnati, Ohio. They moved to Charlotte about 1900, where he was employed as an architect for Stewart W. Cramer, who later operated the Cramerton Mills in Cramerton. At the turn of the century, Cramer had his own engineering and contracting firm which built and supplied cotton mill machinery and equipment. In 1940, the East Boulevard house was sold to Mae King Blume, who bought a number of Dilworth properties in the Thirties and Forties, including the Walter Brem house at 211 East Boulevard, where she lived for many years. Mrs. Blume, the widow of John H. Blume, was, in the Thirties, the proprietor of the Piedmont Hotel, Queen City Hotel, Frances Hotel, Windsor Hotel, Southern Hotel, the Franklin Hotel and the manager of the New Albert Hotel.3 In 1982, the house was sold to the present owners, Gary Benner and John Geer, who, the year before, had also bought and restored the old W. T. McCoy house designed by Hook and Rogers.4 The Rogers house well deserves preservation and restoration as part of Dilworth’s heritage as a valued and distinct part of turn-of-the-century Charlotte.
The W.G. Rogers house is one of Charlotte’s earliest examples of the Dutch Colonial Revival architectural style. Built about 1902, the one and a half story dwelling features the barn-like gambrel roofs characteristic of the style. Rogers was among Charlotte’s first architects, and he incorporated many “state-of-the-art” architectural features in his residence which are worthy of note. The massing of the W.G. Rogers house is simple and straightforward, in keeping with the dislike for Victorian complexity which many young architects felt around the turn-of-the-century. It is basically a square box with no wings. The gambrel roof has a large gambrel-roofed front dormer, and a large shed-roofed rear dormer which extends all the way across the back of the house. The roof is slate with copper guttering. A pair of exterior end chimneys contribute to the symmetrical effect. Walls are sheathed in wood shingles. The double-hung sash windows each have a large single-pane lower sash, and an elaborately geometrical upper sash composed of four main vertical panes and as many as twenty-four smaller triangular panes. The front dormer features a dentilled cornice and a bay window flanked by Doric columns. In early years this bay was an open balcony, but soon after the house was built Rogers glassed it in. Below the dormer is the recessed front porch, which originally ran the entire width of the front of the house. It has Doric columns set on a substantial brick railing wall, which is an extension of the brick main foundation of the house. A pair of round-arched openings at ground level containing fan lights provide natural illumination for the basement, and add an additional compositional element to the street facade. In the 1940s part of this porch was enclosed, and the front roof was extended slightly. The center entry has an elaborate transom of beveled glass over a pair of heavy wooden doors.
Inside, one moves through a small vestibule before entering the stairhall, which extends across the left front of the house. Next to the door, beneath the stair, is a Victorian inglenook. The stair rises in three flights. Its slender turned balusters are in the Colonial Revival style, but its unusual newel posts proclaim Rogers’ independence from strict interpretation of the style. The bullet-like wooden form of the main post is embellished with raised floral carving and a snake-like extension of the balustrade rail. The upper newel post has a cylindrical fluted shaft and a capstan top. The remainder of the interior lay-out shows the same eccentric mix of ideas found in the stair-hall. There is no center hallway, a feature used by many Colonial Revival architects, including Roger’s eventual partner C.C. Hook. Instead, rooms open one to another, somewhat in the Victorian manner. In the ceiling of the second floor hallway is a trapdoor to the attic. It contains a ladder that slides down on a system of pulleys, a noteworthy early example of the type of mass-produced ladder now common in suburban houses. The attic is unfinished. The yard of the W.G. Rogers house is rather compact, with narrow front and side yards. At the rear is a small gable-roofed servants’ house. It originally had three rooms, all sheathed inside with horizontal tongue-and-groove boarding. A small addition was added at its rear at a later date. Next to the servants’ house is the public alley which runs through the middle of this block. The W.G. Rogers house was converted to apartments in the 1940s, and has suffered some changes over the years. Part of the front porch was enclosed, and cut-glass transoms over the large front windows were removed and stored in the attic. The panelled pocket doors off the front stair hall were cut in order to insert conventional door jambs. A downstairs bathroom and two upstairs efficiency kitchens were added. Woodwork was painted and repainted, and plaster walls were allowed to crack and deteriorate. In the 1980s owner John Geer is restoring the residence. He has replaced modern windows, inserted in the front bay in recent years, with handcrafted replicas of the originals. He is beginning to strip woodwork and repair plaster, and has painted the wood-shingled exterior. Despite its years of deferred maintenance as rental property, the Rogers residence is surprisingly close to the way that its architect left it. Its room arrangement, expensive woodwork, and exuberant bathrooms are almost entirely as they were designed, as is its Dutch Colonial Revival exterior. The W.G. Rogers house is important to Charlotte as a rare early example of the architect’s art.
This report was written on April 1, 1981
1. Name and location of the property: The property known as the Robinson Rock House Ruin is located off Plaza Rd. extension in the northeastern section of Mecklenburg County.
2. Name, address, and telephone number of the present owner and occupant of the property:
The present owner of the property is:
The City of Charlotte
600 E. Trade St
Charlotte, NC 28202
Telephone: (704) 374-2241
3. 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 maps which depicting the location of the property.
5. Current Deed Book Reference to the property: The most recent deed to this property is listed in Mecklenburg County Deed Book 4313 at page 930. The current tax parcel number of the property is 105-122-14.
6. A brief historical sketch of the property: This report contains a brief historical sketch of the property 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 by Jack O. Boyte, A.I.A.
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 Robinson Rock House Ruin does possess special historic significance in terms of Charlotte-Mecklenburg. The Commission bases its judgment on the fact that the house was most probably built in the eighteenth century. Consequently, it dates from the earliest decades of the history of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. Moreover, the site has experienced minimal ground disturbance and, therefore, is particularly well suited for an archeological dig. The only other known eighteenth-century rock house in Mecklenburg County, the Hezekiah Alexander House, is not suited for an archeological dig because of massive ground disturbance which has occurred over the years.
b. Integrity of design, setting, workmanship, materials, feeling and/or association: The Commission judges that the architectural description included herein demonstrates that the property known as the Robinson Rock House Ruin meets this criterion.
9. Ad Valorem Appraisal: The Commission is aware that designation would allow the owner to apply annually for an automatic deferral of 50% of the Ad Valorem taxes on all or any portion of the property which becomes “historic property.” The current Ad Valorem tax appraisal on the entire 119.96 acre tract is $750. The parcel is exempted from the payment of Ad Valorem taxes.
Date of Preparation of this Report: April 1, 1981
Prepared by: Dr. Dan L. Morrill, Director
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Properties Commission
3500 Shamrock Dr.
Charlotte, N.C. 28215
Telephone: (704) 332-2726
The Robinson Rock House was built on the site originally granted to Robert Robison (Robinson) by George Augustus Selwyn in 1767 and King George III in 1769.1 The Selwyn tract of 212 acres and the King’s grant of 200 acres overlapped to the extent of about one-third of each area, and the stone house site was located in this area. On April 14, 1783, Robert Robison, Sr. divided the combined Selwyn tract and the crown grant between his two sons, Robert Robison, Jr.2 and John Robison;3 the latter parcel encompassed the location of the stone house.
Presently the ownership of the land is not known from the acquisition of the site by John Robison in 1783 until the “stone house tract” is willed by a Matthew Wallace to his son Albert Wallace in 1854.4 Since this period covers the likely date of construction of the house, the original date and the builder are unknown. Later deeds refer to the dwelling as the “Robinson Stone House,” but whether this means John Robison or one of his heirs or relatives has yet to be determined.5 It is believed that the date the house was built is carved on a stone now buried in the ruins on the site, which could be discovered by an archeological study.6 Judging by the dates of construction of other stone houses in the area, the Robinson Stone House was probably built between 1780 and 1810. By the time of its ownership by Matthew Wallace in 1850’s, the house was apparently part of a large plantation, and probably was rented to various tenants. Matthew Wallace and his son Albert appeared to have lived in a large, elegant plantation house known and the “White House,” which was located to the southeast of the stone house about two miles.7
Albert Wallace sold off the stone house from his holdings as a 75-1/2 acre tract to Wesley Griffin on July 31, 1862.8 From the latter owner the same tract passed to Robert Simpson, who in turn sold the property to George Jordan on January 16, 1871.9 George Jordan (1818-1899) and his wife, Mary Eveline Notes Jordan (1821-1909), were the last residents of the stone house.10 According to his grandson, Baxter Jordan (b. 1890), George had a blacksmith shop and woodworking shop near the house in which he made a variety of products, including wagons and farm implements. The farming of Jordan’s plantation, which included an adjoining 15-1/2 acres (totaling 227 acres) was left to three tenant farmers. In addition to some livestock and food crops, the primary crop was cotton. George Jordan, and perhaps his predecessors, prospected for gold on the property, apparently without substantial results. Jordan worked a pit behind the house with a “bucket and windlass” operation.11
After George Jordan died on May 18, 1899, his widow moved from the house and the property was willed to his three children; the site was never occupied or cultivated again.12 The children in turn sold their respective one-third interests in the site to N. W. Wallace, a former sheriff of Mecklenburg County, who bought it for an investment.13 Unfortunately, during Wallace’s ownership the house was not cared for and fell into ruins. N. W. Wallace died in 1928, and the site was bought from his heirs by Beulah W. Grier, wife of Joseph W. Grier, Sr., who owned large acreage immediately to the west of this tract. 14 In 1978, the land parcel which included the stone house was willed by Mrs. Grier to her son, Joseph W. Grier, Jr., a Charlotte attorney.15 Less than a year later, in September, 1979, the site was acquired by the City of Charlotte to be incorporated into a new park and nature preserve.16
NOTES
1 Meck. Co. Deed Book 3, p. 296 (8 January 1767) and Book 17, p. 270 (4 May 1769).
2 Meck. Co. Deed Book 11, p. 296 (288 acres).
3 Meck. Co. Deed Book 11, p. 234 (212 acres).
4 Meck. Co. Will Book I, p. 246.
5 e.g., Meck. Co. Deed Book 144, p. 236.
6 Interview with Baxter Jordan, Concord, N.C., Dec. 26, 1980. Baxter Jordan is the grandson of the last resident of the stone house, George Jordan.
7 Meck Co. Deed Book 5, p. 259.
8 Meck. Co. Deed Book 4, p. 668.
9 Meck. Co. Deed Book 7, p. 130 (Simpson to Jordan). The transfer from Griffin to Simpson has not yet been uncovered.
10 Interview with Baxter Jordan. George and Mary E. Jordan are buried in the Hickory Grove Methodist church cemetery.
11 Ibid. Baxter said that George discovered a small nugget in his pit, but was conned out of it by a “miner” who said he could get Jordan a big price for his mine if he could show the nugget to prospective buyers. Jordan loaned the man the gold to show, but the “miner” was never heard from again.
12 Meck. Co. Will Book N. p. 233.
13 Meck. Co. Deed Book 144, p. 236 (16 Feb. 1900); Book 152, p. 318 (17 Nov. 1900); Book 256, p. 188 (18 Nov. 1909).
14 Meck. Co. Deed Book 717, p. 489.
15 Meck. Co. Will 78-E-2221.
16 17 September 1979.
Charlotte’s historic building inventory received an extraordinary supplement in the winter of 1981 when remnants of a hitherto unknown eighteenth century stone dwelling were discovered within present day municipal boundaries. Rare indeed are examples of stone buildings erected by pioneer settlers in Mecklenburg County. Thus, the find is an event of marked significance and unique importance in the architectural history of this community. Cut into a gently sloping hillside among the headwaters of historic Reedy Creek, scattered foundation stones outline graphically the size and shape of the original house. Stones of various sizes and shapes lie in disarray inside the foundation walls and conceal the earth as well as any wood, iron or glass fragments which might remain from the original house. Somewhat smaller than neighboring contemporary stone houses of Hezekiah Alexander and Ezekial Wallace, the dwelling is a modest version of the remarkable wilderness architecture created by hardy immigrants who brought the style from their homes in Maryland and Pennsylvania. The abandoned house had few visitors during most of this century. Its remote location was protection against vandals and souvenir seekers, but not against the ravages of time and nature. Storms and falling trees have inflicted major damage on the structure.
The decaying trunk of a huge elm spans the rear half of the house, where it fell long ago. This falling monster devastated most exterior walls and all of the original wood, roof and floor systems. So complete was the damage that little evidence is visible to tell of the roof, side wall, or chimney forms. Now only one lone section of original masonry rises higher than a few feet above piles of stone rubble which surround the foundation. At the southeast corner of the house is a wall, twenty feet above grade at its highest, which includes wide parts of the original south and east facades. These remaining wall panels are large enough to illustrate the skill of the artisans who built the house. The masonry closely resembles the stone work in the companion Wallace and Alexander dwellings. Wail surfaces are random coursed ashlar with small chip infill fragments used here and there in widening joints. The extraordinary stone work is carefully executed with precise corner faces worked alignment, consistently horizontal jointing and wall into a uniform plane. Stones are of various sizes, averaging perhaps two to three square feet in surface area. Occasionally larger pieces were used, and one at the base of the south wall is a massive unit six feet long and a foot high. Initial compass readings indicate that the structure was placed on an exact north-south magnetic orientation. From its site a few yards north of Reedy Creek, the main facade faces south, consistent with the custom of the time. This south wall is thirty three feet across and appears to have been three bays wide. In this existing stone work, where wood jambs were installed, are straight vertical edges and three openings spaced equally. This pattern hints of a center entrance flanked by single windows.
In the remains of the north wall is evidence of three similar openings where tumbling stones still reveal a center door and side windows. No evidence indicates any side wall openings. Exterior dimensions of the house are thirty three by twenty nine feet. The stone foundation walls are two feet thick from the ground to the first floor. At this level a narrow water table bands the house on all four sides. On the south the ledge is about three feet above grade. Sloping up along each side the ground is less than a foot below the water table along the north side. Inside surfaces of the wall remnants show narrow ledges at two levels. These offsets coincide with the support pattern which would have been needed for wood floor joists. At the first floor the support ledge is approximately nine inches below the water table. For the second floor the offset is about nine feet higher. The level of the two ledges offers strong evidence of the original floor to floor distance, as well as the methods of construction used by the builders. At each offset the exterior wall thickness is reduced about four inches. So from a two foot thick foundation, the walls narrow to less than sixteen inches thick above the second floor. Exposure to weathering has stripped the existing interior wall surfaces of all visible evidence of original finishes. This stone work is a motley array of uncoursed random ashlar and rubble, and appears to be quite unsuitable for exposure to view. The surfaces are, however, laid up on a fairly uniform plane, as if in preparation for plaster or wood covering. Where the original walls remain intact at the southeast corner there are carefully fitted quoins from the ground up.
Shaped from granite pieces which vary in thickness from six to twelve inches, the long dimension of the stones change direction as the courses rise. This pattern of headers and stretchers gave added strength to the walls, while at the same time contributing to the very real beauty of the stone work. Lying slightly askew at the base of the south foundation are several large stones. Flattened on top and roughly cut into long rectangles, these blocks appear to have been steps. When stacked they reached to the top of the water table, or to the level of the original first floor. A brief tour of the wooded area surrounding the stone ruins reveals little clear evidence of original outbuildings. Such remains, if any, are concealed below decaying growth and accumulating humus from the years when no one was about. But the farm yard is not barren. There are two locations where wide, flat stones show evidence of special use. On one such stone, which measures about four feet across, there is a pattern of shallow veed grooves radiating out from an edge notch in a series of branches as if to collect liquid. This stone is some fifty feet south of the house under a huge old poplar and rests among a ride scattering of smaller stones. Off to the west, also about fifth; feet from the house, is another, somewhat smaller flat grooved stone. On this remnant veed grooves follow a fanlike pattern and radiate also from an edge notch. Smaller stones are scattered here also. There are several other nearby piles of rubble and shaped stone — the likely sites of small wood buildings for farm activities. A few paces east of the house ruins is a continuous depression much like an old road bed. This lane approaches from the north and runs southward past the house toward Reedy Creek. Recent dredging has disturbed the creek banks and removed signs of the earlier ford, if one in fact existed.
Conclusion
Settlement along Rocky River and its tributaries came early in the eighteenth century, and this fine stone dwelling appears to have been part of that wilderness venture. The house was likely built by John Robison in the 1780’s on crown grant land passed to him by his father, Robert. The original structure, while quite fine and substantial when compared with many of the other pioneer houses along the Catawba and Rocky Rivers, is yet not among the finest homes of the time and place. So one must judge John Robison’s affluence as limited. The Robison stone house probably followed in many ways the patterns found in contemporary dwellings erected nearby. The size is of primary importance if one is to make assumptions about the original plan and details, however. Rather than incorporating the popular center hall plan, it is likely that the house had two, perhaps three rooms on each floor and entrance at the front and rear was directly into one such room. At one corner there was probably a winding stair, at least partially enclosed, with storage below. On the end wall opposite the stair was a large stone chimney for fireplaces on both floors. Perhaps there were corner angle fireplaces on both floors. The house is hardly large enough for chimneys at each end. Above the second floor there was a garret with a steep winding stair. Headroom was sufficient for storage — even sleeping. Pole rafters probably formed a ridge with the long dimension of the house, and end wall gables were either stone or wood — stone being the more likely. The only openings in the end walls were small garret vents high in the gables. No windows were here — the openings sealed with wood blinds when necessary. Modest, yet meticulously crafted was the character of the Robison stone house. Trim was fabricated carefully, stone work skillfully executed and finishing details proudly done. This was the dwelling of people who were determined to retain a higher life style than the primitive wilderness might dictate.
This report was written on June 27, 1991
The Robinson House was demolished in 2012-1013.
1. Name and location of the property: The property known as the Robinson House is located at 8716 Steele Creek Road, Charlotte, in Mecklenburg Courtly, North Carolina.
2. Name, address and telephone number of the present owner of the property: The owner of the property is:
Mrs. Wilda Robinson
8716 Steele Creek Road
Charlotte, North Carolina 28273
Telephone: (704) 588 1139
Tax Parcel Numbers: 199-241-09
3. 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 maps which depict 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 Ms. Paula M. Stathakis.
7. A brief architectural description of the property: This report contains a brief architectural description of the property prepared by Ms. Nora M. Black.
8. Documentation of why and in what ways the property meets criteria for designation set forth in N.C.G.S. 160A 400.5:
a. Special significance in terms of history, architecture, and /or cultural importance: The Commission judges that the property known as the Robinson House does possess special significance in terms of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. The Commission bases its judgment on the following considerations:
- 1) the original section of the Robinson House is believed to have been built before the Civil War;
- 2) William Wallis Robinson, the first owner, was employed as superintendent with the county school board;
- 3) the family of William Wallis Robinson sold an acre across from the Robinson House for the site of the Shopton School in 1896;
- 4) the Robinson House housed Lester Byrum of the Hayes-Byrum Store while his own house was under construction;
- 5) the Robinson House is architecturally significant for the vernacular interpretation of Greek Revival detailing by a fine craftsman; and
- 6) the Robinson House provides a timeless landmark to the people of the Shopton community.b. Integrity of design, setting, workmanship, materials, feeling, and/or association: The Commission contends that the architectural description by Ms. Nora M. Black included in this report demonstrates that the Robinson 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 a designated historic landmark. The current appraised value of the improvements is $61,810. The current appraised value of Tax Parcel 199-241-09 (4.000 acres) is $60,000. The total appraised value of the property is $121,810. The property is zoned R15.
Date of Preparation of this Report: June 27, 1991
Prepared by: Dr. Dan L. Morris in conjunction with Ms. Nora M. Black
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission
1225 South Caldwell Street, Box D
Charlotte, North Carolina 28203
Telephone: (704) 376-9115
Paula M. Stathakis
The Robinson Family that built this house has resided in the Steele Creek community since the mid-eighteenth century. The family patriarch, Richard Robinson, came to the American Colonies from Scotland and, like so many of the early immigrants to Mecklenburg County, arrived in North Carolina via Pennsylvania. Richard Robinson settled in the Steele Creek area of southwestern Mecklenburg about 1765.1 Richard married Martha McLeary (1770-1815) on June 14, 1790, by whom he had three sons, Michael, Alec, and Wallis. Martha Robinson died in 1815 at the age of 45; and soon thereafter Richard married his second wife, Jane Robinson, who died in 1826 at the age of 20. Richard Robinson, who survived his second wife by only four months, died in 1827 at the then advanced age of 69. As one would expect, Richard Robinson, his two wives, and many of his descendants are buried in the Steele Creek Presbyterian Church cemetery.2 During the nineteenth century, Steele Creek continued to be a thriving agricultural community; but, like much of the North Carolina Piedmont, it was composed mostly of relatively small, diversified farms. The 1850 Census of Agriculture, for example, shows that Wallis Robinson (1804-1853), Richard’s son, owned a 161-acre farm, on which he raised horses, cows, and hogs, as weir as harvesting 27 bushels of wheat, 225 bushels of Indian corn, 40 bushels of oats, three 400-pound bales of cotton, 4 bushels of peas and beans, and 10 bushels of sweet potatoes. This enterprising farmer married Mary Brown on March 5, 1831.3 Local tradition holds that the Robinson House was built by Captain William Wallis Robinson (1835-1894), son of Wallis and Mary Robinson and the grandson of Richard Robinson.
The Robinson family believes that the core or first section of the house was built in the mid-nineteenth century, shortly after Captain Robinson’s marriage to Laura Cooper (1842-1903) and sometime before the Civil War. Unfortunately, there are no extant records of his marriage or of the construction of the house. Consequently, the known historical record does not provide an exact or approximate age of the dwelling.4 William Wallis Robinson, the original owner of the house, was an important figure in the Steele Creek Community. Like so many young men of his generation, he joined the ranks of the Confederate army, rising to the rank of captain. Not surprisingly, Captain Robinson returned home at the end of this bitter conflict and resumed his career as a farmer. His most notable civic accomplishment, however, was serving as superintendent of the county school board. He and his wife, Laura Robinson, had three children — a son, Edward Brice or “E.B.”, who graduated from Davidson College and who served as a Presbyterian minister in Alabama, and two daughters, Feriba Blanche and Minnie.5 Laura Robinson lived in the house until her death in 1903. No doubt she took great pride in the accomplishments of her son-in-law, Plato D. Price, the husband of Minnie Robinson. Plato Price was especially noteworthy for his resolute commitment to the improvement of public education for black people. At a time when racism was rampant in much of Mecklenburg County, Plato Price worked tirelessly to focus the community’s attention upon the plight of African Americans. It was altogether fitting and proper that Plato D. Price School was named for him.6
In 1896, Feriba Blanche, who married William Alexander McGinn, Minnie Robinson Price, and E. B. Robinson gave further testimony to the family’s dedication to the educational improvement of the people by selling one acre of land across the road from the Robinson House for $50.00, so that the local school commissioners could establish the Shopton High School. This school served the area until 1921, when it was consolidated with Dixie High School. Thereafter, the building was used by the Steele Creek Home Demonstration Club until it burned in 1924.7 The Robinson House passed out of the Robinson family’s hands in 1909.8 Six years earlier E. B. Robinson had purchased his sisters’ interest in the property, and he now sold it to Robert I. Griffith.9 Griffith lived there until 1911, when he conveyed the house and approximately 27 acres of surrounding land to A. M. “Mel” Taylor and his wife, E. A. J. “Addle” Taylor. Taylor, a native of Illinois who came to North Carolina from Minnesota, is still remembered by his Mecklenburg neighbors for his “exotic” Yankee accent. Mel Taylor, who died in 1925, sold all but four acres of his property in 1919 to William Lester Byrum, a community farmer and storekeeper, who also occupied the Robinson House as a tenant from 1925 until 1927. This transaction in 1919 reduced the property to its current size.10 Addie Taylor sold the Robinson House to James R. Erwin for $1,000 in 1927.11 Erwin resided there until his death in about 1933, when ownership passed to his widow, Neely Porter Erwin, who expired in 1940.12 In 1942, the Robinson House was purchased by J. Y. Robinson and his wife, Wilda, then a young couple with small children.13 Mrs. Robinson retains ownership of the house.14
NOTES:
1 From the Robinson Family History, access kindly provided by Mr. Mack Brown.
2 Steele Creek Presbyterian Church was the social and religious center of the surrounding community. For an inventory of the church cemetery, contact the church office.
3 Book of Marriage Bonds. Register of Deeds, Mecklenburg County Court House.
4 The current owner of the house, Mrs. J. Y. “Wilda” Robinson, no relation to the Richard Robinson line, relates that her son, who is an architect, has examined underneath the house and can tell where the original section and the additions fit together.
5 Interview with Mr. Mack Brown and Miss Laura McGinn, December 6, 1990.
6 Ibid.
7 The History of the Steele Creek Presbyterian Church, 3rd edition, Historical Committee of 1976. (Charlotte, N.C.: Craftsman Printing House, 1978), pp. 172, 174; Deed 112-493, October 13, 1896. L. C. Robinson, E. B. Robinson, P. D. Price, W. A. McGinn, and R. A. Coffey, Comrs. of School District no. 21 for the construction of a school for whites. The deed also stipulated that if the premises were abandoned and not used as a white school, the title, but not the building, would revert to the grantees.
8 Deed 248-152, July 6, 1909. Register of Deeds, Mecklenburg County Court House.
9 Deed 185-258, October 26, 1903. Register of Deeds, Mecklenburg County Court House.
10 Deed 276-442, October 2, 1911. Register of Deeds, Mecklenburg County Court House; Deed 438-152, December 5, 1919. Register of Deeds, Mecklenburg County Court House. Death Certificate Book 24, page 45. A. M. Taylor died on February 17, 1925. The certificate of death records his birthplace as Illinois, his occupation as farming, and the cause of his death as cancer of the face.
11 Deed 644-219, January 4, 1927. Register of Deeds, Mecklenburg County Court House.
12 Will Book W, page 410. Office of the Clerk of Estates, Mecklenburg County Court House.
13 Deed 1074-273, May 14, 1942; Interview with Mr. J.Y. Robinson, December 1, 1990.
14 Mrs. Robinson has routinely complied to requests from people whose families formerly occupied the house and wished to see the room where a relation died or was born. The setting of the house was severely altered in September 1989, when Hurricane Hugo destroyed several trees near the house.
Nora M. Black
The Robinson House is located on the west side of Steele Creek Road in the Shopton community. It is south of the intersection of Steele Creek Road with Dixie River Road and north of the intersection with Trojan Drive. The front or east facade of the house faces Steele Creek Road; the rear or west facade overlooks a field and wooded area. The Robinson House encompasses 2,312 square feet according to the Mecklenburg County tax records. It appears that the house was constructed in three sections. The plan of the original four-room section of the house is organized around two interior chimneys. Each chimney served two fireplaces, located back to-back in two rooms. Each block of two rooms was separated by a long hallway running from the front door to the back door of the house. Large fieldstones turned on end served as piers in this section. The rafters in the attic over the first section are pegged together. The second section of the Robinson House added a bedroom the kitchen, the back porch, the bay of the dining room and extended the hallway; all of this addition occurred on the back or west side of the house.
It was supported on brick piers; cut nails are visible in the attic. The last section to be added was a large rectangular room on the southwest comer which served as a bathroom; it has since been remodeled into two smaller bathrooms.1 When the Robinson family was making repairs to the exterior of the third section, they found a board stamped with the date 1912. That finding led them to believe the last section was added during or shortly after that year.2 The one story front elevation is dominated by the steeply-pitched roof. At first glance, the Robinson House appears to be a compound plan gable-front-and-wing house. Actually, it has a simple plan with irregularities formed by projections from the principal mass of the house that are less than room sized. A flat-roofed, one story porch spans the width of the front of the house. The three sections of the house are believed to have been built over a period of fifty years. As with many houses that grew with the size of the family and the fortune, details copied from earlier eras have been used to enliven plain, utilitarian facades. The interpretations and finish of the details used depended on the skill of the builder and the preferences of the owner.
Exterior
The exterior was covered with asbestos shingles installed in 1963; both siding and trim are painted white. The ordinal siding is still beneath the shingles; it consists of lapped horizontal boards approximately six inches wider. The gray slate roof has a steep pitch; the shingle slate pattern consists of five rows of plain slates, four rows of fishscale slates, and four rows of plain slates. Metal finals at the ridge line decorate the ends of the gables. The gables have a wide overhang; the wide eave overhang is boxed with an interior gutter system. The main roof is a series of cross gables with an interesting variation on the front of the house. A gable end is presented on the north end of the front. On the south end, the roof rises from the edge of the porch pediment in the same manner as a hip roof. However, on the extreme south end, the roof is finished with a gable that is visible when viewing the south side of the house. It is an unusual gesture from the builder that tricks the eye when seen from the road. The front porch, the back porch and the bay portion of the dining room have nearly flat roofs. Many of the windows contain the original glass in double hung sash. The bathroom has a small double hung sash; the pantry has one small square window. The center window of the dining room bay has a top section of patterned clear glass panes set with lead cames. The back porch has been enclosed for energy efficiency.
The window surrounds are narrow and not elaborate. The brick foundation piers of the house were infilled with modern brick in 1963; the entire underpinning is painted gray. The house is four units deep by three units wide. It has two interior masonry chimneys that exit at the center of the ridge. Each gable end has a louvered vent. The east or front elevation has a single window to either side of the door. One unit of the width was originally devoted entirely to a hallway; an early renovation terminated the hall at the west wall of the living room. Then the wall that had separated the living room and the hall was removed to provide more space in the living roomy. The south elevation is divided into four units having single windows. The main entrance, located on the east or front elevation appears to have changed little over the years. It consists of a simple Greek Revival wooden enframement surrounding the door. The white enframement has a flutes pilaster to either side of the door and a decorative crown of simple moldings. Corner blocks with bullseye decoration form the base for the pilasters. A wide strip of molding runs along the floor for the entire length of the porch. the door has a large glass panel in the top half; the bottom of the door consists of four vertical panels in a row with a single panel above and below. The flat-roofed one-story porch on the front elevation has wooden flooring that is painted gray. The ceiling is equal-width flat boards painted white. The fluted square wooden columns are a vernacular type based on the Greek Revival style; they exhibit a simple capital, a shaft, and a base. A simple balustrade nuns between the porch columns. A broad, low-pitched gable indicates entry at the center of the porch. The porch was screened in 1965; no historic fabric was removed at that time.
Interior
The interior has not been gutted although some updating of fixtures has occurred. Most rooms have original woodwork and six panel doors. Floors throughout the house are generally of hardwood; some have been covered with vinyl flooring. Most walls are plaster; gypsum wallboard was used for bathroom renovations. The fireplaces are not used for heating the house; two have been closed. The original fireplace surround in the southeast room has elaborate Greek Revival details. The sides of the surround, left in place, have been used as the side decoration for a built-in curio cabinet. An oil furnace makes the Robinson House comfortable for its current owner. The wide center hallway serves as a den. The north side of the house contains the service rooms; the south side of the house contains sleeping quarters and the two baths. The dining room is the most elaborate room. The fireplace on the east wall of the dining room has a handsome Greek Revival surround. Half-round columns support the mantel and mirrored overmantel; the egg-and-dart design decorates the capitals. The wainscot has a wide, heavy top molding. The room is ringed by a decorative plate rail with brackets. The three-sided bay has a wide window seat. Most of the hardwood floor is visible. The east wall of the dining room has one door leading to a short passageway to the living room; built in cabinets and bookcases line the passageway. The west wall has one door opening to a passageway to the kitchen; the entrance to the pantry and a built-in cupboard are in the short passage. On the south wall, a door leads to the hallway. The Robinson House has served as a residence for several families since its construction in the late 19th century. Renovations have been, for the most part, sensitive to the original fabric of the house. It serves as an example of the home of a public servant in Mecklenburg County during the late 19th century.
NOTES:
1 Telephone interview with Mr. James Robinson, Jr., an architect in Hilton Head, South Carolina, on July 26, 1991. Mr. Robinson is the oldest son of Mrs. Golda Robinson, current owner of the house. His observations span the many years he lived in the house and helped with repairs.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
4 Interview with Mrs. Golda Robinson, current owner of the house, on June 15, 1991.