There may be no oval office; no rose garden. But Len White’s promise of a meticulously restored historic home has delighted his wife, Judy, and caught the eye of local preservationists, becoming a genuine gift to the community at large.
The house was designed in 1924 by Reynolda House architect Charles Barton Keen for William Yost Preyer and his wife, Mary Norris Richardson — a daughter of Lunsford Richardson, a local pharmacist and inventor of Vick’s VapoRub. 
In the very heart of Irving Park, it stood on a hill overlooking the lush fairways of the Greensboro Country Club golf course and the Keen-designed clubhouse that sat on an opposite hill.
As one of the most prolific and popular designers of the American country house in the early 20th century, Keen was well-known among Southern elites and Piedmont millionaires. 
In fact, when Home and Garden launched its magazine in 1901, it was a Keen home that was featured in the first article of that premiere issue.
For the Preyers, Keen designed the home in the style of the grand Reynolda House — albeit on a smaller scale. It featured the same white stucco walls, green ceramic roof tiles, and matching columns on its flanking outdoor porches. 
When the home was finished, the Philadelphia architect decided to have it photographed for Southern Architectural Design magazine as the latest example of his country house aesthetic.

The Whites purchased the property in 2002 from the estate of U.S. Representative Richardson Preyer — one of William and Mary Norris’ five sons — and his wife, Emily. It was during Rep. Preyer’s 30-year tenure in the home that the house played host to many Democratic Party events, where guests included presidential hopefuls Walter Mondale and Bill Bradley, among others. Richardson had also reached across the aisle and extended his hand and hospitality to Washington tennis buddy George Bush, Sr. and his fellow Republicans.
That kind of political clout was bound to be hidden amid the clutter of a library that included hundreds of volumes. When the Whites began clearing out what the bookish Preyers had left behind, they discovered notes and cards from dignitaries and other notables that Judy likened to a “treasure hunt.” One of those treasures included a Bush family Christmas card addressed to the Preyers with George W. Bush pictured as a 12-year-old.
Another unexpected treasure the Whites discovered buried beneath the mountain of books was an old architectural rendering of the home that Judy says served as a model for the restoration. The illustration depicted columns on the front portico, although there were none in the House and Garden photographs taken in 1924. When the couple inquired about the columns, “nobody could remember them on the home,” Len says. After additional research and a visit to Reynolda House, the Whites decided to follow their instincts — and what they believed was the architect’s original intent — and install columns in the front.
“We started at the top and worked down,” says Len, whose focus was preserving the home’s original integrity. The green ceramic roof tiles were removed and hand-scrubbed, and a rubber membrane replaced the roof’s old underpinnings, helping eliminate future water problems — the legacy of Keen’s architectural affinity for hidden gutters. 
Since Mary Norris was originally underwhelmed with the entry-hall wallpaper when it was installed, she had commissioned an Italian artist to hand-paint luscious urns of flowers to add color to an otherwise monochrome paper. But past roof leaks had left the original Zuber French paper with water stains, discoloration, and small tears that threatened to compromise its stability. The Whites were determined to save it, and they did. 
Other updates the couple incorporated included combining two upstairs bedrooms into a more spacious master suite, and knocking down walls on the main floor to create a gourmet kitchen. And while the house was originally designed to take advantage of cross breezes during the sultry summer via numerous French doors and bedroom sleeping porches, the Whites chose to add air conditioning to the home without removing the original radiators.
In 2006, Preservation Greensboro acknowledged the Whites’ restoration efforts by presenting them with a local preservation award. The recognition is fitting considering that today, the White house serves as host for a myriad of local charity events, upholding the same community spirit that has permeated its walls for much of its history.