Grand, Intact Farmhouse
Published May 2014
Price: $0 (must be moved)
Location: Grimesland, North Carolina
Contact: Claudia Deviney, 252-482-7455
The History: After a fire destroyed the longtime home of tobacco baron Joseph John Laughinghouse in 1903, he and his wife, Eliza, decided to sell their 1,000-acre plantation. The land, which had been in Joseph’s family for more than 100 years, contained some of the finest tobacco-growing soil around. Brothers Clarence and William Faucette, tobacconists by trade, bought the parcel for $20,000 and had so much success farming it that William was able to buy out Clarence’s share and pay off the bank in only seven years. Around 1910, William built this grand farmhouse on the site of the original house, and he lived there with his wife and daughter, both named Louise. The house stayed in the family until 2011, when the owner of an adjacent property bought the estate for the land. He is now offering the house to anyone willing to move it.
The Faucette farmhouse follows a pattern common to grand turn-of-the-century North Carolina tobacco homes—built on land prized for its soil, then passed through a single family for generations before development pressure forced a choice between demolition and relocation. Preservation North Carolina, which connects buyers with at-risk historic homes across the state, has helped place dozens of similar properties with new stewards willing to take on the move.
Shown: The 4,363-square-foot house has six bedrooms and two-and-a-half bathrooms. It retains original exterior details, such as Doric columns and the center gable’s fish-scale shingles.
Beyond the Doric columns and fish-scale shingles in the center gable, grand farmhouses of this era typically retain other tell-tale details worth inspecting before a move—bracketed cornices, semicircular gable vents, two-over-two double-hung windows with delicate muntins, and original mantels. On comparable North Carolina farmhouses from this period, a standing-seam metal roof has often been the single feature that kept the structure sound enough to be worth relocating.
Late-Victorian Character
Why Save It? The wood clapboard house retains late-Victorian details, including multiple window bays, two patterned brick chimneys, and a 1,086-square-foot porch. Eight mantels and fluted casings around each of the 27 windows are among the elaborate features inside.
The home’s elaborate exterior trim reflects a key shift in 19th-century building: as railroads stretched into small towns and agrarian areas in the mid- to late-1800s, they brought with them affordable, ready-to-install, factory-made wood trim, putting elaborate spindlework, swirling brackets, and turned details within reach of rural builders. The result was a distinctive Victorian-era farmhouse style that blended plain vernacular forms with the decorative finishes once reserved for city dwellings.
Although features like the home’s fluted casings and eight mantels look custom-made, much of this ornamentation was actually mass-produced. As architectural historian Charles Lockwood explained in This Old House Magazine: “A lot of people think the elaborate woodwork in these brownstones was all handcarved by master craftsmen. The truth is that long before the 1890s, most of this stuff was factory-made.”
Shown: A balcony is tucked under the center gable.
Elaborate Staircase
What it needs: Aside from lacking a permanent plot, the house is in reasonable shape. The kitchen and baths are in working order but should be updated, along with the systems, after the house is moved. Grimesland, 12 miles from Greenville, is a town of fewer than 500 people. Nearby lots start around $20,000—or, for $1.5 million, you can buy an 88-acre parcel down the road and farm an estate all your own.
Shown: The staircase has an elaborate balustrade and sunburst-patterned stair scrolls.
Showpiece Dining Room
French doors fitted with transoms draw light into the dining room.
Eight Intact Mantels
One of eight decorative mantels found throughout the house.
Preserved Baseboards
The home is in remarkably good condition and retains the original baseboards and casings.
