One of Greensboro’s oldest residents is still warm and welcoming at the ripe old age of 213.

Built as a farmhouse in 1795, the benchmark Blandwood mansion, now lovingly restored to its former glory, fascinates visitors to this day.

Blandwood, which faces West Washington Street not far from the modern downtown city, gained its name from its original owner, Charles Bland. Sitting on 100 acres in a small, post-Revolutionary War settlement, the farmhouse Bland built passed through many owners until Henry Humphreys bought it in February 1822.

Just the year before, Henry’s stepdaughter, Ann Eliza Lindsay, had married an up-and-coming lawyer named John Motley Morehead. Humphreys added two rooms to the basic Bland farmhouse, and then sold Blandwood to his son-in-law in 1827.

By the 1840s, Morehead, a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumnus, had a large family, a sprawling house, terms of office in the General Assembly, and an election as governor behind him. He was also working with a famous New York City architect, Alexander Jackson Davis. Along with his partner, Davis had designed the State Capitol building in Raleigh, and now also had several UNC campus buildings on his slate.

Morehead brought Davis to Greensboro and asked him if he would also remodel Morehead's hilltop house. Davis said yes, and the rest is literally history. In 1844, the architect presented Morehead with design drawings unlike anything en vogue in the United States. At a time when Greek Revival homes were popular for the well-to-do gentleman's family, Davis proposed a Tuscan Villa which, while quite common in Italy, was little known to Americans.

A progressive thinker who succeeded in business after his governorship, Morehead gave Davis the go-ahead. In 1846, just after Morehead ended his two terms as governor, the radically different home that incorporated much of the older structure was completed. The result included a three-story tower in the front, stylish formal rooms left and right, and, at either side, separate “dependencies” or wings with kitchens and the Governor’s offices.

“We simply don’t know if A.J. Davis ever traveled in Europe,” says Ashley Poteat, director and curator of Blandwood, referring to where the architect got his inspiration. “He was trained as a painter, or he might have gotten clues from design books, which were just coming in at that time.” He certainly knew the look, though, and the traditional stucco and pale yellow coloring. The home quickly became not only a place that could handle growing children, but equally entertain in a style suitable for a former governor and active businessman.

“If there is one thing I like visitors to take away from a tour of Blandwood today, it’s that, for its time, this house was truly modern architecture,” Poteat notes. “In the late 1840s, when the house was first completed, there were people who said they were afraid to enter the house under that tall tower. This was a truly radical design, especially for a small town in the South.”

Because Davis soon had a painting of his imposing hilltop creation published in a nationally influential book, it wasn’t long before Italianate architecture found popularity elsewhere in the country. But while numerous examples have since disappeared from the American landscape, Davis’ groundbreaking premiere design has survived into the 21st century.

Blandwood’s renaissance was no sure thing in the 1960s, however. Sold out of the family in 1907, the building was a rehabilitation center for alcohol and drug addiction until 1961. Falling into disrepair, by 1966 it was as endangered as earlier historic homes already lost in Greensboro: Bellemeade House, Dunleith House, and James Turner Morehead’s nearby house on South Eugene Street.

Fortunately, the Greensboro Preservation Society - renamed Preservation Greensboro Inc. in 1993 - formed that year with the sole goal of saving and restoring Morehead’s architectural gem. Patience was one of the group’s virtues; it took 20 years to fully complete the exterior and interior of the home.

“PGI was just behind Wilmington in forming a citywide preservation society in this state,” says Benjamin Briggs, PGI’s executive director. “Since the Blandwood work was finished, PGI has moved on to broader issues across the city. The group helped obtain National Register recognition for neighborhoods, built a Revolving Fund in 1989 to aid restoration projects, and published a book on the city’s architecture in 1995.”

Since 1994, PGI has also operated Architectural Salvage, a building materials resale business that salvages mantels, floors, windows, doors, and other items from doomed historic buildings. “Our main mission is saving the architectural treasures that remain in Greensboro,” Briggs says. “We do that through education, advocacy, and revitalization. We seek to keep historical houses safe, comfortable, and well-cared-for - which in turn helps the economy and maintains strong tax values.

“We believe that restoring and reusing existing structures is the best of ‘green’ architecture,” Briggs continues, “while maintaining the unique character of the town that makes it appealing and different from any other place.”

PGI and Blandwood supporters, of course, continue to keep an eye on the landmark they saved, with special events, fundraisers, and the revenue from tours going toward maintenance and operation costs. A higher visibility in recent years has also led to more visitors coming to the door from outside of the immediate area.

Thanks to a recent $40,000 grant from Greensboro’s Bicentennial Commission and after some initial testing, archeological work is scheduled to occur May 21 through June 24 on the southwest corner of the current 4-acre property, bordered by McGee and Edgeworth streets.

The reason: Early maps of Greensboro suggest several outbuildings on the site. Foundations of those buildings, and perhaps even artifacts, could be uncovered by careful archeological work. It might be possible, for instance, to determine if any of these buildings served as homes for Blandwood’s slaves.

Blandwood’s appeal is multifaceted. “First, it’s one of the only antebellum residences you can visit in the entire region,” Poteat notes, “and the very first use of a new style by a famous architect. Plus, you have the local history of an influential and meaningful governor and railroad man, combined with original fabric and furnishings that help to explain and illustrate how life was lived before the Civil War.”

From the beautiful light-washed formal rooms and the ladies’ tea chamber on the tower’s second floor to the more basic master bedroom and simple games of the children’s bedrooms, Blandwood mansion is Greensboro’s genteel example of how an impressive house and family-friendly home, addressed with creativity, functioned and flourished in the 1840s.

 

 

If You Go Blandwood is at _447 W. Washington St. in Greensboro. Tours are available Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m. The last tour begins 30 minutes before closing. Admission is $5 for adults and $2 for children under 12. Group tour arrangements are also available. For more information, call 336-272-5003 or go to blandwood.org. Upcoming Events Blandwood Ball, one of the region’s most renowned events held on behalf of a nonprofit organization, is also the chief fundraiser for Preservation Greensboro Inc., Blandwood, and other preservation operations in Greensboro. The 2008 biennial event will be January 26 at the Proximity Hotel. For more information, contact Randy McManus at 336-691-0051.

Greensboro Bicentennial Heritage Festival -  Events celebrating the 1808 founding of Greensboro will take place from April to June. April 12 and 13, Blandwood will feature a Civil War-era living-history event, historical skits, and more. Hours are 11 a.m. to _6 p.m. on Saturday, and 1 to 6 p.m. on Sunday.