Seasons Style & Design Fall 2017

Beauty Inspires Here

A

United Methodist Retirement Community

S AN ACCOMPLISHED ARTIST who loves to teach, Steven helps fellow Arbor Acres residents create beauty in our fully equipped studio. Betty impressed Steven with her first-ever painting of hydrangeas. “This place is all about doing your favorite things and finding new interests, too,� she says.

At Arbor Acres, our residents celebrate the endless variations and possibilities of beauty. What is beautiful to you?

www.arboracres.org 1240 Arbor Road, Winston-Salem, NC 27104 336 -724 -7921

ARTIST EVENT

Friday, November 10th at South Elm Street, Greensboro and Saturday, November 11th in Winston-Salem.

Behold unique porcelain treasures at our fall Herend Artist Event. Herend master artist Marianna Steigervald will demonstrate her painting expertise and sign exquisite show pieces for purchase at this exclusive event.

Joining Marianna will be Herend painter Anita Palkovics, whose specialties are birds and flowers.

GREENSBORO 225 South Elm Street • 336-272-5146 WINSTON-SALEM Stratford Village, 137 South Stratford Road • 336-725-1911 www.schiffmans.com

56 46

7 From the Editor

By Jim Dodson

S TYLEBOOK 10 The Hot List

By Jason Oliver Nixon & John Locke

13 The Conversation

19 Hidden Gem

By Waynette Goodson

23 Fall Almanac

By Ash Alder

25 The Soul of an Auctioneer

63

25

By Jim Dodson

LIFE&HOME 63 The Architect’s Son

By Peter Freeman

FEATURES

67 Prime Resources

38 A True Southern Lady

71 Our Towns

By Nancy Oakley

Before it was an art museum, Winston-Salem’s iconic Reynolda House was a hub for progressive farming, as realized by Katharine Smith Reynolds

46 The Power of Good Design

By Nancy Oakley

STITCH Design Shop in Winston-Salem gives new expression to Modernism

56 The Collector

By Ross Howell Jr.

By Grant Britt

By Maria Johnson

76 Fall’s Top Ten

By Annie Ferguson

79 The Language of Home

By Noah Salt

80 HomeWords

By Cynthia Adams

How a love of antiques turned Mary Wells into a Triad legend

60 A Warehouse Full of Glorious Things

By Ross Howell Jr.

Remembering the Americana of Mary’s Antiques

Cover Photograph by Amy Freeman 2 SEASONS •

STYLE

& DESIGN

Fall 2017

Fine Eyewear, Artwork and Jewelry 327 South Elm | Greensboro 336.274.1278 | TheViewOnElm.com Becky Causey, Licensed Optician Find us on Facebook

Vol. 2 No. 3 336.617.0090 1848 Banking Street, Greensboro, NC 27408 www.ohenrymag.com Jim Dodson, Editor • jim@thepilot.com Andie Rose, Art Director • andie@thepilot.com Nancy Oakley, Senior Editor • nancy@ohenrymag.com Lauren Coffey, Graphic Designer Alyssa Rocherolle, Graphic Designer CONTRIBUTORS Cynthia Adams, Ash Alder, Harry Blair, Grant Britt, Steven Burke, Annie Ferguson, Amy Freeman, Peter Freeman, Sam Froelich, John Gessner, Waynette Goodson, Ross Howell Jr., Maria Johnson, John Loecke, Jason Oliver Nixon, Noah Salt, Bert VanderVeen

h David Woronoff, Publisher ADVERTISING SALES Ginny Trigg, Sales Director 910.691.8293, ginny@thepilot.com Hattie Aderholdt, 336.601.1188 • hattie@ohenrymag.com Lisa Allen, 336.210.6921 • lisa@ohenrymag.com Amy Grove, 336.456.0827 • amy@ohenrymag.com Allison Shore, 336.698.6374 • allison@ohenrymag.com

Meet Leslie and Chris Gunter, owners of Gunter Custom Homes & Design.

Modern, Timeless, Masterfully Crafted Exteriors and Interiors Complete Design Build Services Member ASID, Greensboro Builders Association President of Carolina’s Chapter IFDA The Triad’s Premier Design Build Firm NEW CONSTRUCTION | INTERIOR DESIGN

Contact Gunter Homes Today for your Complimentary Consultation!

Lisa Bobbitt, Sales Assistant 336.617.0090, ohenryadvertising@gmail.com Brad Beard, Graphic Design

CIRCULATION Darlene Stark, Circulation Director 910.693.2488 SUBSCRIPTIONS 336.617.0090 ©Copyright 2017. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited.

Seasons Magazine is published by The Pilot LLC

gunterdreamhomes.com | 336-215-3500 M A G A Z I N E

4 SEASONS •

STYLE

& DESIGN

Fall 2017

7980 Valley View Drive Clemmons, North Carolina price upon request

The Triad’s Leading Choice in Luxury Real Estate

336.722.9911

|

Stratford Oaks Office Serving: Winston-Salem.Greensboro.High Point

www.GoMitch.com

Peninsula Drive Office Serving: Davidson. Lake Norman. Charlotte

G R A C I O U S A M E N I T I E S. A T T E N T I V E S T A F F.

I N F O R M A L LY E L E GA N T, ZESTFUL DINING The adjacent Green Valley Grill uses fresh seasonal food featuring old-world European culinary sensibilities and flavors. Dine in the elegant dining room or outdoors.

3 3 6 . 8 5 4 . 2 0 0 0

S

U

S

T A

I

N

A

B L E

|

S

T

O H E N R Y H O T E L . C O M

Y

L E

EXTRAORDINARY FL AVO RS, VIBRANT DINING BRE AK FAS T, LU N CH, D I N N ER and WEEK EN D BRU N CH Fresh local ingredients in traditional and modern versions of French bistro dishes.

3 3 6 . 3 7 9 . 8 2 0 0

|

P R O X I M I T Y H O T E L . C O M

FROM THE EDITOR

Take Me Home

By Jim Dodson

ILLUSTRATION BY HARRY BLAIR

A

t lunch with a group of friends not long ago, the conversation turned to guilty pleasures, those secret little self-indulgences we grant ourselves in private moments to escape the stress of life.

One friend confessed her secret pleasure was pigging out with a half gallon of double chocolate salt caramel ice cream while she binge-watched Orange Is the New Black.

Another cited her addiction to a “deserted white sand beach and novels I would never be caught reading back home.” The other male at the table mentioned road trips to Myrtle Beach with his golf buddies, especially for après-golf activities, he added, wiggling his eyebrows.

“I’ll take a great spa and nice bottle of chardonnay,” said another female colleague. “The more expensive, the better.”

All eyes were suddenly on me.

“Escape to the country,” I said before I realized what I was saying.

They laughed.

“Is that code for your garden?” someone asked.

“That, too,” I agreed.

No, I added, I was speaking of an addictive real estate show called Escape to the Country, a popular BBC program another friend had recently turned my wife and me onto, knowing how we love to slip off the radar every other autumn or just roam the back roads and narrow hedgerows of Britain or France with no firm itinerary in mind, in most instances without advance reservations. Over the years, trusting the fates, we’ve had some remarkable serendipitous adventures that landed us in unforgettable places — great old coaching inns, amazing gardens, hidden estates and local colorful characters galore.

There was that amazing night deep into rural Glouchestershire, for instance, when we met the woman in the Proud Cock Pub, who directed us to the largest yew in all of Britain. Or the seven chaps we met playing dominoes in the dusk at the golf club in Chantilly in northern France, who directed us to the best bistro in town and showed up on our heels with their wives, speaking not a lick of English, but treating us to fresh asperge blanche and the local chilled Sancerre wine — a party that went nearly until dawn.

But wait, these are pleasurable tales for another time — and nary a one that I feel the slightest guilt over.

Escape to the Country, on the other hand, is perhaps the closest thing I have nowadays to a guilty pleasure or an easy “escape” these days.

Thanks to Netflix, I’m certainly guilty as charged for watching it after a long day at work or whenever life seems a little too hectic and uncooperative for comfort.

How mentally soothing to tag along, say, with suburban

Fall 2017

London foodies Bryan and Shirley as they tool around the timeless hills of rural Dorset in search of their thatched-roofed retirement dream cottage or that 18th-century former Georgian rectory with the garden out back and long views of the Chalk Hills, a home straight from Thackeray or Austen.

“The show is basically House Hunters for the Masterpiece Theater crowd,” I summed up, explaining how it turns on the classic trope of an urban couple eager to trade hectic city life for an ideal pied-à-terre in the country, with the objective of presenting a trio of beguiling cottages and estates tucked in absurdly photogenic village settings and sweeping landscapes, designed to fit the budget and aspirational desires of the show’s subjects.

Each property seems more charming and irresistible than the one before it, and a third “mystery” option often seals the deal.

Artfully inserted betwixt viewings, we voyeuristic tagalongs get to learn interesting bits of local history, nip into the local pub or maybe even learn how to make the locally famous cheese.

“It’s not quite like being there,” I summed up. “But it sure makes me wish I were.”

Luckily for me, editing Seasons magazine evokes similar soothing feelings because I get to regularly investigate outstanding properties and gardens scattered around the Piedmont Triad — and meet the engaging souls who love them. Some years ago, while researching a book on the delightfully mad and wonderful competitive horticulture world, my bride and I dropped in for lunch with the late, famous English gardener Mirabel Osler — the woman widely credited with birthing the cottage garden craze of two decades ago. (Her book A Gentle Plea for Chaos should be in every serious gardener’s library.)

Following a tour of her delightfully chaotic cottage garden, Osler, a lively grand dame in her early 90s, marched us off to a local French restaurant talking about her late farmer husband and how a garden and a house are essentially a human thumbprint of their owners, which she charmingly referred as “temporary caretakers.”

“By that I mean to say you keep a house or a garden for a relatively short span of time, relatively speaking, and both will undoubtedly have a life of their own far beyond you,” she explained. “Gardens and houses are living creatures that perfectly convey the love and attention they are given like few other things except possibly children. Like the people who own them, they change over time and are subject to circumstances beyond our control. But make no mistake, your thumbprint will always be there once established — a touch of you left behind.”

We savored our magical autumn afternoon with Dame

. . . a garden and a house are essentially a human thumbprint of their owners . . .

SEASONS • STYLE & DESIGN 7

STYLEBOOK Osler, and I’ve never ceased thinking about the houses and gardens I visit as living thumbprints of their caretakers.

Among other things, she also mentioned how people who love old houses and gardens tend also to be natural caretakers of certain beloved objects that speak to them in a secret language all their own. “Beautiful things can unexpectedly call your name,” she told us, pointing out a small watercolor that reminded her of a field that once belonged to her and her late husband. “I found that in a jumble shop in Leeds,” she said wistfully. “It said to me, ‘This is yours. Take me home.’”

I’m living proof of this phenomenon. And maybe you are, too.

Last spring, in preparation for a main feature of this issue, my bride and I attended auctioneer Leland Little’s big spring auction at his gallery in historic Hillsborough.

Having never attended an auction of any sort, I was slightly gobsmacked by the 300 or so spectacular items up for sale — a remarkable array of exquisite Colonial-era furniture, fine art, historic maps, vintage couture, collectible glassware, estate jewelry and garden tools.

During the preview hour, my feasting eye settled on at least half a dozen items I would have given my genuine George Washington wooden teeth to bid upon, notably one of the earliest known maps of Colonial America, a 19th-century Chinese garden chair and an amazing painting of cows

standing in a pasture that was first exhibited at the Columbian World’s Exposition in Chicago in 1892.

My eye kept drifting back to Lot 356, Pennsylvanian Thomas Craig’s luminous Upland Pasture Morning, an oil on canvas in an original heavy gilt frame that came from the artist’s own collection. Something about those gorgeous cows reminded me of my great grandfather’s farm in Orange County.

After sitting through five hours of exciting bidding from the 150 folks on the auction floor, plus thousands of collectors and bidders on the phone or online from around the world, I realized attending high-end live auctions could easily become a guilty pleasure of mine.

If those beautiful upland cows could talk, they would probably tell you I’m not the least bit guilty about purchasing that one-of-a-kind painting. As Leland Little said to me afterward, “You got a great buy on that oil painting — and I don’t just mean the price.”

Whatever else may be true, I feel a little like a kid on Christmas morning every time I pause and admire Thomas Craig’s Upland Pasture Morning, now hanging in our living room.

That old painting speaks to me the same way Mirabel Osler’s chaotic cottage garden spoke to her; the way couples escaping to the country hear old rectories calling out their names — a private voice that simply says, “This is yours. Take me Home.” h

1st Quality & Designer In-Stock Fabrics Drapery Upholstery Outdoor Pillow Inserts Custom Bedding Window Treatments 936 Burke Street in Winston-Salem | 2108 Dunmore Court in High Point

Monday-Saturday 10-5

8 SEASONS •

STYLE

& DESIGN

www.1502fabrics.com Fall 2017

For top quality floors at rock bottom prices, Floor & Decor has got you covered.

Stop by today and ask about our free Design Services.

1302 Bridford Pkwy, Unit 103 | Greensboro, NC 27407 | 336-291-1515

THE HOT LIST

Insider Trading

Want to know what’s tempting high-flying local tastemakers this season? We turn to a handful of the Triad’s top style setters and asked them to give up their go-to goods.

By Jason Oliver Nixon and John Loecke, Madcap Cottage

Kevin Cushwa Tapp

Occupation: Creative Director, Hanesbrands Where do you live?: A loft in downtown Winston-Salem Favorite destination: Miami Favorite hotel: Soho House, anywhere House cocktail: A Hendrick’s martini, dirty Trellis or Chinese scenic: Chinese scenic Favorite interior designer of the past: Sister Parish How would you describe your personal style?: Cluttered English country interiors Favorite fashion designer: It’s a “created” outfit for me versus one designer. A great outfit for me is Gucci shoes, cheap Zara pants, and Libertine jackets and shirts. I like antique pins and patches, too.

Carol Gregg

Occupation: Owner, red egg home furnishings Where do you live?: I split my time between High Point and New York City.

It’s the perfect balance.

Where are you traveling right now?: The Philippines How do you find inspiration for your furniture?: Old movies, current and vintage fashion, contemporary art and local artisans Favorite hotel: My current favorite is Abacá Resort in Cebu, Philippines.

House cocktail: In the summer, it’s a gin and tonic. In the winter, it’s Defiant American Single Malt Whisky from Bostic, North Carolina, served neat.

How would you describe your personal style?: A mix of classic and Bohemian.

I live in denim and love to pair blue jeans with tunics and vintage kimonos in great colors and patterns.

Favorite piece of furniture: My Peacock Chair!

Favorite Triad design shop: Design Archives Emporium in Greensboro

Alan Henderson

Occupation: Designer/Owner, Alan Henderson Studio Where do you live?: Winston-Salem and Mooresville What’s inspiring you right now?: Alexander Girard. I just saw his traveling exhibition A Designer’s Universe at Cranbrook Art Museum in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. I’m channeling Girard’s vibrant colors and patterns in my current work.

Favorite hotel: W South Beach House cocktail and recipe: Tequila Manhattan How would you describe your personal style?: California surfer meets inkstained pressman Favorite Triad design shop: One of my favorites is right here in WinstonSalem, KLEUR.

STYLEBOOK

Georgianna Thrower

Occupation: Entertainologist Where do you live?: Winston-Salem Favorite destination: The foothills of North Carolina are home to the Yadkin Valley Wine Country. Two of my favorite wineries — McRitchie Winery and Ciderworks and Roaring River Vineyards — are less than an hour from my hometown of Winston.

Favorite hotel: The fabled Villa d’Este on Lake Como in Italy. Pure magic!

Favorite wine: Hanover Park Vineyard and its “Michael’s Blend” Red. I love to support local wineries, and they do a fantastic job!

How would you describe your personal style?: Fashion forward with a Southern edge (I do love a good strand of pearls.)

Favorite Triad design shop: Trouvaille Home in downtown Winston-Salem, of course

Anne Rainey Rokahr Occupation: Owner, Trouvaille Home and The Snob Shop; Decorator Where do you live?: Winston-Salem

Any holiday travel plans?: I am planning a New Year’s trip to Morocco with friends.

Favorite destination: Usually, it’s the last place I’ve been.

So, right now, it’s Portugal.

Lisa Sherry

Occupation: Interior designer, Lisa Sherry Interieurs Where do you live?: Often in my imagination but tangibly in a charming Georgian-turned-modern home in High Point’s Emerywood neighborhood Favorite destination: Bald Head Island for quick escapes, NYC for design adventure, and Europe when wanderlust strikes.

Favorite hotel: Today, Keemala in Phuket, Thailand. I never stay at the same place twice. There’s too much to experience.

Last year, it was Sugar Beach in St. Lucia (it’s all white!)

Favorite wine: A dry French rosé in a gorgeous vessel.

Favorite shade of white paint: Benjamin Moore China White Favorite interior designer of the past: My mom. She has an innate sense of style.

House cocktail and recipe: My bourbon punch.

I can only make a few things well and I guard those recipes with my life.

How would you describe your personal style?: My rooms are far more interesting than my clothing. For work, I prefer simple, classic lines, cashmere, silk, merino wool, linen or cotton. Less is more when it comes to embellishment in my wardrobe. More is more in my interiors.

House of Style

We love nothing more than a delicious watercolor.

Well, maybe we love a watercolor portrait of a stunning home just that tiny bit more than a watercolor of, say, a flower or landscape. Hence, when we discovered the bespoke home portraiture crafted by High Point-based artist Laurie Mendenhall, we were smitten. What an amazing gift, n’est-ce pas? Plus, Mendenhall’s fees are beautifully affordable.

Lauriemendenhallart.com

C E L E B R AT I N G 8 5 Y E A R S O F C R A F T S M A N S H I P, I N N O VAT I O N , S T Y L E , S E R V I C E , A N D Q U A L I T Y

SPECIAL SAVINGS GOING ON NOW

WIN S TON-SALEM

1140 C R EEKSHIR E WAY 336.768.8334

Ask a designer or visit ethanallen.com for details. Sale going on for a limited time. ©2017 Ethan Allen Global, Inc.

STYLEBOOK

Robert Leath and Benjamin Briggs

THE CONVERSATION

Well-Preserved

A brief chat with two of the brightest minds in historic preservation Photograph by Amy Freeman

W

e at Seasons Style & Design are mad for old houses and antiques, particularly here in the Piedmont region. But we know a couple of blokes who are even more in tune with historic preservation than we are. You might even call them a couple of true North Carolina tJoshing aside, not long ago we met up with Robert Leath of Old Salem Museum and Gardens, and MESDA (Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts) and Preservation Greensboro’s Benjamin Briggs for lunch and conversation on the porch of the historic Tavern in Old Salem, eager to hear what two of the brightest minds in the historic preservation movement havet to say about the subject.

SEASONS: In a few words, what is the state of historic preservation?

BB: Locally it’s very good. When people in Greensboro are contemplating demolition of an old building, for instance, they now call us to find out about its history. Years ago, the first call they would have made was to get a quote on the bulldozer. That’s a major change. It means the public is aware of the importance of preserving older structures. That thinking now crosses all lines of income, ethnicity and business. Folks are curious to know the building or house’s history. That’s welcome change from the past.

Fall 2017

RL: We see the same the same things happening here in Forsyth County. There’s a genuine awareness and interest in preserving older buildings that wasn’t the case decades ago. Winston-Salem is undergoing a transformation from industrial use to a hightech and medical base that’s bringing exciting new life to places like the old Reynolds buildings and warehouses in the city. It’s a pretty exciting time, all things considered.

SEASONS: Well, in that spirit, tell about your beginnings in historic preservation.

BB: I was sort of born into it, you might say. I inherited a love of it from my parents who liked old houses and took me to see historic sites in Williamsburg and Charleston when I was growing up. I also inherited the house I grew up in near Jamestown, a house built in the 1840s. Working on that house over the years captured my imagination and taught me a great deal about the difference between restoration and renovation. During my prep school years in Pennsylvania, I remember a speaker who stressed the importance of doing something you love in life. That made a strong impression on my career decision. I was fortunate to have an internship with the Historic Charleston Foundation. So you could say I was more or less destined to do this kind of work.

RL: I grew up in Fayetteville. My dad was an architect and SEASONS • STYLE & DESIGN 13

OUR KNOWLEDGE IS YOUR ADVANTAGE

464 Sheffield Drive, Winston-Salem, NC Offered at $1,395,000.00

Winston-Salem | golrb.com | 336 779 9200

STYLEBOOK I was fascinated at a young age with seeing how houses came together and functioned. I also had a strong interest in American history — though I thought perhaps I would eventually wind up studying the law. But after an internship at MESDA’s Summer Institute, my passion for history and houses merged and that led to my first job at the Historic Charleston Foundation, where among other things I got to work on the restoration and refurbishing of the Nathaniel Russell House. That was a fabulous laboratory for anyone who loves history, architectures and culture. I was lucky to move on to Historic Williamsburg and eventually return to Old Salem. So you could say I’ve come back to where my passion was born.

SEASONS: Historically speaking, where did the preservation movement in America come from?

RL: Its origins lay, to some degree, in the Centennial of America, when people began to express a broader interest in American history and felt the need to commemorate it in some fashion. The Bicentennial in 1976 also gave historic preservation a major boost, prompting Americans to think about where they came from and celebrate the pride in the nation’s age.

BB: That public interest also began to take root with passage of the National Preservation Act in 1966, which saved Grand Central Station and other landmark buildings from destruction. In some ways, the South was in the forefront of historic preservation because under the act the first four designated historic districts were Charleston, the Vieux Carré in New Orleans, Alexandria (Virginia) and Old Salem. The popularity of Williamsburg also played a major role in broadening awareness.

RL: I’ve always had a pet theory that the Cold War even had something to do with the rise of America’s preservation movement. Set against a radically different economic and political system like the Soviet Union helped define our

American-ness, making our national identity and history a matter not just of pride but even life and death. If you were a child from the 1950s onward, there’s a good chance your parents took you to see Williamsburg, Washington DC or Jamestown. These places became like the Stations of the Cross of our cultural identity, places worthy of family pilgrimage. If you grew up in eastern North Carolina, Tryon Palace was a fieldtrip, while in the western regions, Old Salem.

Just about every school kid visited one or the other — some both.

BB: The end of the 1970s and early ’80s saw a real growth of this awareness thanks to popular TV shows like This Old House and the Old House Journal.

Suddenly smaller cities like Greensboro and Winston-Salem created their own historic districts like [Greensboro’s] College Hill — in 1980 — and Fisher Park in 1982. Over time that eventually spread to places like Wafco Mills and Revolution Mill and other industrial buildings that have been saved and transformed into economic drivers in the region. That’s going on big-time in all the towns of the Piedmont. It’s very exciting to see.

RL: These days you can see the public interest with historic preservation in things like PBS’s Antiques Roadshow, which has something like 9 million viewers, or Ancestry.com, which is nearly a $700 million business with two million subscribers. There is a genuine curiosity about where we came from as a people.

That’s why historic properties speak to people the way they do. There’s an authenticity about old houses and antiques that tells the story of who we are as a nation and how we evolved. At MESDA, we are fascinated by the stories we research about beautiful historic pieces of furniture. Every piece tells a great story.

BB: People enjoy the experience of being in an old house or a restored historic building — seeing hand-wrought nails in the floor or shutters that are so authentic they don’t lay against the wall properly, light fixtures created by hand, that sort of thing. These things are unique. They speak of our past, our share values.

The DUX® Axion 15 combines the benefits of the DUX sleep system with the elevation capabilities of an adjustable bed. Its multi-layered Swedish steel springs offer the perfectcombination of stability and support, while its dynamic, silent motor helps you settle into just the right height and angle.

Opulence of Southern Pines and DUXIANA at The Mews, 280 NW Broad Street, Downtown Southern Pines, NC 910.692.2744

at Cameron Village, 400 Daniels Street, Raleigh, NC 919.467.1781

Coming Soon: at Sawgrass Village, 310 Front Street Suite 815 Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082

www.OpulenceOfSouthernPines.com

Serving the Carolinas & More for 20 Years — Financing Available Fall 2017

SEASONS • STYLE & DESIGN 15

HOmE & LOts AvAiLABLE | RENOvAtiONs & ADDitiONs | ENERGY stAR

Building Dimensions is a custom home builder based in Oak Ridge, NC. Our homes are built on the foundation of solid relationships. We design and build beautiful homes customized to the unique needs of your family.

From functionality to formality…from energy efficiency to entertaining, Building Dimensions brings your dream home to life.

Call us today at 336-644-0028 to schedule your consultation.

Your dream home awaits.

“We would not have anyone but Paul and Susan Mowery build us our home.

Their thoroughness, attention to the smallest of details, cutting-edge ideas, and insistence on delivering a final product of highest quality makes Building Dimensions stand above other builders. Not only did the Mowerys build us our current home, they are in the process of building our next home. We cannot think of a greater compliment!” -AARON & KRISTI BOALS

STYLEBOOK SEASONS: So what challenges do you face these days?

RL: The challenge is to keep adjusting to change. The definition of “old” is always changing. A piece of furniture from the second half of the 20th century used to be just “furniture,” and now it is considered an antique, while what used to be regarded as an antique is now antiquity. Tastes change but history doesn’t.

BB: Modernism is very hot right now, and industrial rehabilitation appeals to a much more diverse group of Americans, crossing all boundaries of ethnicity and origin, particularly younger folks. That’s a welcome change. A classic 1960s ranch house could just as easily appeal to someone who grew up in Buenos Aires in the 1960s as an African American who grew up here in North Carolina. Not so long ago those houses — and their furnishings — weren’t that much in demand. But now they are driving much of the excitement in the preservation world.

RL: [Laughs] It’s all those kids who grew up watching The Brady Bunch!

BB: And that’s just great because it defines their particular passion for the past. That’s a good thing. Right now the Mid-Century buildings and massive industrial buildings are the ones that need the most attention. We’re fortunate there is such a strong interest in saving and restoring cavernous buildings that would otherwise be lost.

SEASONS: So what’s old is really new again?

RL: Absolutely. The past, someone said, is never really past.

BB: And it’s always evolving.

Serving as executive director of Preservation Greensboro since 2003, Benjamin

Briggs has overseen such initiatives as the acquisition of Blandwood Mansion and the Gate City’s annual Tour of Historic Homes. His restoration work on High Point’s Ecker House garnered Briggs the Carraway Award of Merit in 1993 from Preservation North Carolina.

As chief curator and vice-president of collections and research at Old Salem Museum and Gardens, Robert Leath oversees the collections, library and research center at Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA), and the collections displayed at the interpretive sites of Historic Salem Town. For his 10 years of work at MESDA, Leath received the Frank L. Horton Lifetime Achievement Award. h Past-Times at MESDA and PGI Fall will be a busy time for Winston-Salem’s Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA) and Preservation Greensboro (PGI).

From October 13–14, MESDA will host its Fall Conference, “Good, Better, Best: Collecting for the 21st Century.” Its premise: Collections usually start with one good object, and a passion for amassing things often begins with childhood hobbies, such as stamp- and coin-collecting. Experts Wes Cowan, Ken Farmer and Colette Loll will offer thoughts on how to distinguish quality items from less valuable ones. To register: (336) 721-7369 or mesda.org.

For Preservation Greensboro, Blandwood mansion, the former residence of Gov. John Motley Morehead, will take center stage. A two-part series, “Furnishing Blandwood: Changing Taste in Antebellum America” (October 2 and November 6) highlights the art and furniture selected by Gov. Morehead and architect Alexander Jackson Davis. From November 6–8, Blandwood will close and re-open to the public on November 9 to showcase its period holiday decorations, featuring natural objects. Info and holiday tour reservations: (336) 272-5003 or preservationgreensboro.org.

Identical to its 100-year-old original.

Identical to its 100-year-old original.

Except for the craftsman’s name on the bottom.

Identical to its 100-year-old original.

Except for the craftsman’s name on the bottom.

Except for the craftsman’s name on the bottom.

Identical to its 100-year-old original.

Identical to its 100-year-old original.

Except for the craftsman’s name on the bottom.

Except for the craftsman’s name on the bottom.

At Beeson Hardware Company you’ll find At exclusive Beeson Hardware find an luxurious Company collection you’ll

by ROHL. At Beeson Hardware Company you’ll find an exclusive collection

by ROHL. Each faucet luxurious and fixture is handcrafted by an exclusive luxurious collection

by ROHL. Each faucet and fixture is handcrafted by European artisans designed for regal At Beeson Hardware Company you’ll find Each faucetHardware and fixture is handcrafted by European artisans designed for regal Atcountry Beeson Company you’ll find living.

Accentuate your design an exclusive luxurious collection by ROHL. European artisans designed for regal country Accentuate design an exclusive luxurious collection by ROHL. buyliving. owning a piece of your ROHL. Each faucet and fixture is handcrafted by country living.

Accentuate your design buy owning a piece of ROHL. Each faucet and fixture is handcrafted by European artisans designed for regal buy owning a piece of ROHL. European artisans designed for regal country living. Accentuate your design country living. Accentuate your design buy owning a piece of ROHL. buy owning a piece of ROHL.

Visit us today! beesonhardware.com Visit us today! beesonhardware.com Visit us today! beesonhardware.com

Beeson Decorative Hardware & Plumbing 2210 Geddie Place Visit us today! beesonhardware.com Highpoint, NC 27360

Visit us today! beesonhardware.com

Fall 2017

SEASONS • STYLE & DESIGN 17

100 Years 5Generations 1 Name

From Our Family to Yours for 100 Years From Christmas dinners to firstday-of-school breakfasts — and all the little moments in between — we’re proud to be a part of your family tradition. Try Neese’s and you’ll see why we’ve been the sausage of choice for a century.

neesesausage.com

STYLEBOOK

HIDDEN GEM

Fabric Fetish

Spinning a new yarn at The Interior Alternative

By Waynette Goodson • Photograph by Amy Freeman

T

iffany Janovak loves fabric. She once had a 380-square-foot apartment in New York with three closets, and one of them held nothing but remnants and bolts of fabric.

Originally from Denver, Janovak “got conned” by a girlfriend to move to New York after graduating with an English degree from the University of Colorado. “I thought I would go into publishing,” she says.

Instead, she hit the pavement as a receptionist at Nautica and parlayed that position into an assistant merchandising job at Crystal Brands (Speedo, Christian Dior, Hathaway).

“Then I got the call back to Nautica and got promoted to assistant merchandiser working with designers in ties, loungewear, dress shirts—all men’s.”

Before long, she found herself “living the dream” at Ralph Lauren. “It was aspirational and inspirational,” she recalls.

“You want to achieve those things: the glorious home by the beach with the blue-and-white-striped sofa and the linen drapes and the rattan. Ralph Lauren always said, ‘Let’s live the dream!’”

She spent 26 years in New York, 21 of them with Ralph Lauren, beginning in the men’s division. “That’s where Mr.

Fall 2017

Lauren started, in neckties,” Janovak says. “At the time, men were wearing them narrow, and he reinvented them. He made them wider and out of home furnishings fabric.”

After four years in neckties, she moved to the home design division where she would eventually become the senior design director. “I worked in home design for 17 years, and bedding and bath was always the No. 1 business driver,” she says. “I’d go to Greenville, South Carolina, to run sheets and towels in the mill. I loved being in a textile mill; it was fascinating!”

Janovak was buying fabrics for Ralph Lauren furniture five years ago — when life took an interesting turn. She met her future husband, Kyle Klawetter. “I resigned my job in New York and moved to High Point,” she says beaming. “I bought my first house and my first car!”

Career-wise, she experienced another whopper of a change — moving from wholesale to retail at the helm of The Interior Alternative, a company that operates six discount outlets from California to Delaware. The Interior Alternative’s parent company, Loomcraft Textiles, bought the behemoth in February 2016 for $6 million. “I’ve been on the wholesaler side for most of my career, and this is a showroom that’s open to the public,” Janovak says.

“Life is all about reinvention,” says veteran fabric industry guru, Tiffany Janovak

SEASONS • STYLE & DESIGN 19

WE DO IT ALL ... CUSTOM BUILDING AND REMODELING

407 Parkway Avenue, Suite I Greensboro, NC 27401

GARY JOBE 336-272-2772 336-549-1146

STYLEBOOK Now, she plans to bring her passion for fabric to the new Greensboro store in the old Sears, Roebuck & Company building on Lawndale Drive beside Target. “We want to get people ignited and inspired to come in,” she says. “First, our team will ask customers what project they’re working on.”

Then, they’ll help them peruse the 15,000 square feet of showroom space featuring upholstery fabric — that’s about 400,000 yards in stock at any time.

Utility canvas, twills, cotton duck, plush velvets, woven jacquards, outdoor and drapery fabric — in a rainbow of colors, which is how Janovak organizes the store “We do wholesale fabric from all over the world, domestic and international,” she says. “We purchase from some of the best suppliers in the industry. We even have poly and down pillow forms in a large variety of sizes, along with foam for cushions.”

Besides the designer quality and the variety, fabric aficionados are bound to love the wholesale prices. The most expensive textiles will go for $24.99 per yard for what Janovak calls “the real goodies.” Think Schumacher, Duralee, John Robshaw and, of course, Ralph Lauren.

The petite, blonde ball of energy speeds around in a golf cart to navigate the store’s 200,000-square-foot warehouse. In addition to retail, the Greensboro location will stock fabrics for the other five Interior Alternatives in Fountain Valley, California; Newark, Delaware; Vernon Hills, Illinois; and close by in Burlington and Charlotte. This means that there will be a steady stream of new arrivals, and merchandise will change frequently.

“A big part of what I’ve been hired to do is take the fabrics, merchandise them and send them to the various locations,” Janovak says. “We would really like to expand and open more stores. Obviously, we have plenty of space here to warehouse for all the stores.”

True. The old Sears, Roebuck & Company building boasts 1.75 million

square feet. Of course, there is space available to rent as there are parts of the first floor that the showroom/warehouse doesn’t use, alongside four other floors.

Formerly one of 11 catalogue distribution centers that Sears operated nationwide, the Lawndale location once spanned 3.5 million square feet. But part of it was razed to make way for the shopping center anchored by Target and Harris Teeter.

“The building itself is part of the whole fascination,” Janovak says. “We hear all the time, ‘I used to come here with my mother or my grandmother.’

There are still pieces of tape and markings on the walls. But we’re not moving them. It’s so neat; it’s a piece of history.”

How is the diehard New Yorker adjusting to her new life down South?

“I think there’s an artistic community here and in High Point, and there’s a big design community with the High Point Furniture [sic] Market,” Janovak says. “I think this will be a big driver for the industry. We want people to come here and look at it as a resource.”

A self-proclaimed foodie, Janovak loves exploring the area’s culinary scene — she admits to “fantasizing” about the ahi tuna and wasabi mashed potatoes at 1618 Seafood Grille.

“Life is all about reinvention,” she says. “This opportunity with Loomcraft and The Interior Alternative is my reinvention. I’ve been in design and merchandising for the majority of my career. To move to retail is a great departure for me. I’m 50 years old, and this is a wonderful, new opportunity.” h The Interior Alternative, 2801 Lawndale Drive, Greensboro. (336) 282-1101 or loomcraft.com. Open 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

Fall in love... with your

body

Let Restoration MedSpa help you get started with the latest in superior CoolSculpting technologies. Shorter treatment times. Larger treatment areas. More comfortable treatments in general. We also offer a comprehensive list of spa services dedicated to making sure you get to be the best you … you can be.

You ... only better.

Now in two locations: 1002 N. Church St., Suite 101 Greensboro, NC 27410 250 Executive Park Blvd., Suite 105 Winston-Salem, NC 27103 Check our events & specials at RestorationMedSpa.com Fall 2017

Call for a complimentary consultation Marisa Faircloth PA-C

336.999.8295 SEASONS • STYLE & DESIGN 21

Living here means you have the support of the entire community.

NEW LOCATIO

N:

LeBauer Pa

Join us Thursday, September 28 | 10:30AM to 1:00PM LeBauer Park | Downtown Greensboro Pink in the Park is a celebration of the strides being made to fight breast cancer and a way to bring awareness to our community. It is also a way to honor those mothers, wives, sisters and friends who inspired us with their fight to keep learning and working toward research.

We look forward to seeing you at this free event. To learn more, visit pinkinthepark.com.

rk

Fall Almanac

By Ash Alder

Autumn is crisp air and burn piles, corn crows and starlings, stone soup and Aunt Viola’s pumpkin bars.

Cinnamon bark and simmering cider. Baked plum and golden apple. Muhly grass, ash, and honey — all autumn.

And she is master alchemist, showing us the endless grace and beauty of our own unfurling. Change is the only constant, she whispers, her voice sweet and tempting as the first plump grapes. Trust life to unfold in perfect timing.

We watch the leaves turn and know she speaks truth.

Inside, chrysanthemums in Mason jars and collards on the cutting block.

Through the kitchen window, we watch the trees surrender until the last leaf has been released. When the whistling kettle calls us back to the stovetop, our minds turn to family gatherings, and our hearts feel light and heavy all at once.

Outside, as we rake the fallen leaves that blanket the autumn lawn, something deep within us stirs. This is no longer about yard work. We look up from tidy leaf piles to naked branches, a gentle reminder that we, too, must let go. And so we stand in reverent silence, eyes closed as autumn sunlight paints us golden. In this moment, even if we feel sadness or grief, we give thanks for nature’s wisdom and the promise of spring. Wind chimes sing out from a neighbor’s porch, and we exhale a silent prayer.

Good, Sweet Fun

Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown on October 2. Also called the Feast of the Trumpets, this two-day Jewish New Year celebration includes the ritualistic sounding of the ancient shofar (ram’s horn) and foods to evoke shana tova u’metukah — a good and sweet year. Since now is the time of the apple harvest, what sweeter way to celebrate than with a red or golden delicious, fresh from the tree? By dipping said fruit in honey, of course.

Consider this tasty Jewish custom when your neighbor gifts you a basketful of local apples, but don’t let it stop you from experimenting with cobblers and crisps, cinnamon-laced ciders, and in the spirit of Halloween, perhaps even shrunken apple heads. Granny Smith’s work well for this — best if cored and peeled.

Using the tip of a pen, make indentions to guide your carvings. Cut hollows for the mouth and eyes, and carve away the apple flesh around the nose. Exaggerate the features. Your second apple will be better than the first, et cetera, but failed carvings spell homemade pie, so you might flub a few just for fun. Next, soak the carved apple heads in a mixture of lemon juice (1 cup) and salt (1 tablespoon) for a few minutes to help keep the fruit from molding. Pat dry. Now all that’s left to do is wait. A food dehydrator is the fastest and easiest way to dry out — aka shrink

STYLEBOOK — your apple head, but a warm, well-ventilated area should also work. Since the drying process can take over a week, you’ll want to entertain yourself with other projects. In the spirit of carnival season, how about apple juggling?

Speaking of carving, did you know that the first jack-o-lanterns weren’t made out of pumpkins? Named for the Irish folktale of Stingy Jack — a man who twice fooled the devil yet unknowingly doomed his soul to roam the Earth until the end of time — the tradition of carving grotesque faces into turnips and potatoes to scare off evil spirits is centuries-old. According to legend, Jack’s ghost carries a hollowed turnip aglow with an ember from the fires of Hell. Bet you can guess what happened when Irish immigrants came across their first pumpkin patch.

Sowing Season

Now is time to plant coolweather annuals like petunias and snapdragons —and to color your Thanksgiving feast delicious with cold-weather crops such as beets, carrots and Brussels. Arguably, the country’s most hated vegetable (if overcooked, these edible buds turn pungent), one cup of Brussels sprouts is said to contain four times more vitamin C than an orange. Our friends across the pond sure go bonkers over them. In 2008, Linus Urbanec of Sweden wolfed down a whopping 31 in one minute, a Guinness World Record.

Not to be outdone, in 2014, 49-year-old Stuart Kettell pushed a Brussels sprout to the top of Mt. Snowdon — the highest summit in Wales — using only his nose. Although this peculiar mission was designed to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support, it also raises a valid question: What else might this cruciferous veggie inspire?

Perhaps a nice cherry or Dijon glaze? Better yet, bust out the Panko and try your hand at Buffalo Brussels. Tailgate potlucks will never be the same. h

Gibsonville Antiques & ColleCtibles Full of History, Antiques & Charm

COLLECTING CANNED FOOD FOR THE GIBSONVILLE FOOD PANTRY 106 E. Railroad Ave, Gibsonville, NC • (336) 446-0234 Downtown Gibsonville behind the Red Caboose

GibsonvilleAntiques.com • Mon-Sat 10-6 & Sun 1-5

Taking Consignments!

We have 5 vendors with a variety of inventory and styles.

{

Home Decor Antiques • Vintage Farmhouse • Chippy Repurposed

}

205 Ricks Drive • Winston-Salem, NC | Next to Hanes Towne Village, Just off Stratford Rd. Monday-Friday 10-6 | Saturday 10-4 | 336.829.1173 | facebook.com/carolinavintiques

Not everything is painted! Many natural pieces available!

24 SEASONS •

STYLE

& DESIGN

Fall 2017

STYLEBOOK

The Soul of an Auctioneer

How Leland Little became one of the preeminent purveyors of fine antiques in the Southeast

By Jim Dodson • Photographs by Sam Froelich

J

ust before 10 o’clock on a cool Saturday morning late last spring, my wife, Wendy, and I dropped into the historic Hillsborough-based gallery of Leland Little Auctions for its annual spring sale with a trio of objectives in mind.

First was to attend my first live auction ever, something I’d never managed to do despite decades of snooping around other people’s historic estates and gardens across Britain, New England and my native South. Upon reflection, the sum effect of these domestic exposures was to awaken a passion for British and early American art, gardens and furniture that had evidently lain dormant in my bloodstream since the womb. My great-greatgrandfather from Mebane, after all, was one of North Carolina’s celebrated 19th- century cabinetmakers, and so was my father’s father, for whom I’m named.

In addition, from knowledgeable friends of the Triad who share my love of All Things Old, I’d heard for years about the fantastic antiques, art and other collectible items to be found at a Leland Little auction — some at remarkable bargain prices. Just Fall 2017

to be on the side of precaution, however, Wendy (a level-headed woman who grew up attending estate auctions on the Gold Coast of Long Island, New York) came along to ensure that her husband, the rookie auction-goer, didn’t drop the mortgage money on a Founding Father’s linen press or statue of Venus de Milo owned by a Venetian prince.

My prime working objective, however, was to find out about Leland Little and the powerhouse auction company he’s built into one of the country’s premier regional auction and estate-sale firms, averaging revenues north of $10 million a year, and dealing in everything from 18th-century American fine art and antiques to vintage automobiles.

Indeed, as we pulled into the already-full parking lot minutes before the official start time, there on the front lawn of the gallery sat a vintage 1968 XKE Jaguar in British racing green that all but whispered my name with a plummy Surrey accent.

Finally, aside from the action of the auction itself, I hoped to glean from Little valuable insights about the current (and maybe SEASONS • STYLE & DESIGN 25

STYLEBOOK

future) state of antiques, fine art and collectibles. Not long before this weekend outing, a leading Triad interior designer told me in no uncertain terms that “antiques from the 18th and 19th centuries are really kind of passé — Modernist design is where the action is.” Given the popularity of Mid-Century houses across the region, I wasn’t inclined to argue but curious nevertheless to know what this trend might portend for those of us who love traditional antiques and art.

Discounting the Jag of my dreams, the first surprise was the auctioneer himself — a trim, engaging fellow who looks a good deal younger than his 48 years age. Dressed in nice dark suit and red necktie, Little greeted us warmly at the door and provided a quick walking tour of the auction floor where a large crowd of early-arriving auction-goers had either claimed their seats or was jotting final notes on a broad array of more than 400 “lots” staged in “rooms” around the periphery of the floor. Along a rear wall were collections of rare books and historic maps that quickly caught my eye, particularly a pre-Revolutionary map of Colonial America drawn not long after Jamestown was settled. There was also a signed first edition of Robert Frost’s poetry and a first edition set of Audubon’s Birds of America. Early online bids seemed highly encouraging, for both were only in the low hundreds.

“This sale is one of our four major quarterly events we conduct in addition to our regular monthly and special sales in wine and jewelry and such,” Little explained as we passed an impressive collection of Modernist furniture and artwork that included a massive avant- garde white leather couch. Nearby was a group of finely wrought 18th-century china cabinets, exquisitely inlaid dressers and dining tables. “Our quarterly sales generate about a million dollars for our consignors, the vast majority of whom come from a 150-mile circumference that ranges from Richmond to the Piedmont and Charlotte down to Charleston and back up the coast.” He explained that having historic cities like Winston-Salem and Greensboro with their deep 18th-century roots and a resource such as Old Salem in the neighborhood are godsends to his research staff of 11 directors and staff experts who curate everything from important wine collections to estate jewelry and European art.

Over the decades he has been practicing his craft, advanced technology has radically transformed the art of selling fine goods at auction, a form of commerce that has been part of America since its earliest days of European settlement. In Colonial days, auctions were typically conducted at roadside taverns, in farmyards or town squares to attract the maximum crowds, a style influenced the British model that gave the world Sotheby’s in 1744 and Christie’s two decades later.

“During the time I’ve been doing live auctions, the business has undergone a radical transformation thanks to the development of the Internet,” Little

26 SEASONS •

STYLE

& DESIGN

provided, moments before he headed for the auction podium where the affair was set to begin at 10 sharp. “I actually began my career working in the farmyards of western Virginia and North Carolina. But as you will see today, all of that is largely in the past — the romance of a country auction. The spirit is still the same but the Internet has made auctions a global business.” To his point, we happened to be standing near a bank of tables manned by half a dozen of Little’s staffers, at the ready to receive bids via phone. “Maybe 150 people will turn out today to bid live in this room,” he said, “but we will have thousands more bidding online around the world.”

With tongue half in cheek, I wondered who those global bidders might be, picturing obscure Chinese billionaires searching for a lost Vermeer or a racing-green Jag in mint condition.

My host laughed.

“Actually, all sorts participate. This is true working democracy. That’s one reason live auctions are so exciting and, well, even addictive,” he observed.

“We’ll have all kinds of buyers today — collectors, antique dealers, folks buying for private collections, you name it, even lots of ordinary people like you. That’s one reason I became an auctioneer,” he added. “But it may surprise a first-time bidder how quickly things move.

We shoot for about 80 lots and hour. So have your number ready!”

And with this, he was off to the podium to welcome the crowd — online and present — to conduct his big spring auction.

In a nutshell, what followed was five hours of watching one amazing auction lot after another come up for bid and disappear almost as quickly into someone’s grasp, present or global, the affair moving as smoothly as a well-orchestrated stage play. The action was indeed fast and furious at times, a duel of nerves between every sort of bidder.

A Robert Motherwell–signed screened print from a Davidson College collection went for $1,400 to a woman who looked like a silver-haired college professor, outbidding some unseen collector online. Durham artist John Beerman’s painting of Smith Mountain Lake netted $3,800 from someone in the ether of the Internet. Maude Gatewood’s Old Barn — Kennedy went for $14,000 to some discreet and unknown bidder. The woman seated next to me, who happened to be my wife, guessed it might be someone buying it for a museum.

Tellingly — proving my designer pal’s point — a beautiful Thomas Day table from the Caswell County cabinetmaker went for just $1,500, while a vintage Fall 2017

Well Connected…

Luxury Homes • Renovations Kitchens & Baths

Timberwolf Designs

Susan Bradford Designs

Building & Renovation 336.813.1377 www.timberwolfdesigns.com

Simply Beautiful...Kitchens, Bath, Cabinetry 336.972.9776 www.susanbradforddesigns.com

THE UMSTEAD.COM | CARY, NC | 866.877.4141

Fall 2017

SEASONS • STYLE & DESIGN 27

STYLEBOOK

Over 15 years experience in Fillers & Injectables

Anne L. White, MD “Best place in the triad to go for Botox, Fillers, and laser procedures. I am happy to recommend her. She’s the best.”

-Casey (Current Patient)

336.659.2663 | 877.WE.BOTOX

CarolinaLaser.com 28 SEASONS •

STYLE

& DESIGN

Hermès shoulder bag from the Kennedy Administration–era fetched $3,200.

A lovely pre-Revolutionary era Chippendale oxbow chest sold for just $600, an extraordinary deal, while a Modernist Arne Jacobsen “Egg Chair” fetched three times that. The aforementioned Adrian Pearsall white leather couch claimed a cool $2,100 for its new owner. Milk glass, silver and estate jewelry, plus contemporary artwork, excited equaly big sales.

By that time in the affair, both Audubon’s Birds of America and the map of Colonial America I had my eye on were long gone, the former for a nimble five figures, the latter for a mere $1,600.

Yet I still had my eye on two remarkable items. One was a large bronze statue of an Indian in a canoe, the other a stunning oil painting of cows standing in a pasture at dawn by a Philadelphia artist named Thomas Craig. The painting was named Upland Pasture (Morning) and dated 1892. It had first been exhibited, I learned from Little’s online catalog, at the World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago. It was in an original heavy gilt frame and from the artist’s own estate, estimated to go for between $2,000 and $4,000.

Though the painting’s appraised value and its projected sale price were well beyond what my auction-minder and I had agreed upon, my eye kept returning to those luminous cows. The bronze Indian went for seven figures. But those cows seemed to be looking straight at me, reminding me of my late grandfather’s home place in southern Orange County. As the painting’s lot number rapidly approached, my wife sensed a powerful bovine connection, leaned over and whispered that we could possibly go as high as two grand, if I really had to have the painting. She pointed out that we most likely had one formidable rival in the form of an older chap in rumpled corduroys who had been sniffing around the painting all morning.

“I’m sure he’s an antiques dealer,” Wendy quietly explained. “You can always spot them. He’ll have a much firmer ceiling than ours.”

I saw steel in her eyes and wondered what this lingo meant. “It means he’ll only bid as high as he thinks he can sell it for, typically twice what he paid for it.

Otherwise it’s not worth his time and investment.”

I handed her our registered number and sat in a kind of buck-fever daze as Lot 356 suddenly came up and the bids flew — rising from opening at $300 to $2,000 in a matter of seconds. True enough, the contest came down to just two bidders. As Leland Little’s head swiveled between my bride and Mr. Rumpled Pants for several moments, the room fell completely still. When the bidding war reached $2,200, the auctioneer looked at us and evenly warned, “Fair warning.

The bid is currently $2,200. . .”

And a second later it was over. Wendy lifted her hand and the closed the deal at $2,300. Thomas Craig and his luminous cows were going home with us to the Triad. There was a tiny smattering of applause.

“You’ve got your painting,” Wendy said with a wry note of triumph. “Guess you don’t need that Jaguar out front.”

For the record, the Jag went for a modest $21,000.

On the way out, Leland Little inquired how I’d enjoyed my first live auction. I admitted that I was drained and wondered how exhausted he must be after five hours of rapid-fire auctioneering with only a few breaks.

“I’m always weary,” he conceded. “But it’s always a happy exhaustion. And after a day or so of rest, I’ll be ready for our next sale. It pleases me to see people find something they really love — as you did today with the Thomas Craig painting. I get as excited as our customers. We’re already busy cataloging and getting ready for the big summer and autumn sales, not to mention the big wine auction coming up in a couple weeks.”

Oddly enough, what Leland Little originally planned to become in life was a musician, possibly a conductor of symphonies.

The son of an Air Force personnel officer, he was born in Sumter, South Carolina, but lived on a military base in Iran before coming home to attend high school in suburban Washington, D.C. Fall 2017

Designing and Building Exceptional Luxury Homes

Timberwolf Designs

Susan Bradford Designs

Building & Renovation 336.813.1377 www.timberwolfdesigns.com

Simply Beautiful...Kitchens, Bath, Cabinetry 336.972.9776 www.susanbradforddesigns.com

We Service What We Sell & Offer Personal Attention 2201 Patterson Street, Greensboro, NC (2 Blocks from the Coliseum) Mon. - Fri.: 9:30am - 5:30 pm Sat. 10 am - 2 pm • Closed Sunday

Fall 2017

SEASONS • STYLE & DESIGN 29

Visit our new location

419 Pisgah Church Rd. | Greensboro, NC 27455

336-272-4227 | M-F 10-6 SAT 10-5 | printers-alley.com

STYLEBOOK “In those days I was into girls and playing sports, and had not the slightest interest in antiques or fine art,” he explained a few weeks later when I dropped by the gallery during a quiet preparation day to find out more about the auctioneer and the state of public tastes in antiques. As we strolled through the cataloged storage areas where recently consigned estate items were already tagged for upcoming monthly and quarterly sales (highlighted by impressive temperature-controlled wine cellar that holds up to 15,000 bottles at any given moment) he told me about the music classes at Radford University that sparked his desire to earn a degree in music. “I found that I had a real aptitude for music and loved studying it — not quite imagining where that might lead.”

To earn a few bucks on weekends, he found a job working as a furniture mover for a local auction company. “This may sound a little odd, but when you begin studying classical music, it’s not that far a leap to architecture and furniture, which, in time, became my first love and area of expertise. Classical pieces of furniture and design share creative traits with music, which is all about form and function. They are sympathetic disciplines. A beautiful handcarved piece of 18th- or 19th-century piece of furniture is like the Baroque movement come to life. In short, music and the decorative arts flowed together in my case. It wasn’t a big leap to make. Plus, there was the rhythm and wonderful romance of a live auction.”

He remembers one auction in particular, a homestead being sold off in Floyd County, Virginia. “We arrived early, well before 5 a.m. to move the household pieces out onto the lawn, the traditional way such affairs were conducted in those days. Lots of motion and activity. Lots of energy and excitement setting things up. The auction was at 10 o’clock and bidders arrived as the sun came up. There was coffee and food from local church ladies, neighbors greeting each other, real Americana. I realized that I loved being part of this scene. It reminded me of an orchestra setting up for a performance.”

By the end of college, Little decided to forgo the classroom and stick with auctioneering. “I learned from watching some very fine auctioneers in the Shenandoah Valley, took my auctioneer license and really never looked back. I learned the business, in more ways than one, from the ground up.”

Around 1997, friends from Hillsborough invited him to relocate and base his own auction company in the historically rich Orange County town.

“I took several part-time jobs and was willing to do anything to keep my dream of having my own auction gallery alive. I did jewelry trade shows and weekend auction jobs around the Piedmont, building a network of great resources and people. At that time, tag sales were the thing and the antiques market was still pretty strong. Timing in life is so important. Things began to happen quickly.”

In 2000, he was able quit his part-time jobs and work full time on building his own auction gallery. That autumn he hired a young woman named Beth, who two years later became his wife. “We never had to go find extraordinary people. They seemed to find us — folks who were experts in art, furniture, jewelry, the whole range of items,” Little recalled. “We were fortunate that they found us.”

In time he rented a 2,000-square-foot warehouse in neighboring Efland. “It cost $500 dollars a month. I wondered for the longest time how we would pay for it. But antiques were still hot and older collectors were driving the market.

Things just began to fall into place.”

The next move a short time later was to a larger former textile building in Hillsborough, where a helpful landlord named allowed him to expand until Little’s auction company took over the entire building. In 2007 came his most dramatic move — a bold purchase of land off N.C. Highway 86 that led to the custom construction of a 10,000-square-foot gallery that opened in April of 2009, six months after the start of the global financial crash. “Talk about potentially terrible timing,” Little said with a rueful smile. “I had plenty of worries, let me tell you, but I never felt we were in trouble because the key to sucFall 2017

New Homes from the high $200’s - high $300’s From 2,070 - 3,800 sq ft 1 & 2 story homes Pool & Playground Two Decorated Models 802 Sugarberry Ln Greensboro 27455 336.482.0076 | Air Harbor Rd at N. Church St. New Homes near Lake Jeanette Both neighborhoods are open: Sun & Mon : 1 - 6; Tue - Sat: 11 - 6 sheahomes.com/Greensboro

6001 New Bailey Trail Greensboro 27455 336.482.3842 From the high $300’s - $500’s

Final Phase Now Selling!

From 3,400 - 5,000+ square feet 1.5 & 2 story homes; first floor Owner’s suites available Wooded homesites; Four sides brick exteriors Sales: Shea Group Services, LLC DBA Shea Realty (C21630). Construction: Shea Builders, LLC, 68875. This is not an offer of real estate for sale, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, to residents of any state or province in which registration and other legal requirements have not been fullled. Pricing does not include options, elevation, or lot premiums, effective date of publication and subject to change without notice. All square footages and measurements are approximate and subject to change without notice. Trademarks are property of their respective owners. Equal Housing Opportunity. Home pictured may not be actual home for sale or actual model home, but rather a representation of a similar model or elevation design. Photos depict designer features, optional items and other upgrades that may be available from Seller at additional cost. Furniture not included or available for purchase (even upon the payment of an additional charge).

SEASONS • STYLE & DESIGN 31

Come spend a day

with us

in Greensboro.

Centrally located, Greensboro is the perfect place to relax and be immersed in entertainment. Dine with a selection of more than 500 restaurants and shop till your heart’s content. Explore our 90 miles of trails and greenways, walk the Downtown Greenway, paddle board at one of our three lakes, visit one of our regional parks or downtown parks. Visit the Greensboro History Museum and learn about our history.

We can’t wait to share Greensboro with you!

W W W. G R E E N S B O R O - N C . G O V

STYLEBOOK cess is being in tune with changing times and the buying public’s tastes.”

By then, he said, the traditional antiques market had indeed softened considerably. “People had other priorities — mortgages, families to feed and kids to educate. Even veteran collectors weren’t eager to expand their investment portfolios as they had in decades past. A paradigm shift in our collective values was clearly underway. Times change and so do people’s tastes. The point was to diversify and respond to the market place without rejecting the beauty of the past.”

This was a timeless wisdom he early in his career from a veteran dealer. “‘Son,’ he told me, ‘people have been saying antiques are dead for as long as I can remember. But it isn’t true. Folks will always want fine old things. The trick is to know the proper value of those things and put your heart and soul into the auction business and you’ll be just fine.’ That’s exactly what I’ve done, too.”

As he said this, Leland Little, now a father of two beautiful young daughters, was sitting at his desk beneath a print of a classic country auction .

“It’s only real value is to me. I look at that print every day because it grounds me, reminds me of the little things I’ve learned along the way about people and what we hold as valuable. Next to my family, the people who work here are so special to me. I can’t imagine any other kind of life.”

He went on to explain that part of his mission is “re-educating clients and customers about the fair values of things. That Thomas Craig painting you bought several weeks ago, for example, could easily have sold for two or three times more than you paid for it back in the 1980s. Maybe more. But the fact that you got it for considerably less seems like a bargain. The truth is, its real value is personal, how you feel about it. Sometimes — like my office auction print — that doesn’t have a price tag.

“An auction by its very nature is an emotional experience for many people.

Some buy purely for investment but most people who attend auctions, I’ve found, are buying something they love. It has a lot to do with personal feelings about time, place and memory.”

Over the past decade, he added, as popularity of 18th- and 19th-century furniture and art has waned, areas like rare books and maps and coins, couture, contemporary art, fine private estate wine collections, jewelry and Modernist furnishings have brought the biggest sales.

“Part of it is obviously the changing tastes of America. Older collectors who drove those big antique markets have died off and younger people — many who connect with the Mid-Century culture of their childhoods — are now driving the values up of certain items. What will my children find so compelling down the road?” he muses. “It’s impossible to say. An auction is a living snapshot of the now.

“We can’t worry about the past,” he added, “we can only stay on top of what is current and invest in our talented people, the human energy that curates a modern auction like ours, not to mention the custom digital software that makes the world of auctioneering an exciting a global experience. We now have regular bidders from all over the world — and a full concierge service that makes customer service a priority for us.”

These days, two expansions later, Leland Little Auction Gallery now occupies 21,000 square feet. “We’re so grateful for the growth we’ve had. So man of our customers are like neighbors. But the spirit and excitement of a traditional country auction is still central to who we are every day. When I look at that simple print above my desk, I am reminded of how far we’ve come — and yet, how the thrill of a live auction never gets old.” h To find more about upcoming auctions, including online catalogs for the November 4 sale of the Keith and Caroline Gray estate in Charlotte, and Little’s Quarterly Winter Sale, check out the gallery’s website at www.Lelandlittle.com Fall 2017

L U X U RY

COLLECTION

SOLD IN ONE HOUR! IN JAMESTOWN

When it comes to buying or selling luxury homes, there is no question that you deserve to be represented by the best. With well over 30 years of experience, and as a team of top producing agents, Tom Chitty & Associates will take care of all the details... and will help you find the perfect home for you and your family.

“Tom’s integrity, moral principles, work ethic, and determination live on at Tom Chitty & Associates.”

Barry S. Hardeman Direct Line: 336-420-2837 Email: tomchitty@tomchitty.com Website: www.tomchitty.com

SEASONS • STYLE & DESIGN 33

www.Zaki.com

(336) 884-4407 Since 1977

Quality ~ Value ~ Selection Your Finest Source for

the most diverse selection of quality handknotted rugs imported from around the world. 

100,000 sq. ft. Showroom with over 12,000 rugs individually selected by Zaki



All sizes up to 17’x28’ in stock



Better Business Bureau award winner for promoting ethics in business 5,000 rugs (all sizes) available for even lower prices in our budget section.

Expert Rug Cleaning, Repair and Restoration

600 South Main St High Point, NC 27260

Mon.-Sat. 9:00am-6:00pm 34 SEASONS •

STYLE

& DESIGN

Fall 2017

Larry Laster’s Antique Dreams

STYLEBOOK

And maybe the dawn of a second golden age

By Jim Dodson • Photograph by Lynn Donovan

D

uring a brief lull in business in his handsomely kitted-out shop, standing beside a gorgeous mahogany three-over-two chest of drawers (circa 1830), Larry Laster tells an engaging story about how, in effect, he got into the fine art and antique business at the tender age of 16.

“On weekends my buddies and I used to drive up and down Stratford Road [in Winston-Salem] in my ’55 DeSoto because the girls were always at Chuck Wagon or the Triangle. We collected empty pop bottles and put them in racks of 24 — at two cents apiece for the deposit. Each rack was worth 48 cents. Gas was just 19 cents, so we could cruise a lot.”

One weekend they cruised past a set of old chairs that had been put out for collection. “We stopped and I asked the women there if we could take them. She said yes and we loaded them into the huge trunk of my car. I knew a lady who lived on Country Club Road who was in the antiques business. I took the chairs to her, hoping she might buy them for $5 apiece. She paid us $50. That’s when I suddenly fell in love with buying and selling antiques.”

By the time he’d married his wife, Susan, Laster was adept at supplying interior decorators of the Triad with rare and unusual antiques and fine art for their clients, a business so promising he soon opened his own showroom gallery at High Point’s Southern Furniture Market and directed a staff of 25 sales people nationwide.

“That was an incredible time for antiques and fine artwork,” he explains.

“And for the next 30 years we developed great relationships with interior designers across the nation who were looking for high quality art and antiques, rare books and maps and collectibles.”

He cites a dramatic industry sea change, so to speak, with the events of 9/11.

“Almost overnight, fine art and antiques buying ceased. It was like we were paralyzed. I think people feared America wouldn’t be the same,” he says. The markets dried up. “The interior design trade all but melted away. After about three or four years of that, we closed the showroom and concentrated on opening our first retail shop.” Fittingly, it sits at 664 South Stratford Road, the street where Larry Laster’s antique dreams began.

These days, because of his early connections to the business and a deep customer base that still extends nationwide and into some foreign countries, the bell on the front door of Laster’s Fine Art & Antiques — which Larry, 66, and son Ryan now manage as partners — is in constant use, ditto the office phones.

“Because of our history in the region, our customers are very loyal because they know our reputation for finding beautiful handmade furniture and art.

We appeal to people who are typically well-educated and have an interest in fine things.” As he says this, he removes a drawer from the antique chest, flips it over and shows the exquisite dovetail joinery and hand-planed bottom,

Fall 2017

explaining the double whammy that hit the antiques market a few years after 9/11, prompting values across the board to plummet.

“Next came furniture companies aimed primarily at the younger market, places like Ikea and Rooms To Go and Pottery Barn. They’ve become successful because of their youthful style and affordability. But their furniture can’t compare to a beautiful handmade piece of furniture like this dresser — which will last for another hundred years.”

The Lasters have found, in fact, a modest revival of public interest in original fine art and antiques in recent years, as a pair of intriguing factors have come into play.

“Once upon a time, a number people in this business sold antiques primarily for their investment value,” Laster explains. “Dealers used to say that a beautiful antique would never lose its value. But that went away in a big way a decade or so ago. Now, that same piece of furniture sells for a third of what it would have sold for 20 years ago. That’s given people in search of high quality a real opportunity.”

In other words, a true buyer’s market.

“We tell folks to buy a piece of furniture or fine art because they love it, not because they think its value may increase over time. For this reason we invite them to take it home and try it out — bring it back if it doesn’t feel right. We want them to love what they’ve found here, something that will give them many years of happiness. If someday its value goes up, well, all the better.”

Antiques aren’t over, Larry Laster insists. “They are, in fact, a terrific bargain now, aided by the fact that the stuff coming out estates and private homes, particularly here in the Piedmont, are exceptional, items of such truly high quality Ryan and I are constantly amazed, seeing things now I would loved to have had two decades ago. In fact, this may just be the tip of a second golden age of antiques.”— h

SEASONS • STYLE & DESIGN 35

99 Reynolda Village Winston Salem, NC 27103 336-722-8807 ________ bellemaisonlinens.com

36 SEASONS •

STYLE

& DESIGN

Fall 2017

Fall 2017

“I would rather sit on a pumpkin, and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.” ― Henry David Thoreau

A True Southern Lady Before it was an art museum, Winston-Salem’s iconic Reynolda House was a hub for progressive farming, as realized by Katharine Smith Reynolds

By Nancy Oakley • Photographs courtesy of Reynolda House Museum of American Art

38 SEASONS •

STYLE

& DESIGN

Fall 2017

S

trolling its shaded, paved paths alongside joggers, dog-walkers and young parents pushing strollers, it’s hard to imagine the clip-clop of Percheron draft horses and mules that once trod these grounds. Or the 216 Shropshire sheep that grazed where a meadow of native wildflowers and grasses now flourishes. It was a 9-hole golf course then — the first six having names such as “The Gate,” “The Marsh,” and “Pilot View,” so-called for the vista of Pilot Mountain in the distance. The tree canopy obscures that view today, framing the expanse of the manicured lawn populated with Frisbee players and amateur photographers — and drawing the eye to the vantage point on the horizon to the now-familiar row of fat, white columns and a low-slung, green-tiled roof of Reynolda House Museum of American Art. But long before it became home to canvases

by Frederic Church and John Singleton Copley, along with sculptures by Alexander Calder and Frederic Remington, the Winston-Salem icon was, 100 years ago, twice its current size, a model for fine country living and a monument to the progressive vision of Katharine Smith Reynolds.

In an early photograph, Katharine is the epitome of a Southern lady of the Gilded Age, her dark hair piled high beneath a feathered hat, her gloved hands demurely folded against the pleats of a frilly gown. But the froth of lace and ruffles disguise a strong will and an agile mind.

“Her determination was impressive, but also her ability to enroll people in her projects,” says Phil Archer, the museum’s Betsy Main Babcock director of program and interpretation. “A lot of Katharine’s ethos comes from Charles Duncan McIver,” he adds.

The first president of the State Normal and Industrial School (later Woman’s College and today, UNCG), where Katharine enrolled in 1897, McIver was a crusader of the higher education of women, contending that “The chief factors of any civilization are its homes and its primary schools. Homes and primary schools are made by women rather than by men.”

Though Katharine’s tenure at the Normal School was interrupted by a typhus outbreak, (She graduated from Sullins College in Bristol, Virginia, in 1902.), she would, indeed, leave a strong imprint on her community, or immediate “civilization,” as it were.

After graduating from college, the Mount Airy native went to work as secretary for her distant cousin and future husband, Richard Joshua Reynolds, magnate of the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in Winston (later to become Winston-Salem), which was then the most inFall 2017

Katharine Smith Reynolds and Richard Joshua Reynolds dustrialized city in the state. Katharine lobbied for improved factory working conditions with shorter working hours and hot lunches and eventually, on-site day care — accomplishments commemorated in the lobby of the Reynolds Building downtown, now an apartment complex and the site of the Kimpton Cardinal Hotel where the restaurant, The Katharine Brasserie & Bar, was named in her honor.

“She was not radical,” Archer is quick to point out, explaining that Katharine’s reforms were “sort of a gradual, conservative reform.”

She did advocate for women’s suffrage and an integrated YWCA, Archer says, but her aims were for be the betterment of the community.

“Somebody said that she had a tendency to ‘speak with great precision’ and liked to reveal to others what was in their best interest,” he laughs.

In 1906, a year after her marriage to R.J. Reynolds, Katharine began buying 25 tracts of land that would total 1,067 acres — signing her name alone on the deeds, according to exhibit materials in the main lobby of the Reynolda Museum. It was the first step in realizing a dream that the young woman had articulated in an oft-quoted letter to her college roommate in 1899: “When I marry, I shall go to Europe and buy a great work of art and come home, develop a farm, have a thousand cattle on a hill

Aerial view of Reynolda House, circa 1927 SEASONS • STYLE & DESIGN 39

The Reynolds children, (left to right) Mary, Smith, Nancy & Dick and flowers all around.” Not such an unusual notion for a young woman of the day. “Her sister said that’s just kind of what you did in that era,” Archer says. “The ideal way to live was to have a farm and grow vegetables.” And, he points out, most people of that era, R.J. Reynolds included, grew up on farms.

It was also the zenith of the Country House Era, the period from about 1890 to 1940, when prosperous Americans spent their newly acquired industrial wealth on country estates to enjoy leisurely pursuits. By the time Katharine started scooping up those 1,067 acres north of town, Americans’ passion for growing things, a trend known as the Garden Movement, (which Reynolda itself illustrated in its 2015 exhibit of Impressionist works, The Artist’s Garden) was in full bloom. “She had a book called The Country House, a history of the Country House Movement, but also a how-to,” says Archer, adding that the book featured the photographs and garden designs of Thomas W. Sears and houses designed by Philadelphia architect Charles Barton Keen.

But there were more serious reasons for wanting a pastoral retreat. This was an age of rampant infectious diseases and to use Archer’s expression, “more mechanized” life in crowded, industrialized cities. Katharine herself had suffered rheumatic fever as a child and was, Archer says, “a physically fragile person.” He suggests that the death of her 5-year-old brother from severe diarrhea, likely the result of consuming tainted milk, and the typhus outbreak that interrupted her education at the Normal School, would not have been far from Katharine’s mind.

40 SEASONS •

STYLE

& DESIGN

Tuberculosis was another persistent threat, as novelist Thomas Wolfe so vividly illustrates in his autobiographical opus Look Homeward Angel, set in the same time period. Drawing on his own experiences living among tubercular guests in his mother’s boardinghouse in Asheville, Wolfe succumbed to the disease at age 38. Poorly ventilated houses were a part of the problem, particularly those with a vertical orientation, such as the popular Queen Anne structures similar to the one newlyweds R.J. and Katharine Reynolds inhabited on Winston’s West Fifth Street.

A house in the country, by contrast, accessible to nature, would literally give one breathing room, and just as important, clean water. “That was the motivation for moving because there were 18 springs on the property,” Archer says, mentioning articles dating to the 18th century that refer to the area’s early inhabitants “taking the waters” at Mystic Springs or Marienbad Springs. “So the water was known before Katharine started buying up land. And it meant cold, fresh water that people were all drinking.” But the land itself wasn’t so desirable. The museum’s exhibit text describes it as “eroded and desolate,” part of its allure to the young matron, according to an accompanying quote from a 1917 article in the Twin City Sentinel (WinstonSalem’s afternoon paper at the time): “Its ruggedness attracted the attention of Mrs. Reynolds, for it was well watered, and she determined to transform the scene of desolation into a model, producing country estate.”

Clearly, Katharine’s dream of raising cattle, growing flowers and vegetables had expanded to a more purposeful project. “One of the pamphlets at the time said that only a quarter of the food in the Piedmont was grown in the Piedmont,” Archer says. “The diets were really poor.” Katharine was also subscribing to forward-thinking books and magazines, among them, Progressive Farmer. Its editor, Clarence H. Poe, as the exhibits at Reynolda reflect, had appealed to civic and business leaders of the Southern Commercial Congress in 1908 “to join the great movement in the rural South” by improving its agricultural practices.

Just a year later, the landscape engineering firm of Buckenham & Miller (which had designed the 2,700-acre New Jersey estate of another tobacco magnate, James Buchanan Duke) started clearing the land for Reynolda. In another three years, in 1912, the farm was completed and the construction of the formal gardens began. By this time, Katharine and R.J. Reynolds’s family had grown to include children Richard Joshua Jr., Mary Katharine, Nancy Susan and Zachary Smith. That same year, Katharine hired the reFall 2017

The Reception Hall nowned and prolific architect Charles Barton Keen to design the estate’s house.

“Keen was incredibly versatile,” says Phil Archer, pointing to the variety of styles — Italian Revival, Colonial Revival, Spanish Revival — that the architect had designed for Philadelphia’s Main Line suburb, as well as some Arts and Crafts buildings on the campus of Bryn Mawr College and nearby communities of Ardmore and Haverford. “One of the things that [the magazine] Country Life in America alludes to is the ‘stockbroker’s Tudor,’ all these country houses that were being built for stockbrokers in Philadelphia,” Archer continues.

He goes on to say that the book that Katharine had read, The Country House, “talks about Keen and his ability to do homes of a large scale, befitting the tremendous wealth of his clients. But they maintain a modest character; they’re homey. So Katharine would have read that passage in her book, as well.

It’s really what they wanted.”

Archer says Katharine’s early designs of Reynolda from 1912 to around 1914 were relatively modest. “There’s a big gun room and billiard room.

Fall 2017

It’s a place to go and play,” he says. “The house becomes more manorial. More a center of a big operation. Her ideas are developing pretty fast as the designs are coming in.” And, indeed, to the bemusement of her husband, 30 years her senior, the project is clearly Katharine’s, as another piece of museum text, a written observation by her niece Senah Critz Kent, allows: “Uncle Dick derived his greatest pleasure from his pride in Aunt Katharine’s executive ability. Supervising the construction of Reynolda was a daily delight to her, and no detail was too technical for her intelligent study and supervision.”

She and Keen decided on a bungalow plan.

Originating in the Bengal region of Southeast Asia, bungalows are characterized by their low-pitched roofs, verandahs and entrances that lead directly into living quarters. The style was associated with housing used by officials of the British Raj (1858– 1947) and was later adapted in California. It was a modern choice for Reynolda, says Archer, because of its open floor plan, “cubbyhole rooms,” and flow.

“It’s a much more democratic way to apportion

spaces,” he explains, noting that Katharine apparently wanted a “squatty, low-slung house that would nestle into the landscape and not tower over it.”

From an aesthetic standpoint, the house that stands today is a fusion of Colonial Revival and Arts and Crafts styles. There is symmetry in the neat rows of windows and doors, pent roofs (sometimes called shed roofs, used between stories as a way of shedding water away from a house) across its horizontal line, and in the green-and-white color scheme, considered de rigueur for Colonial Revival in the early 20th century — despite the fact that houses of the actual Colonial period, such as George Washington’s Mount Vernon and Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, used a varied palette of bright hues. Reynolda’s fat, Tuscan columns and recessed porches, the Inglenook under the stair landing of the Reception Hall, however, are hallmarks of the Arts and Crafts movement, which, Archer clarifies, often looked to rustic styles of architecture. He also highlights classical proportions of the rooms, particularly the Reception Hall that are the same as those used in the atriums of ancient Rome and later SEASONS • STYLE & DESIGN 41

Barn at Reynolda Estate in Palladian architecture of the Italian Renaissance.

Other sets of classical proportions proliferate through the house, Archer says, that contribute to its sense of comfort and explain their timeless appeal. “They just feel right,” he observes. “All of that is inside the envelope that’s the bungalow look.

That’s all about a home that’s tied to nature, where it’s really permeable inside and out. You’re always just a step away from a garden.”

And yet, the interior décor is decidedly heavier: the dark wood paneling of R.J.R.’s study, the oriental rugs, the antique reproductions in Elizabethan and Jacobean styles, the ornate wrought iron balustrade upstairs (the work of Samuel Yellin, who, incidentally, designed similar details for New York financier J.P. Morgan, steel magnate Henry Clay Frick and the Washington National Cathedral).

The furnishings, lumped under the descriptor of “Old English,” were ordered from Wannamaker’s, the first department store in Philadelphia (and one of the first in the United States), whose designers worked closely with Charles Barton Keen to create a “single artistic vision,” Archer says. The reason for choosing them? “It’s conferring a sense of age and permanence and tradition on money that’s grown really rapidly,” he explains. “And there’s a consciousness of the youth of the nation, wanting to have an established tradition in America. The furniture looks way back to much earlier styles.” There are some exceptions that are more contemporary for the period: the tile floors on the porches; the breakfast porch furniture with the checkerboard design that echoes the aesthetic of the Wiener Werkstatte;

42 SEASONS •

STYLE

& DESIGN

and the bold color scheme of the Reception Hall, likely inspired by the Léon Bakst sets of RimskyKorsakov’s Scheherazade, performed by the Parisbased Ballets Russes in 1910.

Much of the modernity of Reynolda, however, is in its bones — such as the reinforced concrete, a new building material in the early 1900s, used in its construction. Or its south-facing façade and east and west wings placed at an angle, which capture sunlight — a boon in winter. Conversely, the northfacing porch in back, with its semi-circular terraces echoes the style of English Arts and Crafts architect Sir Edwin Lutyens. It also absorbed the cool summer breezes off Lake Katharine (now filled in due to silt and sediment buildup). However, a massive stone fireplace — with imposing, medieval-looking andirons, it should be noted — was added for yearround use.

Other details reflect Reynolda’s purpose as a healthy retreat. Sleeping porches gave access to fresh air, as did an air washing system, a “huge apparatus that filtered the air through cold water sprays, these kinds of screens sprayed water to pull out any impurities,” Archer says, adding with a chuckle, “The irony is not lost that it’s a fortune made on tobacco and smoking, but the house is designed in all kinds of ways to make the air clear.” New technologies in plumbing allowed for bathrooms to be connected to the bedrooms, a sanitary measure to prevent the spread of disease. Each contained a scale, intended for monitoring weight loss — a symptom of the dreaded tuberculosis. There was a dual telephone system, one for calling to the rooms

and servants within the house, another for dialing outside through a switchboard. And the Aeolian organ, one of only three that are still playable today, its massive 2,566 pipes concealed behind wooden panels, tapestries and in attic chambers, permeated the house with music when it was played — for Katharine believed music brought relaxation and created a harmonious atmosphere. “It was a hightech house that wore the disguise of an old English home,” Archer concludes.

And the village, also designed by Keen, and which Archer likens to an English hamlet, belied other innovations. “Below the ground it was electrified, and there’s steam heat running into all the buildings,” Archer says. All told, there were 68 buildings on the estate, including a church, a school, a blacksmith’s shop, and cottages for supervisors and workers. The implementation of telephones and call bells in the house was meant to make everyone’s jobs easier, so too, was a central vacuuming system that precluded having to haul heavy equipment to clean the house. The kitchen was strategically placed near the dining room; janitor closets were placed throughout. All of these measures, says Archer, formed a response to what was called “the servant problem,” meaning a reduced labor pool from competing factory jobs. And because many potential workers in domestic service were black, they were migrating north to escape oppressive policies of the Jim Crow–era South.

As many as 30 families lived on the Reynolda estate, a third of them on Five Row, the AfricanAmerican community just beyond Reynolda Fall 2017

Village with its own church and school. In 1979, Reynolda’s first executive director, Nick Bragg, had an oral historian record the recollections of former employees. “We had 43 of them,” says Archer.

“We’re occasionally adding more to them, and it’s incredible because it’s daily life: ‘I rode my bike here, and then I went canoeing, and then I caddied on the golf course . . .’ They pointed to which neighborhoods African-Americans could live in and what jobs were available and how farm work compared to factory work.” Thanks to a federal grant, the museum will make the oral histories available to the public next spring through a smartphone app. “As you’re going through the spaces in the house, you’ll also hear from the maids, the switchboard operators, the butlers about their work,” Archer says.

True to Katharine’s original vision, Reynolda was a working farm. “She’s growing things that can go straight to the table,” says Archer, before reeling off a list that includes cabbages, corn, peas, okra, melons, pumpkins, grapes (for grape juice). “We know there were 12 acres of wheat, 45 acres of oats, 65 of corn, 10 acres of sugar corn on top of that, 5 acres of tomatoes,” he says incredulously. The only glaring omission from the crops? “No tobacco!”

Archer laughs. “I love making that point!”

Additionally, there were peach and apple orchards, and among the flowers of the formal gardens, says Archer, “2 acres that they called ‘fruit, cut flower and nicer vegetable gardens’ so that the vegetables they had would look pretty.”

This was not, he adds, anything new. “[Frederick Law] Olmstead [designer of New York’s Central Park] advised owners of large properties to have

vegetables gardens, too, and in strolling through you’d see beautiful vegetables in discussing the virtues of a healthy diet.”

Of course, part of a healthy diet included milk that was safe to drink. Reynolda’s Jersey cows were milked with electronic milking machines, and Katharine issued strict instructions to the dairy workers to brush off all the cows and wash their udders, one cow at a time, before milking them, and insisted that their own clothes be washed and sanitized every day.

Among the other breeds of animals besides the Jerseys, the Percherons and Shropshire sheep were 51 Tamworth hogs, 350 Barred Rock and White Leghorn chickens, mules, bronze turkeys, guinea fowl and bees. Under farm superintendent Clint W. Wharton, a graduate of the N.C. Agricultural and Mechanical School in Raleigh (later N.C. State), there were experiments in soil analysis and crop rotation. Katharine was even running an extension service at Reynolda School so that farmers in the area could learn these agricultural practices.

By 1917, the year the Reynolds family moved into the house, some 350 acres of the once “desolate” property had been cultivated into farmland.

It was the scene of outdoor recreation, too — tennis in summer, skating and sleigh riding in winter.

Katharine had started a walking club from the Reynolds’s previous Fifth Street residence to survey the construction on the house. (The family actually camped in the woods sometimes to watch its progress.) The 16-acre lake provided opportunities for canoeing and fishing, the cement-lined pond beneath the falls of the dam served as a community pool —

for black and white employees. Katharine frequently rode her horse, Kentucky Belle, along the trails, and she is shown among a foursome of women posing with their clubs on the 9-hole golf course.

And then there were the formal gardens, which Katharine opened to the public on occasion. “I think this is really unusual for a country house of the era,” Archer observes, referencing an article that counted some 10,000 visitors the first year the gardens were open (1917). Thomas W. Sears, who had worked closely with Keen, replaced Buckenham & Miller as landscape architect and redesigned the 4-acre gardens that would include sunken gardens around the greenhouse that Lord & Burnham had designed in 1913. Two of these were arranged by color (the Pink and White Garden and the Blue and Yellow Garden). Sears added two rose gardens, Japanese-style tea houses, pergolas; two fountains; perennial and shrub borders; specimen trees, and a central lawn — in addition to the aforementioned cut flowers and “nicer vegetable” garden. The greenhouses contained various tropical plants, orchids, ferns, succulents and were the site of Katharine’s chrysanthemum shows. Referencing another article, says Archer, “She decided to keep them open in the evenings so people with daily 9-to-5 jobs basically could visit the chrysanthemum show.”

Reynolda was the hub of other public activities —Easter egg hunts, Halloween pageants, a Hiawatha pageant (dramatizations of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem, “The Song Hiawatha,” a craze in the early 20th century). Notable figures visited, including Josephus Daniels, secretary of

(Left to right) Smith, Nancy, Mary & Dick Reynolds in front of tents, circa 1915 Fall 2017

SEASONS • STYLE & DESIGN 43

Hiawatha pageant

Mary & Smith Reynolds, 1924

44 SEASONS •

STYLE

& DESIGN

the Navy during World War I and publisher of the Raleigh’s News & Observer, and Edith Vanderbilt. Katharine continued her civic responsibilities such as founding the Junior League of Winston-Salem in 1923. It was a utopia of sorts.

But utopias seldom last. R.J. Reynolds had died from complications of pancreatic cancer at age 68 in the summer of 1918, not even a year after the family’s move to Reynolda.

And though Katharine found happiness in a second marriage to J. Edward Johnston, the headmaster of Reynolda School, she died from complications in childbirth in 1924 at the age of 44. By then, the family’s community focus had begun shifting away from agricultural reform. In the 1920s, part of the estate was developed into “a huge polo complex,” says Archer, who calculates that the fields were the equivalent size of 29 football fields. “WinstonSalem had a team in the 1920s, that competed against Richmond and Pinehurst all over the Southeast,” he says. Hence the name Polo Road, the artery that intersects Reynolda Road beyond Wake Forest University. Vestiges of the old polo fields can be seen around the flat, low-lying grounds around Speas Elementary School today.

The other primary focus of the Reynolds family, perhaps because of Edward Johnston’s influence, was education. Under Mary Reynolds Babcock’s ownership of the estate

from the 1930s to the 1950s, more than 600 acres would be sold or given away — to Wake Forest (which the museum is now affiliated with), to Speas Elementary, to the development of Old Town Country Club. “It gets complicated, but they’re giving land for schools,” says Archer. “It was a way to develop the land in a way that was pretty far-sighted. Now, Wake Forest is still the largest employer in the city. As Reynolds had been once upon a time. So it was investing by divesting, essentially,” he observes.

The family, he says, was responding the community’s needs of their time, just as Katharine had responded to the needs of farming in her day. And, he points out, during the 25 years in which they came of age, they had been orphaned, and the world had been through the tumult and uncertainty of the Great Depression and World War II. The way of life had changed.

Big country estates were a thing of the past.

Still, Archer says, “They kept it green, whether for golf courses, college campuses or preserved wetlands.” Green, and a generation later, public.

In 1965, with Barbara Babcock Millhouse as president of Reynolda House Inc., the Keendesigned Colonial Revival bungalow was renovated and opened for all to see. Two years later, it became the art museum that some 50,000 visitors enjoy annually today.

Keen’s design influenced the building aesthetic of Winston-Salem and beyond. Reynolda, explains Archer, was a “terminal” project for the architect: “It had elements of what he had done before, real strict Colonial Revival and Arts and Crafts bungalows, and Reynolda brought those two parts together.” It became Keen’s signature that brought in more commissions in the Southeast. Archer estimates there are about 30 or 31 white or white stucco houses with a horizontal configuration and green-tiled roofs throughout the city, and a few more in Greensboro such as the McAlister House in the Gate City’s Irving Park neighborhood and in Charlotte, as well.

Just as Keen’s designs were considered progressive for the early 20th century and conducive to the modern life in the industrial South, another equally progressive architectural style would emerge in the 21st century. A style using new building materials and methods, just as Keen had used reinforced concrete.

Accommodating the busy, casual way of life and innovations of the Digital Age, the new aesthetic, like Keen’s bungalow style, would take root in Winston-Salem in tandem with the city’s new, knowledge-based economy . . . and spread. h Nancy Oakley is the senior editor of Seasons and its sister publication, O.Henry.

Fall 2017

Reynolda’s Centennial

As the start of its centennial celebration, Reynolda House Museum of American Art kicked off a series of events last month with the exhibition, Georgia O’Keeffe: Living Modern in the Mary and Charlie Babcock Wing Gallery.

It seemed an appropriate choice, says Phil Archer, Betsy Main Babcock director of program and interpretation, for “a 20th-century house, envisioned by a woman [Katharine Smith Reynolds] and kept preserved by two other women [Mary Reynolds Babcock and Barbara Babcock Millhouse].” On view through November 19, the show includes paintings by O’Keeffe, photographs of her and her home by Alfred Stieglitz, Ansel Adams, among others, as well as items from her personal wardrobe. “It is by far the largest we’ve put on at Reynolda House. There are 180 objects in this exhibit. It’s definitely the largest retrospective of her works in the Southeast for decades,” Archer says.

In November and December, the Museum will present a Centennial Christmas with tours of the house festooned with historically accurate decorations from 1917, the year (and the month) the Reynolds family took up residence at the estate.

From February 9 through May 13, 2018, look for another Centennial exhibit, Frederic Church: A Painter’s Pilgrimage, featuring 50-plus paintings and studies by the American artist and organized by the Detroit Institute of Arts.

On June 2, 2018, the museum will host Centennial Community Day with art, music and games, as well as a new audio-visual tour of the museum.

For advance tickets to the O’Keeffe exhibit (which are strongly encouraged), other programs, lectures, concerts and events, check the museum’s website, reynoldahouse.org.

Georgia O’Keeffe (American, 1887–1986). Ram’s Head, White Hollyhock—Hills (Ram’s Head and White Hollyhock, New Mexico), 1935. Oil on canvas, 30 x 36 in. (76.2 x 91.4 cm).

Brooklyn Museum; Bequest of Edith and Milton Lowenthal, 1992.11.28. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Frederic Edwin Church (1826–1900), The Andes of Ecuador, 1855. Oil on canvas, 48 x 76 ½ inches. Reynolda House Museum of American Art, affiliated with Wake Forest University. Original Purchase Fund from the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation, Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, ARCA, and Anne Cannon Forsyth. 1966.2.9

Fall 2017

SEASONS • STYLE & DESIGN 45

Power of Good Design The

STITCH Design Shop in Winston-Salem gives new expression to Modernism

By Nancy Oakley

Photographs

by Amy Freeman

46 SEASONS •

STYLE

& DESIGN

Fall 2017

Fall 2017

SEASONS • STYLE & DESIGN 47

“I

say it’s the Dr. Seuss house,” says Kelly Wainscott, jokingly referring to the newly constructed dwelling that she and her husband, Mike, and their two children, Elizabeth (“Eli”) and David, moved into in March. “Everybody likes it,” she continues, pausing before admitting that on occasion, passersby have confused the house with a place of business. It’s an understandable mistake, for the striking structure set back on a wooded lot is unlike any other in Greensboro’s Starmount Forest neighborhood.

Outwardly, the house, with its boxy shape, adjacent three-bay garage, and walls of glass and sleek wood paneling, looks as though it were plucked from a downtown office park. But on second glance, it blends seamlessly with the towering old hardwoods surrounding it and appears to have taken its perch on the sloping lot years ago. That was the intent of its lead architect, Adam Sebastian of STITCH Design Shop in Winston-Salem, whose downtown does, in fact, contain similar-looking structures: the AFAS (Art for Arts Sake) Center for the Arts — home to STITCH’s offices — and the art park, ARTivity on the Green, across the street, Bailey Park in Wake Forest Innovation Quarter, Krankies Coffee, Crafted and the mixed-use NoTra building downtown. Just a stone’s throw away, in the Twin City’s neighborhood of West Salem, is more evidence of the design firm’s work: five houses, (including two more belonging to fellow STITCH architects Ben Schwab and Pete Fala) similar to the Wainscotts’ residence.

“I think they call it ‘Cube Modern,’” says Mike Wainscott of the blocky, geometric look. “It is Modern architecture if you can fit it into a style,” Sebastian clarifies. “Its roots are in Modernism.” But these houses aren’t mere replicas of the Mid-Century style that has become so popular once again in recent years; their character is distinctly 21st-Century. Sebastian attributes the aesthetic to the N.C. State College of Design, where he trained. At the forefront of Modernist design from the late 1940s through the ’60s, the university produced a generation of architects who were

48 SEASONS •

STYLE

& DESIGN

disciples of the style that proliferates throughout the state — Matthew Nowicki, who designed Raleigh’s Dorton Arena, for instance, or Bill Freeman, responsible for the B’nai Israel Synagogue in his hometown of High Point. “That lineage continues to be taught there,” Sebastian says of his alma mater. He has always been passionate about Modern architecture, design and houses, which he and his colleagues at STITCH are pushing to the limit. From a design perspective, he explains, “The inside is a reflection of the outside. Clean lines, use of natural materials are prominent in our residential projects. And a lot of natural light. That’s really key to the success of a Modern home,” he says.

And those were exactly the features that Mike and Kelly Wainscott wanted in a new place when they decided to build. They once owned a beach house, “a ’40s split-level,” Mike says. “We gutted it and made it very Modern. You always felt like you were on the water,” he recalls, owing to the generous use of glass. “We had a sitting area outside the master and loved it,” Kelly adds, “because you could see the Intracoastal [Waterway] and birds and animals.”

The beach house was a far cry from the Wainscotts’ previous main residence on a cul-de-sac in the Vineyards development in Summerfield,

Fall 2017

with its coffered ceilings and wine cellar beneath the basement stairs.

But its draw, too, was nature — a stream running in back of the house, walking trails. With Eli and David approaching their teens, Mike and Kelly started casting about for “a bigger area, a development with a pool and tennis courts close by,” says Mike. They looked in Winston, where each works. (Both husband and wife are CPAs: Kelly works part-time as a consultant for CliftonLarsonAllen in Winston and as a controller for Greensboro’s Lake Jeanette Orthodontic and Pediatric Denistry. Mike is CFO for Technology Corps International, headquartered in the Twin City, with offices in the United Kingdom.) But the closest area that met their criteria was Clemmons — about the same distance from their workplaces as Greensboro. Might as well live in the Gate City and commute down I-40.

It made sense with Mike’s mother living in town and the children enrolled in Greensboro Montessori School.

The Wainscotts found their answer on the tree-filled haven overlooking the Starmount Country Club golf course, with the pool and tennis courts a short walk away. In July of 2015, they bought the existing house on the lot, which they would raze and replace with their Modernist dream house. “We had an idea of the space we needed and a larger common area,”

Fall 2017

Mike says. But the Wainscotts needed an architect. They trolled the North Carolina Modernist Houses website (ncmodernist.org) for names, “and contacted folks in Raleigh, Durham and Winston,” Mike recalls. “We really just cold-called and cold-emailed to see if it was something they were interested in. What styles? STITCH’s work was just good,” he affirms.

The couple had culled some ideas from Houzz and Pinterest and knew that in addition to the clean, uncluttered lines and natural light, they wanted a larger common area for family gatherings and entertaining and an outside deck.

After a few meetings, Sebastian needed to gauge just how Modern the Wainscotts were willing to go. Using what he calls a visual preference survey, Sebastian showed his clients various images of houses and asked them to rate their fondness — or aversion — to them on a scale of one to 10 and explain why. “We did it independently,” Mike remembers. “And we couldn’t cheat!” he says with a chuckle. “It was really cool to see, at the end of that test, where Mike and Kelly’s preferences were. The stuff that Kelly didn’t like and Mike didn’t like, and where they aligned and where they didn’t align,” Sebastian recalls. And how did their Modern sensibilities measure up? “I would say, on a scale of one to 10 they were probably an eight or a nine. With 10 kind

SEASONS • STYLE & DESIGN 49

50 SEASONS •

STYLE

& DESIGN

Fall 2017

of being a steel glass box,” Sebastian notes. But the survey was more than an interesting exercise; it helped the architect and clients make specific choices, and says Sebastian, it would prove useful, during the course of the house’s construction to stick to the original design concept.

Additionally, Sebastian says he and his colleagues at STITCH typically query their clients about their daily living patterns so as to create a floor plan: “What do you want to see when you look out the window? Is that the sun setting or the sun all day facing south or is that the sun in the morning when you really want those sun rays to come into your shower?” These kinds of questions, he explains, allow the architects to “achieve interior spaces that feel so much better because they’re capitalizing on Mother Nature,” he says with a laugh.

And certainly, Mother Nature was top of mind to the Wainscotts, who insisted on preserving as many trees on the lot as possible.

“We love the trees,” says Kelly. “I think there were 13 varieties of trees on this lot.” STITCH first came up with a floor plan: an open living room and kitchen on the ground floor and to the side, a home office and a master; a second story for a home gym and the children’s bedrooms, outside of which is a loft sitting area overlooking the living room; and a basement, complete with a bar and a separate room for storage and an outdoor patio for casual gatherings. Reminiscent of the Wainscotts’ beach house are decks off the living room, master and upstairs gym. Then, Sebastian’s team enlisted a landscape architect to map out all the trees. “We did some pushing and pulling on the site, and twisting to maneuver the house forwards and backwards to mitigate the number of trees that would have to be taken down,” he says.

Because the house would sit so far back on the lot, the plan, Mike explains, involved placing the garage to the left of the house as seen from the street.

(And a garage was another must to accommodate the Porsche Targa 4S, bright yellow Lotus Elise and the two Jeeps belonging to the two auto buffs, who, as Kelly says with a gleam in her eye, “love cars — old cars, fast cars, sports cars.”) When construction crews began clearing the lot in the late spring of 2016, the Wainscotts had to part with only a handful of trees. Even so, Kelly remembers, “I cried.”

But the remaining hardwoods and the house’s elevation on the slope overlooking the golf course create an effect of being inside a treehouse. This, says Sebastian, “is the power of really good design.” Adhering to one of those tenets of the Modernist aesthetic, the inside is a reflection of the outside. He adds, “Through good design you can have a space that’s maybe only 200 square feet, but you can make it feel like 400 square feet. And that’s through the height of the ceiling, the placement of windows.” These two elements give the Wainscotts’ house, and the ones in West Salem, a soaring verticality that has become part of STITCH’s signature.

Not only do large windows and window-walls let in natural light, they also add to a home’s energy efficiency in what Sebastian and his colleagues call “a building envelope.” But first, a thicker wall. “On our residential projects — one thing that we don’t do is use 2x4 construction,” Sebastian says, referring to the wall framing. In Wainscotts’ house, he and his team used 2x8 walls. “What that allows us to do is, we can get more insulation packed into the wall,” Sebastian explains. Thicker walls can also accommodate the kinds of windows that the STITCH architects prefer. “We don’t use vinyl on anything,” says Sebastian. “We used solid wood, aluminum-clad windows.

And then we did a double-layer of insulated glass that has argon gas in it. It’s sealed really well so the thermal performance of that window is really high.”

It’s an expense worth paying for, he adds, because it makes for lower energy bills down the road. As is a sealed or conditioned attic, a staple of European home construction that, in the last decade, has been permitted in U.S. building code.

The windows, especially a picture window installed behind the kitchen stove where a backsplash would normally go, were one of many things new to Todd Powley of the Greensboro construction firm, Gary Jobe Builder, Fall 2017

SEASONS • STYLE & DESIGN 51

and his crew of subcontractors. Though he had worked on a remodeling project of a Mid-Century house in the nearby neighborhood of Hamilton Lakes, Powley had never before built a Modernist home from scratch.

“We’ve been doing the Greensboro-style traditional houses for years and years, so Modernist is something new to us,” he says. He found that “the Modern thinking of the architects, their designing, is like putting cubes together, blocks. The foundation is similar with any basement foundation home, but once you get above that, you’ve got to think outside the box a little bit and break it down into pieces and parts; then it assembles easily.”

In large part because the STITCH architects detail their drawings in such a way that “any competent builder can pull it off,” says Sebastian. “This house kind of forced them to look at our drawing sets and build it.”

Powley found that the biggest structural difference in this house from the others he and his subs had worked on were “some very large cantilevers you don’t normally see. But we had good engineers and good vendors who helped us through that,” he is quick to point out. The finishing details and the order in which some of them were executed, however, required more planning and foresight. Powley is generous in his praise of Sebastian and company for creating a collegial working relationship that made for a “seamless” experience. And the feeling is mutual. “Looking back on it, they did a fantastic job,” Sebastian says of Powley and his subs. Both the architect and builder give credit to the Wainscotts, who, says Powley, “worked tirelessly to get the fixtures that they wanted and that the house was asking for.”

And here is where the Modernist notes sing.

Many of the details, which STITCH has borrowed from its commercial building projects, stand out in a residential context. Starting with the front door. Sebastian didn’t want it to look like a door at all but part of the 10foot panels of window-wall surrounding it. “It’s called a pivoting door,” he says of the 5x10, custom-built piece, the largest residential door STITCH

52 SEASONS •

STYLE

& DESIGN

has used and the first Powley had ever encountered. “When it opens, the pivot point is not at the hinge, like it is on a traditional door,” Sebastian says, explaining that it pivots midway, at the 3-foot point, from underneath and overhead inside the door jamb; the hinge apparatus is concealed.

The door also required painting, which Kelly distinctly remembers. The painter, she says, was taller-than-average — 6-foot-7, as it turns out. “And he said, it was the first door he’d ever had to use a ladder for,” she says.

Once inside the door, which moves easily despite its size, is another feature that Mike and Kelly were eager for: the glass-sided, mono stringer staircase in which a single steel beam supports wooden stair treads. For this, Sebastian suggested Andrew Viator, a Winston-Salem–based fabricator who’d learned how to construct the staircases from his father-in-law in Miami, where the design feature is commonly used in commercial building. He had collaborated with STITCH on several commercial and residential projects. “He’s very talented. And we kind of nail the design, and he can put the nuts and bolts to it to make it work,” says Sebastian, who highlights a particular detail in the stairs’ construction to circumvent a problem: a gap between the center mullions of the glass window-wall that would have been larger than the 4 inches that code allows. “Working with Andrew, we were able to create a stair tread that chucks and meanders around these mullions, which is a pretty cool detail. A lot of people probably don’t notice it.”

What a lot of people likely do notice right away is the striking linear fireplace or “ribbon fireplace,” to use Sebastian’s term, and the California red cedar paneling above it, “selected not to have knots,” says Mike: “to give it a clean look.” Adding to the clean look and drawing the eye to the outside is the seeming continuity of the paneling over another ribbon fireplace on the deck with cable rail all around.

Both are gas fireplaces that contain a heat source below, which when Fall 2017

activated — by remote control — heats up crystals on the hearths and makes them glow. “The outside is actually LED, so you can change color,” says Mike, whereas the living room hearth uses only white rocks. And there’s one thing the Wainscotts can’t — or rather shouldn’t — do when the rocks are fired and lit: watch TV. Installed above the hearth is a lift to conceal and lower the flat screen. It was a later addition and a bit of a puzzle to configure because the living room fireplace adjoins yet another one in the master. “Basically you’ve got 12 feet of fireplaces in one wall,” Mike explains. It was a challenge Sebastian enjoyed designing around. “We hadn’t done a 72-inch TV lift on any project yet, but it made a lot of sense, because most times the TV’s up and you see the beautiful fireplace. You can imagine if that thing were there permanently. It would take away from that wood [paneling].”

The TV and gas fireplaces aren’t the only things operated remotely.

“Their home is fully automated,” says Sebastian. “It’s fully integrated to a smart phone. Fully integrated to iPads. So from anywhere in the world, they can cut on the lights, they can control the air. They can get a performance check readout on how the house is performing.” And since lights are controlled by a central panel, smart phones or iPads, there aren’t any light switches (apart from in the bathrooms and kids’ bedrooms, a point that draws an impish smile, if not a sigh of relief from daughter Eli).

“Getting Greensboro inspectors and electricians to do it was a very different process, an interesting process,” says Mike. “The subs really took a lot of pride in getting it done.”

As they did with so many details that called on their craftsmanship.

“The only trim really was the baseboard,” says Powley. “The doors had no trim. There’s no crown molding. The pieces of trim, a lot of times they cover up gaps, like between sheetrock and flooring or sheetrock and doors, so we had to create this whole thing without any gaps.” That meant everything had to be flush. “The wall tile was flush with the sheetrock. The

Fall 2017

door jambs were flush with the sheetrock. The baseboards were flush with the sheetrock,” Powley recalls.

And that kitchen window behind the stove, he says, had to be flush with the countertops and sized with the cabinet space. “We’ve done ribbon windows through there, which is a really nice design detail, but we’ve never done one where we’ve gone from the ceiling to the countertop and then hung the wood in front of it,” says Sebastian. But, Kelly recalls, “We said, ‘We have got to have that!’” She likes that the cabinets go all the way up to the ceiling and, she notes, “The neighbor’s landscaping is so beautiful.”

The window also gave residential inspectors pause. “They were not used to seeing it; they were not sure if it was right or wrong or in the gray area,” Sebastian remembers. Like so many things Modern, if people are unfamiliar with it, they’re liable to be suspicious or downright critical. “It’s an educational process for everyone involved,” says the architect.

But who could be critical of another stunning feature directly opposite the kitchen window walls with the expanse of the golf course in full view?

A floor-to-ceiling, glass wine cabinet. “It was definitely one of the things we wanted to do here,” says Mike, adding that the wines stored in the temperature-controlled case are for drinking, not collecting. The cedar paneling is repeated inside, unifying the kitchen and living room. Concealing the cooling apparatus are river rocks, neatly distributed on the cabinet’s floor. “When you do something like that, you don’t want to do it in just one place,” says Sebastian. So the river rock reappears in a nook outside, visible from the sliver of window in the powder room. Yet again, there is a continuity of nature inside the house and out.

The bottles of reds and whites and the wine labels contribute to the pops of color in the Wainscotts’ décor, which according to Powley, they selected entirely themselves. “They didn’t have an interior decorator,” he says admiringly. The bright reddish-orange sectional, which makes the hearth all the cozier, brings out fall foliage in the enlarged photograph

SEASONS • STYLE & DESIGN 53

by Australian photographer Peter Lik. It hangs over a polished, gnarled wood side table that looks like a stump from an old growth forest. (It is, in fact, a piece from the Phillips Collection, which provided the playful silver-colored spheres over the upper stair landing; a painting of corks and a corkscrew by wine-inspired artist Thomas Arvid hangs over the lower landing.) There is one minimalist, square-shaped chandelier over the dining room table, but otherwise, the Wainscotts didn’t want any wire or pendulum lights interrupting the flow between kitchen and living room. They reveal more of their playful side in a colorful metal wall sculpture made by artisans for Furnitureland South. “It reminds me of CDs and champagne glasses,” says Kelly. She and Mike have acquired some pieces from their friend Jim Gallucci, whose children also attended Greensboro Montessori: an arch with a vine motif stands in the Wainscotts’ front yard, while one of the sculptor’s benches, similar to the whispering benches he fashioned for Kids Path at Hospice and Palliative Care of Greensboro, sits on the lower back patio. And here, they will install yet another Gallucci piece: a vinecovered gate that once enclosed the wine cellar under the stairs of their old house in Summerfield.

Other spaces also burst with color — bold reds in the master bedroom and bath that feature another commercial detail the Wainscotts had used in their beach house, a textured red wall over the sunken tub. Downstairs in the basement, the shelves are installed with LED lights that change color, adding a festive touch to any gathering. It is where Mike and Kelly can play cards or pool with friends. The spare room just beyond the bar has become what Mike describes as “teen gathering area” where Eli and David invite friends, play music and work on art projects.

54 SEASONS •

STYLE

& DESIGN

Some of their handiwork is on display in the loft area outside their bedrooms: multi-hued collages on paper and, of all things, skateboards, that hang above rows of bookshelves. They have adapted to the new house though David was sad to leave the woods and trails of their old Summerfield home. But all it took was one promise to change his tune: “I said, ‘We’ll get a dog,’” Mike remembers, smiling. And that is how Luna, a miniature Pinscher became the latest member of the Wainscott family. “I keep telling everybody, I didn’t anticipate getting a purse dog,” Kelly quips, as the tiny puppy struggles to climb the wooden treads of the mono stringer.

Like so many people, she’s learning to accept the Modern style. “People need to realize that it’s not cold,” Mike says. “It’s much more inclusive inside and outside. It is a very liveable space.” Sebastian acknowledges that the style is an acquired taste. “It’s kind of like looking at a piece of art,” he Fall 2017

reflects. “When you look at it, it takes a lot to really appreciate what you’re seeing, and I think we really want to take our architecture projects and think of them as art.”

He also believes the style’s time has come. “I think people have been yearning for it and wanting something new,” he remarks. “People really want it. And that covers all spectrums of young, old, black, white, in between.” Todd Powley at Gary Jobe Builder is starting to see a trend emerge, too. Since working on the Wainscotts’ house, he’s already fielded inquiries about remodeling some houses in the Modern style.

Sebastian and his colleagues are grateful for the community’s response to their designs, which are indeed catching on. About 90 percent of STITCH’s projects are commercial. In addition to their work in downtown Winston and West Salem, the group designed the outdoor climbing pyramids and the new lobby of the Greensboro Children’s Museum and Fall 2017

will collaborate with the Raleigh office of Gensler Architects to renovate Kaleideum Downtown (formerly the Children’s Museum of WinstonSalem). Park commissions or “parkitechture,” as Sebastian says, continue to be staples. Quarry Park, built around an abandoned quarry in the southeastern edge of the Twin City, opened just this summer. Two more in Raleigh and two others in Goldsboro and downtown Danville, Virginia, are in the works, as are more remodeling projects on Fourth Street in Winston-Salem. And the 10 percent of residential work in STITCH’s portfolio? The architects drew preliminary plans for another Modern house . . . just a few streets away from the Wainscotts.

“Oh, the places you’ll go!” wrote Dr. Seuss, and 4-year-old STITCH is certainly on the move. As for the Wainscotts, they’ll have plenty of places to go, too, in the course of their busy lives. But at the end of the day, there’s no place like the 21st-Century Modern they call home. h

SEASONS • STYLE & DESIGN 55

The Collector How a love of antiques turned Mary Wells into a Triad legend

By Ross Howell Jr. • Photographs by Bert VanderVeen

“M

y mother was a real antiques lover,” says Mary Wells, who’s kindly set up a card table so I can take notes. I’m old school: pen and pad.

Wells is sitting opposite me. By my elbow is a massive tiger maple sideboard. The wood pattern is so pretty I can hardly take my eyes from it.

“Mother grew up on a farm in Mount Pleasant, North Carolina, and she liked old things,” Wells continues. Her voice is calm, measured, soothing. When she looks at you through her wire rim glasses, you know she’s really looking.

She tells me her father was a Lutheran minister who traveled often for his work in the church.

“Whenever we traveled, Mother would make Father stop at flea markets or antique places, looking for things she liked,” Wells says. “I think that’s how I got the bug. Over time, even Father started collecting, too.”

Born in Pulaski, Virginia, Wells moved with her family to nearby Marion.

Her father had been selected to lead the Virginia Synod of the Lutheran Church, and Marion was where the office was located.

“That’s when I started collecting — in sixth grade at Marion. Buttons. I just liked them, for some reason,” Wells says. “Boys in school sometimes cut them off their shirts to give to me.”

Later, her father’s work took them to Roanoke, where she attended junior high school — “I just loved the railroad there, those big engines”— and then to Arlington, where she went to high school.

“When I graduated, I decided to go to Lenoir-Rhyne University,” Wells says.

“My brother had gone to Roanoke College, and he was an athlete, a big man on campus, and I wanted to go someplace where I’d be all on my own.”

At Lenoir-Rhyne, a Lutheran Church-related institution in Hickory, Wells majored in sociology and was active in student government.

“I liked being busy all the time,” she says. “After I graduated, I did social work for about six months. But I realized that wasn’t for me because in social work you couldn’t help people the way I wanted to. I wanted to make things better for people, not just listen to their problems.”

When the opportunity to take a position in a national office of the Lutheran Church in America came up, Wells took it. She packed up and moved to Philadelphia.

“For two years in my job I traveled all over the country,” Wells says. “It was faith-based and service-oriented. I met all sorts of people.”

Then, she married her first husband, whom she’d met while they were undergrads at Lenoir-Rhyne. He’d gone on to complete studies at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina. In Philadelphia, the two of them started antiques collecting in a serious way.

“So many of the old row houses in the city had these roof finials and downspouts made of tin,” Wells says. “They were painted different colors, and

56 SEASONS •

STYLE

& DESIGN

unusual, almost one of a kind. Architectural things, you know, they just thrill me to pieces!”

Sometimes, if she learned that a building was going to be torn down, she’d go to the courthouse to find out which contractor was doing the demolition.

“We’d do a deal,” Wells says, “so I could save some of the architectural details.”

The couple’s finds weren’t limited to the metropolitan area.

“We’d drive out to Amish country, of course,” Wells says. “We’d find all sorts of things there.”

Their antiques collection continued to grow. Then Wells’s husband accepted the charge to form a mission church in the historically black community of Warnersville, located south of Gate City Boulevard in Greensboro.

Warnersville is the first African-American community founded for freed slaves in the city. So in 1970, the Wellses headed south to the Old North State.

Wells smiles to herself as she recollects.

“I tell everybody we moved to Philadelphia with a small U-Haul trailer and moved from Philadelphia with a 40-foot tractor trailer,” she says. “That’s how much we’d collected.”

Many of the things they brought with them had to be put into storage in buildings on a farm near Charlotte owned by her husband’s family.

“It was a lot of work starting that church,” Wells says. “I typed the bulletin for every service. I cleaned the church, too. And by then, we had two girls, Debbie and Lisa.” She muses, putting a finger to her chin.

“But I’d always been so independent,” she continues. “I wanted my own job.”

So in 1975, Wells opened an antiques shop, ferrying the Pennsylvania items she and her husband had in storage into the store. And the couple especially enjoyed attending to local livestock sales on weekends.

Why? “Along with their cattle or pigs,” Wells says, “farmers would bring along old things they had in their homes or barns to sell.” She points to a big piece of Fall 2017

earthenware on a shelf.

“That’s the first piece of pottery I ever bought,” she says. “From the back of a pickup at one of those sales.”

Wells explains that she kept her young daughters with her at the shop until they were old enough to go to day care.

“I carried them on my hips when I went looking for things to buy,” she says.

“They got an early taste of the antiques business!”

When her husband accepted a position with an office of the Lutheran Church in Salisbury, Wells felt a change in their relationship.

“He drove to work every day,” she says, “so we were living in the same home.

But we grew apart.”

After she and her husband were divorced, Wells moved with her two girls, one of them, Lisa, a special-needs child, to a house on Cypress Street.

“One night, a while after I’d tucked the girls into bed,” she says, “I heard a knock at the front door.” It was a policeman, who asked if she knew where her children were.

When Wells replied they were in bed, the officer asked if she’d mind checking. She looked and found that Lisa was gone. Frightened, Wells returned to the front door.

“Well, I think I have her,” the officer said. In the back of his patrol car sat Lisa. She had crawled out the partly open window of the room where she slept.

Fortunately, she’d made her way to the house of a neighbor, who recognized her and called the police.

“You can bet I kept that window shut tight from then on!” Wells says.

These days, when she’s not at home with Wells, Lisa’s at the Greensboro location for LIFESPAN, an organization providing education, employment, and enrichment opportunities for children and adults with disabilities.

Older daughter Debbie finished high school and followed her mother to Lenoir-Rhyne, but a heath issue cut short her program of study. She returned to Greensboro and worked with Wells in the antiques business.

“Debbie collected everything she could find having to do with Coca-Cola,” Wells says. She points proudly to a framed feature article with photos of Debbie and her collection. Sadly, her older daughter passed away suddenly 15 years ago.

Wells has kept Debbie’s Coca-Cola collection intact.

“I like to look at her things,” she says softly.

Though Wells has had her share of challenge and sadness, she’s had her share of success, too. Her notoriety was enhanced mightily when a couple named Ray and Beverly Berry drove into Greensboro from the West Coast.

The Berrys had never visited the Gate City, had no friends here, but decided this was the community where they wanted to settle and start an enterprise with a clear statement of purpose: “to develop a better grocery store that brought back the feeling of open European-style markets.”

The first Fresh Market opened in Greensboro on March 5, 1972.

According to Forbes magazine, “that original Fresh Market was outfitted exclusively with used fixtures and display pieces and financed entirely with the Berry family’s savings.”

So cash was tight when the Berrys began looking for “display pieces” in local antique shops. And that’s how they met Mary Wells.

“We really hit it off,” Wells says. “They were interested, truly interested in the things I had, but they didn’t want to buy them.” To conserve cash, the Berrys had a different idea.

“They wanted me to put pieces in the store on consignment,” Wells says.

“When pieces sold, that’s when I’d be paid.”

Mary smiles again, reflecting.

“So I agreed,” she continues. “But their store was located in a part of town where people really liked antiques. I think the first day they sold two big cupboards that were filled with grocery items.”

The Fresh Market staff had to empty the chests so the customers could pick them up. And Wells had to find replacement pieces quickly in order for the merchandise to be displayed again.

Fall 2017

“Right away the Berrys came back to me and said, ‘Mary, this won’t work.

We’ll have to buy the pieces from you.’ Of course, for me that was great news,” Wells says.

Perhaps no one fully anticipated the growth of the chain. The store in Greensboro was followed by an opening in Asheville. Then came South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia, Florida, Kentucky and Alabama. Over a 30-year period, the Fresh Market grew to more than 170 stores in 27 states, including locations in the Mid-Atlantic, the Southeast, the Midwest and New England.

“I’d load up a truck full of antiques and drive it to the new location myself in those days,” Wells says. Remarried by this time, she’d occasionally have her husband drive a second truck so they could deliver to two locations.

On her return drive, she’d stop at various locations in search of pieces to purchase for the next opening. Wells supplied antiques for the Fresh Market stores until seven years ago.

“It just got to be too much for me,” she says. “And people thought I was making a lot more money than I actually was.” Because there were so many stores to be supplied so quickly, Wells often had to pay higher prices for the antiques she was acquiring on her drives back to Greensboro.

“But that’s all right,” she says. “It was a great experience — with all the new people I met, all the new places I saw. I’ve never really been in it for the money.”

“What are you in it for?” I ask.

Wells ponders a moment, then looks me in the eye.

“It reminds me of my childhood,” she says. “I only bought things that interested me. I was always very proud of the things I had in my shop. I was proud to have things around me that I loved. Somehow, when I saw them, I just knew.”

Wells tells me the story of the tiger maple sideboard at my elbow. She’d arrived early at a show and was walking around just as a man was opening the door of his van. She looked inside and saw the sideboard.

“Shut that door!” she said.

SEASONS • STYLE & DESIGN 57

The man was startled but closed the van.

“Ma’am?” he asked.

“I’ll pay your price for that piece,” Wells said. “Don’t show it to anybody else.”

And here it sits.

When Wells offers to show me around her house, I expect to see antiques, of course. She’s a collector. But she’d sold off her business, right?

As we move from room to room, antiques are everywhere. Stacked, shelved, piled. The dining room is so full it’s impassable.

Even Wells is a bit bemused by it all.

“I’m just not ready to part with these things,” she says.

There are other beautiful examples of tiger maple furniture.

“I’ve always been attracted to wood,” Wells says.

There are extraordinary pieces wherever the eye rests. There are face jugs. There’s an old dentist’s chair. There are quilts and rag rugs. There are paintings and prints. There are empty frames on a wall, displayed that way to show their exquisite and varied designs. There’s her collection of more than 5,000 buttons, a legendary feature of her antiques shop. There are chairs, toys, curved glass display cases.

I note the variety.

“Over the years I’ve collected in 60 categories, primarily American,” Wells explains.

There are canes and walking sticks.

There’s pottery. There are woven baskets.

There’s door hardware. There’s her seashell art collection. There are old bottles and jars. There are gas station signs leaning against a wall. There’s her collection of “tramp art” — picture frames, figures, a clock, a box, a chair — made of discarded wooden crates, cigar boxes, matchsticks, or even cigarette packs cut or carved by hand into tiny geometric shapes and assembled piece by intricate piece.

For each item I comment on, Wells has a story — the people she acquired it from, the locale, the reason it attracted her, its significance.

I pause in front of a handsome folded screen in a hallway. Each panel, front and back, presents a different color illustration of a young woman, about 60 percent life-sized.

“That screen dates from the 1880s or 1890s,” she says. “It’s very unusual. So many people in the tobacco business have wanted to buy it.”

Flowing cursive text on the panels extolls the flavor of “Turkish tobacco” or urges me to buy “Duke cigarettes.”

“What if some big executive sees this, claims he’ll buy it at any price,” I say to Wells. “What would you quote?”

She tilts her chin.

“Oh, you don’t think of price first,” Wells says calmly, folding her hands together. “First, you have to feel in your heart it’s right to sell.”

Point taken. It was never about the money. h

THE 18 & 20 2017 SON SEA

Summer Brooke and the Mountain Faith Band with Emi Sunshine: September 22 The Suffers: September 24 Mojo & The Bayou Gypsies: November 4 Masters of the Mind Featuring Guy Bavli & Friends: November 11 High Point Ballet: The Nutcracker: December 20-22 High Point Ballet: The Land of the Sweets: December 23

On Golden Pond: April 5 Musical Thrones, A Parody: January 18 Black Violin: Back by Popular Demand!: April 24 John Sebastian & David Grisman: January 20 Dawn Wells: What Would Mary Ann Do?: April 28 American Spiritual Ensemble: January 27 Kit & the Kats: February 3 Summer Brooke and the Mountain Faith Band Emile Pandolfi with Dana Russell: February 14 with Emi Sunshine Al Stewart: The Year of the Cat Tour: February 16 Heart Behind the Music with Alabama’s Teddy Gentry, John Berry, Lenny LeBlanc & Linda Davis: March 9 Shaun Hopper & Joe Smothers: March 23

Acts and dates subject to change. For the latest news, go to HighPointTheatre.com

Kit & the Kats

Black Violin: Back by Popular Demand!

 For Tickets, call 336-887-3001

or visit HighPointTheatre.com

58 SEASONS •

STYLE

& DESIGN

Fall 2017

Extraordinary Service for Extraordinary Clients Furnishing stylish homes in the Triad FuRniTuRe, AcceSSORieS And giFTS. Tuesday- Saturday 10-5pm 3500 Old Battleground Rd. Suite A (336) 617-4275 • www.aubreyhomedesign.com Fall 2017

Chesnutt - Tisdale Team

Xan Tisdale 336-601-2337

Kay Chesnutt 336-202-9687

Xan.Tisdale@bhhsyostandlittle.com Kay.Chesnutt@bhhsyostandlittle.com

©2017 BHH Affiliates, LLC. An independently operated subsidiary of HomeServices of America, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate, and a franchisee of BHH Affiliates, LLC. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices and the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices symbol are registered service marks of HomeServices of America, Inc.® Equal Housing Opportunity.

SEASONS • STYLE & DESIGN 59

A Warehouse of Glorious Things Remembering the Americana of Mary’s Antiques

By Ross Howell Jr. • Photographs by Steven Burke

W

hen Hillsborough collectors Steven Burke and Randy Campbell heard that Mary Wells — their friend of nearly four decades — would be closing the doors to her South Elm Street antiques business in Greensboro in May 2017, they were dismayed.

After all, she’d found an interesting piece for their American Folk Art Buildings collection. She’d found a lovely metal chandelier they’d used in a room of the Greek Revival five-building compound they designed and built.

She’d found unusual double-grooved molding for a ceiling. She’d found the section of a carnival carousel that was perfect for a wall in the master bedroom.

She’d found architectural details and colored glass windows and exquisite picture frames. She’d found 19th-century wood-grained painted doors Burke and Campbell had designed rooms around. She’d found tall industrial doors they’d used in the design of the façade of their backyard folly — and an 18th-century Episcopal church door for the interior. She’d even found a cupola for the roof from the state of Georgia — no, not that one, south of the MasonDixon; the one in Eastern Europe, on the border with Russia.

60 SEASONS •

STYLE

& DESIGN

“We first visited her shop in 1979,” Burke says. “She was knowledgeable, engaging.” He found Wells to be not only a smart businesswoman but also an advocate and communicator.

“Mary is not just a seller,” he continues. “She has business sense matched with good intentions. She has a great eye. She’s passionate. She is a storyteller of stuff.”

Obvious in Mary’s collection was her attraction to architectural pieces.

Columns, pilasters, plinths. Doors, windows, hinges, hardware.

“She had this extraordinary emporium,” Burke says. “Architectural things Randy and I were interested in, things we wanted in our home. And by having these things in her shop and offering them for sale, Mary had saved them, preserved them.”

When Burke employs the word “things,” he doesn’t use it in the casual way you and I might. He speaks of “things” with a certain reverence because he sees them as artifacts of American life, American history, much of which has disappeared, often relegated to the trash heap.

“Americans haven’t been very good at preservation, you see,” Burke continues. “Mary understood this. She was a preservationist before she even realized

Fall 2017

it herself. She was an ‘adaptive reuser’ long before the term came into fashion.”

He pauses.

“I think that’s because, at heart, she’s an artist,” Burke says, nodding slowly for emphasis.

With their mutual interests, Burke, Campbell and Wells became strong friends, even “partners,” as Burke puts it, to embark on a 40-year quest for the preservation and reuse of unusual, beautiful things.

So when they knew the professional side of Wells’s quest was coming to an end — “Everything must go,” she’d said, announcing at age 75 in the News & Record she was closing her shop — Burke and Campbell had an unusual, beautiful thought: They would document in photographs the historical evidence of her life’s work.

“Mary had introduced new generations to the idea of putting old things in their homes, in their lives,” Burke says. “We didn’t want people to forget the importance of that.”

Near Mary’s Antiques, her iconic storefront on South Elm, Wells had a 12,000-square-foot space, comprising three buildings, she used as a warehouse on Gate City Boulevard. The buildings were filled to the rafters.

“It wasn’t a place where you’d shop,” Burke says. “But Randy and I had visited many times. There were endless shapes, colors, textures in that dingy warehouse. Jumbled, stacked, and patterned Americana was everywhere.”

There was an astonishing collection of items from industrial America in the 1800s, sleek modern designs from the 1950s, rustic hand tools, children’s toys, carnival artifacts. And powerfully, there was volume.

“It’s one experience to see a Bakelite radio,” Burke says. “It’s altogether a Fall 2017

different experience to see 20 of them together on a shelf. Or scores of wooden wagons stacked on each other. Or an entire wall of metal ice chests.”

For five days, Burke and Campbell made photographs in the space.

“We followed two rules,” Burke says. “First, we photographed using ambient light. Nothing was artificially lit. Second, we moved nothing. The photographs show things just as we found them.”

Like archaeologists exploring a crypt, Burke and Campbell looked for themes and meaning in a place crammed with evidence of bygone times. They did so with the knowledge it was a place that would soon vanish altogether.

They photographed chair backs by the hundreds, bicycles and metal wagons by the score. They photographed picture frames, tools, wooden duck decoys, suitcases, mantels, chairs made of horseshoes, bins, store glass, bedposts, oscillating fans, toys, telephones, a metal lawn chair mounted with bicycle wheels, huge metal urns, crowns festooned with costume jewels, toasters, chandeliers of every material and size, tiny angel sculptures.

They photographed the artful. The industrial. The clever and the clumsy.

The whimsical. The sincere.

They photographed what Burke calls, “American material culture.”

Burke and Campbell made hundreds of photos over those five days. They edited and reedited. And in the end, they presented their friend with a book of photographs. It’s entitled, Mary Wells’ Warehouse of Things.

Remember, when Burke speaks of “things,” he speaks with reverence. h Ross Howell Jr. is at work on an article about Steven Burke and Randy Campbell’s collection of more than 1,200 American Folk Art buildings for the winter issue of Seasons.

SEASONS • STYLE & DESIGN 61

Latest Looks...

NEW

COLLECTIONS

arriving

daily MON-SAT 10AM-7PM | SUN 12PM-6PM

304 South Stratford Road | Winston-Salem, NC 27103 | 336-955-2240

offering the newest and brightest holiday decor

SAVE 25%

on Christmas trees through October 1st. while supplies last

213 0 - K N e w Ga rden R oa d, Greensboro NC | w w w .total bl i ssonl i ne.c om | 336-441-5104 62 SEASONS •

STYLE

& DESIGN

Fall 2017

LIFE&HOME

THE ARCHITECT’S SON

From the Back Streets to Main Street Street art comes of age

I

By Peter Freeman • Photographs by Amy Freeman haven’t been able to shake a hangover from a recent art exhibit. No, I didn’t overindulge on wine and cheese, but weeks after the show, I still wake up at night, dazed from deliberating over the images I have seen. I feel anxious as I mentally retrace my steps through the exhibit space. I find myself reconsidering the pieces deliriously. With a slight headache, I realize that many of the works possess the power to transform the spaces for which they are intended. But to the casual observer, isn’t this just graffiti?

The delightful exhibit that haunts me is Urban Expressions, a show consisting of 34 graffiti- and street-inspired images by 21 artists that was on view during the summer at the Theatre Art Galleries in High Point. Under the supervision of Jeff Horney and a supportive TAG staff, the event showcased designs “photocollaged” onto blank walls to demonstrate how street-inspired concepts can change the character of a cityscape. I was humbled to have been selected to judge the recent juried event. As captivating as it was, why, I still wonder, did it leave me so unsettled?

For the winning entry, I had voted for Brian Lewis’s mural of the yawning dog . . . you know, the one wearing Converse Chuck Taylors, walking nonchalantly off the dilapidated brick wall of

Fall 2017

High Point’s Center Theater Building. For me, the image was, as Yogi Berra once said, “déjà vu all over again,” for the artist had captured a familiar sentiment I had experienced in this very place.

The scale of the work fit the context. The mood of Lewis’s mural was spot-on. The dog was subtly defiant — and a little bored — that this underused space had failed to meet its potential.

The Urban Expressions show was not merely an exercise in what could be, but also reflects a larger trend: graffiti and street art have found their way into the mainstream. The urban art form was born of the young and disenfranchised, sometimes drawing from hip-hop and gang cultures, and eager for expression. Graffiti and street art started appearing on city walls and freight cars, and were considered a public nuisance in the 1970s and ’80s. Most cities today still maintain strict anti-grafitti ordinances against offenders and generally go to a lot of trouble to paint over it.

But the defiant and illicitly executed genre has found its way into the realm of commercial art galleries, collectors and museums. Banksy, Keith Haring and Marc Ecko have become familiar names in the art and design industry after gaining notoriety “tagging” city walls and creating street art. And who can forget the famous “Hope” poster for the 2008 Obama campaign by

In many places, the public perception of street art has come full circle. Graffiti, murals and other forms of public art are now considered catalysts for urban revitalization.

SEASONS • STYLE & DESIGN 63

etteecrted, e isneb Lifev eryo feels conn when iated. engaged, and apprec • Background checked caregivers • Live person on-call 24/7 • No minimum hours

• All our caregivers are CNAs • NC State Home Care Licensed • Long term insurance accepted

Start home care today. hwcg.com/greensboro

336.455.9967

INTRODUCTORY ONE-HOUR

MASSAGE

FACIAL $ 95 or

59

*

AN $89.95 VALUE!

INTRODUCTORY ONE-HOUR

HOT STONE

MASSAGE $ 95

C e l e br at e a n d P r e serv e Sp e c i a l M o m e n t s

with Jewelry

US Women’s National Soccer Team Hand & Stone Member since 2012

79

*

A $109.95 VALUE!

Greensboro | 336-728-6038

®

MASSAGE AND FACIAL SPA

Visit us in Gibsonville or online at Wadesjewelers.com 101 EAST MAIN STREET • GIBSONVILLE, NC 27249

336.449.4949

64 SEASONS •

STYLE

& DESIGN

3352 West Friendly Ave • Suite 126 The Shops at Friendly Center

Winston-Salem | 336-223-8705 handandstone.com

310 South Stratford Rd. • Suite 110 Thruway Shopping Center

*Introductory offers valid for first-time visit only and not valid towards gift cards. Sessions include time for consultation and dressing. Rates and services may vary by location. Independently Owned & Operated. ©2017 Hand & Stone Corp.

Fall 2017

LIFE&HOME Shepard Fairley, a street artist who almost instantly gained international attention?

In many places, the public perception of street art has come full circle. Graffiti, murals and other forms of public art are now considered catalysts for urban revitalization. Wynwood, the edgy remade Miami neighborhood, and Highline Park, an abandoned freight lineturned-elevated-public-park, perched over Chelsea and the Meatpacking District in New York City, are just a couple of celebrated examples. In both locales, the street art echoed the unique personality of the neighborhood. Additional programs in Portland, Oregon, Seattle and San Francisco encourage public art with events promoting rotating public art walls, live paintings, murals, alternative signage, pasting, stenciling, 3-D sidewalk chalk art and organized tours of installations. The American Planning Association (APA), the world’s largest such organization, recognized Wynwood as one of the country’s Great Places for 2015 through its national program, Great Places in America (www.planning.org/greatplaces).

Closer to home, and reflecting the character of the small towns of the Piedmont, are the painted barns of Cameron in Moore County that delight inquisitive public art seekers. Found along Highway 24-27 west of the tiny town,

an allied group of artists under the invitation of David Ellis, a Brooklyn-based artist, painted graffiti and murals on a number of dilapidated tobacco barns, farming equipment and trailers. The initiative, admittedly, may have contributed little to urban renewal, but the result is a whimsical and curious assemblage of public art. Hailing from the likes of New York and Tokyo, the group was nicknamed “the Barnstormers” by local residents, who, to this day, maintain an unexpected kinship with the artists.

In High Point, the Theatre Arts Gallery exhibit is but one of several projects signaling a vibrant interest in murals and street art. High Point artist Brian Davis has been a common thread in promoting the art form and providing fellow public artists with forums for their works. Not only was he instrumental in the success of the TAG exhibit as an artist and organizer, but he is also hatching plans for expanded installments. Additionally, he painted striking murals sponsored by the Southwest Renewal Foundation, giving a much-deserved boost to a neglected area of town. The High Point Convention and Visitors Bureau has awarded grants to several public artists, including Davis, who have been unrelenting in bringing the large-scale mural projects into public focus with projects along Main Street and the city core. There is no doubt that graffiti-inspired art has made the jump from underground to mainstream via Main Street, which raises the question: what will Main Street think of next?

Peter Freeman is a local architect with Freeman Kennett Architects and has been associated with several illicit embellishments in his hometown of High Point. h

Rare, One-of-a-kind Art and Antiques for Every Price Range For over 40 years, we have specialized in estate settlement.

Your fine consignments appreciated. Come see us today.

664. S. Stratford Road Winston-Salem

Less than 1 mile from Trader Joe’s!

Fall 2017

336.765.5919

www.LastersFineArt.com SEASONS • STYLE & DESIGN 65

66 SEASONS •

STYLE

& DESIGN

Fall 2017

LIFE&HOME

PRIME RESOURCES

Hammer and Song

How gifted craftswoman Michelle Belanger balances music and carpentry

By Grant Britt • Photograph by Sam Froelich

B

y day, she swings a hammer. Come the night, Michelle Belanger swings as a Mystery Hillbilly, wielding a guitar and channeling Patsy Cline, Wanda Jackson, Elvis, and a slew of bad boy and girl rockabilly and country movers and shakers.

Belanger developed her hammer-swinging technique more than 30 years ago while studying young child development in community college. “I found out how much money I could make doing that, and I realized either I needed a husband with a real job or two jobs,” she says from her Winston-Salem home. An opening at a woodshop connected to a hardware store and lumberyard gave her an opportunity to learn all about wood and how to use woodworking equipment. She started out doing small jobs in her home state of Michigan, but an open-ended trip to North Carolina gave her opportunities in both music and in carpentry.

Belanger started out working part time as a helper with a Triangle-area carpenter, working on porches and decks. Belanger then branched out, working for other builders before a recession ended her job. “I just thought, well, let’s put up an ad,” she says. “I was sick of having to prove myself with all these guys, especially the really young ones, who were totally disrespectful.” Once she started out on her own, the joy in carpentry returned. Her business is called Jill of Many Trades. “I do a lot of punch lists,” she says, “help people move into houses.” She also builds screened

Fall 2017

decks and porches but specializes in doors. “Any kind of door that doesn’t work, I can sometimes come in and just make it work better, make it finally close and latch.”

The jobs provide her with a nice living but also have an important side benefit. “It’s mostly stuff I can do myself so I can have the freedom to schedule around my music.”

Belanger’s musical career blossomed at 18 when she attended her first Wheatland Music Festival, an old time/bluegrass festival in Remus, Michigan. At another, the Spirit of the Woods Folk Festival in Brethren, Michigan, Belanger learned how to call square dances. “They would let me strum along on guitar at the dances. I’m a naturally good dancer, so I just fell into the dancing part of it really easily,” she says. Her balance and moving skills were honed as well over her years of doing heavy-duty construction projects by herself. On her Jill Of Many Trades Facebook page, she recounts a challenging staircase replacement: “When I was lifting the 2x12 boards that made up the diagonal stringers, I was reminded of Fred Flintstone when he got the order of brontosaurus ribs, causing his car to flip over sideways. I didn’t flip over, but I had to have the balance just right and perfectly centered to stay upright. It is a testimony to my skill that a 5’4’’, 115-pound gal can handle something so big with aplomb.”

A trip landed her in North Carolina in 1986, and she began making the rounds of various bluegrass and old time festivals, SEASONS • STYLE & DESIGN 67

LIFE&HOME with encouragement from a Greensboro-based band, The Swamp Cats, who had befriended her in Michigan. “I spent the week in between hanging out with those guys and had an absolute blast,” she recalls, crediting the band with “helping me get established.” She quickly enlisted the help of another Carolina-based musician, Mike Lightnin’ Wells, an acoustic folk/bluesman who produced and played with Big Boy Henry, Algia Mae Hinton and George Higgs.

“I had this really powerful voice, and I wanted to do something with it,” Belanger says. “At one point, I wanted to learn some old blues songs, so I contacted my old buddy Lightnin’ Wells, went down to his house and brought some beer and some food, and he made me a couple of cassette tapes with a bunch of old blues stuff he was into.”

But it was a musician friend at the Wheatland Festival, which Belanger attends annually, who suggested a new direction.

“He said, ‘You’d be good at rockabilly; you should check out Rosie Flores and Wanda Jackson,’” Belanger remembers. It was just what the musician had been looking for; “the perfect bridge between old rock and R&B and blues, more connected to my people in old time and bluegrass world,” she says. “Next thing I knew, I started diving into that stuff.”

That led to the birth of The Mystery Hillbillies, the band she leads today.

At Prissy Polly’s in Kernersville, the main attraction is hawg, both Eastern and Western style. But on a Thursday night earlier this summer, honky-tonk and rockabilly were front-and-center as the Hillbillies stood flat-footed on the floor, cranking out an eclectic set list that ranged from Big Joe Turner to Elvis, from Patsy to Willie, with stops in between for Hank Williams and Bob Wills.

Belanger has a big voice and filled up the room with her take on Patsy Cline’s “I Can’t Help It,” Wanda Jackson and Brenda Lee creeping into Patsy’s space. Later in the set, Belanger introduced her rendition of Chuck Berry’s “You Never Can Tell,” calling him an “an amazing poet: crazy, fun and vivid.” She held up a picture of Berry, kissing the hand of Themetta, his wife of 68 years, which she then

propped up on the mic stand, only for it to fall over. “That Chuck, he never does what he’s told,” she quipped before ripping into song.

A few weeks later at another gig in Pittsboro, The Mystery Hillbillies had a different cast of band members, including Belanger’s hubby Calvin Johnson who rotated in and out depending on where the gig was. Guitarist John Worthington of The Hometown Boys, among other bands, lent an eclectic mix of jazz and surf with honky-tonk twinges, and found notes that Gene Vincent didn’t know existed on “Be Bop A Lula”; it slid some slippery jazz underneath Patsy Cline’s “Crazy,” and in a cover of Neil Sedaka’s “Stupid Cupid,” ripped out surf rock licks underneath Belanger’s powerful, energetic Wanda-ized whoops.

Belanger says she wants be remembered as much for her attitude as her music.

“I feel I am, to some degree, known as somebody who is an inspiration to women who imagine themselves leading a band, being all brassy and charismatic and confident and capable and just being able to go, ‘Follow me, boys!’ And also somebody who plays some good dance music. Those are the things I’m going for.”

Her music speaks for itself, but she’s a pretty good spokesperson for her carpentry business, as well. Just check out her Jill Of Many Trades Facebook page (facebook.com/JillOfManyTrades.Carpentry/). “Hiring a woman carpenter has advantages,” it says: “[Michelle] cleans up her messes and pays attention to things like not spreading paint or dirt over your light-colored carpet with her shoes.”

“She’s just a very interesting person,” Belanger says of herself, a gal who can wield a musical axe as easily as a hammer, nailing it down perfectly. h Grant Britt writes frequently about music, culture and history for Seasons’s sister publication, O.Henry.

Need some help in your home or office? Give Michelle Belanger a call at (336) 767-4241 or send a note to revelators@triad.rr.com to set up an appointment for a visit. She’ll be glad to help.

New, ViNtage, repurposed aNd origiNal products

1 3 1 We s t F o u r t h S t r e e t , W i n s t o n - S a l e m N C 2 7 1 0 1 www.fourthandtrade.com | 336-893-8320

68 SEASONS •

STYLE

& DESIGN

Fall 2017

GOLD AWARD DESIGN WINNER APSP SOUTHEAST 2016

3 3 6 . 8 8 5 . 5 3 3 9

|

w w w.g u i l fo rd p o o l s .c o m

|

S i n c e 1 9 6 6

L E T U S H E L P YO U M A K E A N E N T R Y

VIVID i n t e r i o r s

Interior Design • Furnishings • Art • Gifts • Accessories 513 S. Elm Street, Greensboro, NC 27406 336-265-8628 www.vivid-interiors.com Fall 2017

336-889-3588

SEASONS • STYLE & DESIGN 69

The besT

home furnishing fabrics, at the lowest prices come to the Triad!

One Stop Shopping for all your home decorative needs...

a’s premier North Carolin featuring t fabric outle 0 yards over 400,00 brics fa of designer rices. p at wholesale

Over 5,000 different patterns at wholesale prices Extensive selection of chenilles, velvets, cotton prints, jacquards and outdoor fabrics in an array of colors.

THIS IS GOING TO BE YOUR HAPPY PLACE

2801 Lawndale Dr • Greensboro, NC 27408 336-663-1200 | Mon-Sat: 9:30- 5:30 | Sun: 11-5 2516 Tucker Street Burlington, NC 27215 | 336-222-8460

11435 Granite St # D, Charlotte, NC 28273 | 704-251-4030

an upscale furniture and decorative accessories boutique with new and refined consignment items

1800 N Main St, Suite 124 | High Point, NC 27262 | 336.804.5599

It’s Back to School Season at McCall’s 111 Reynolda Village Winston-Salem, NC 27106 | (336) 723-9419 Monday - Saturday 10 a.m - 5 p.m.

70 SEASONS •

STYLE

& DESIGN

Fall 2017

LIFE&HOME

OUR TOWNS

Gibsonville Rising

From antiques to empanadas, this old railroad town is on track to become a tourist destination with an international flair

By Maria Johnson

A

ntiques aren’t limited to objects. They can be towns, too, and like Granny’s sideboard, they can cycle through heydays, dog days, and, if loved by the right people, days of revival.

That’s what I found on a trip to 146-year-old Gibsonville, a town of 7,000 souls who relish the peace of living in the relatively undeveloped swath between Greensboro and Burlington.

At times, the peace has felt like paralysis, especially after the textiles bust that deflated so many North Carolina towns in the 1980s.

But slowly, Gibsonville has found new vigor as a tourist destination, thanks to a farmers’ market, an antiques mall, a French restaurant, a chocolatier, a garden railroad, and an Argentine bakery with empanadas that people drive for miles to devour.

Like so many towns, Gibsonville was born by the tracks. Six years before the Civil War, in 1855, North Carolina Railroad laid steel through the crossroads between Burlington and Greensboro.

The stop was called Gibson Station in honor of a local farmer Joseph Gibson, whose slaves graded the path for the railroad.

A launch pad for agriculture, the village “greens” were livestock pens, which might explain the greenness of the grass today.

After the Civil War, the village upgraded to the Town of Gibsonville. Businessman Littleberry “Berry” Davidson built two textile mills, Minneola Cotton Mill and Hiawatha Cotton Mill, and the community’s lifeblood was set for roughly the next 100 years.

The City of Roses, so named because of the roses that were planted along the tracks, kept its textile identity until the Minneola plant, then owned by Cone Mills, closed in 1988 Fall 2017

(Only Dixie Belle, a small lingerie maker, survives.)

Local workers moved, started working from home, or drove to jobs elsewhere. Downtown Gibsonville took a Rip Van Winklian nap for 20 years.

Then, in 2005, the town appointed a revitalization committee, headed by Neil Bromilow, a former Navy civil engineer who moved to Gibsonville when he accepted a job at Elon College, now Elon University.

Slowly, Bromilow and others have recruited new businesses, helped existing ones and organized events to attract outsiders.

“It’s like watching paint dry,” says Bromilow. “It looks great in the end, but it’s a slow process.”

With an online printable, self-guided walking tour, written

by Bromilow, I strike out from Greensboro on a Wednesday morning to see what I can see.

My first stop is actually a few miles outside Gibsonville at a place with important ties to the town.

For years, I’ve known about the Charlotte Hawkins Brown State Historic Site, the state’s first, honoring African Americans.

However, I’d never visited the campus, formerly Palmer Memorial Institute, which peaked in the 1940s and ’50s and closed in 1971.

If you care about education — or want to be uplifted by the story of a determined individual — take time to wander through the site’s museum and learn about Brown, a Henderson native who created an influential preparatory school for young black men and women, most of whom went on to college and successful careers. Her local backers included Gibsonville department store owner J.W. Burke, who figures prominently later in this story.

Absorbing Brown’s accomplishments, I am reminded of a SEASONS • STYLE & DESIGN 71

LIFE&HOME magnet on my refrigerator. I’m not sure where the magnet came from, but I love the message: “It Starts with One.” More evidence of that truth is waiting in Gibsonville, where I stop to chat with Myra Burkhead, owner of Gibsonville Antiques & Collectibles, a sprawling antiques mall that opened in 2011 in the former Minneola Mill on South Railroad Street.

Myra, a Greensboro resident and retired teacher’s assistant, had long dabbled in antiques and dreamed of having her own store. The dream came true after her husband Jim spotted the mill space for lease.

Today, Myra’s store covers 18,000 square feet and includes stalls maintained by 70 vendors who sell an astounding array of goods: furniture, books, glassware, toys, tools, signs, and vinyl records, to name a few. A new Christmas shop covers the basement.

Customers can browse while sipping free coffee and nibbling pound cake (one slice per customer, please). Myra also sells Homeland Creamery ice cream, made in nearby Julian; the ciders, juices and jams of Ward Farms in neighboring Whitsett; and Miss Betty’s blueberry syrup, made from blueberries grown by the same Cone family that once owned the mill. In another room a “general store” is stocked with sodas, snacks and candies.

Check out the wall signed by hundreds of people.

“Ada Hiraldo, 4-17-13, from Puerto Rico” “Jorg Post, Zwolle, Netherlands, Nov. 3, 2012” “ ‘Pecka’ Yass, Australia, 6-15-2016” Myra laughs at the memory of people who tried to warn her off this location, saying Gibsonville didn’t have enough traffic.

“I said, ‘But we have antiques, and people will travel to see antiques,’” she recalls before pointing me across the railroad tracks — trains still barrel through daily — where I continue my walking tour.

I stop at a retired Southern Railway caboose that serves as an unstaffed, 24/7 visitors center. Former freight conductor Bobby Summers, who owns a hobby shop in town, secured the caboose, which has been restored and is a popular backdrop for photographers.

From there, I mosey over to Main Street, a remarkably intact artery with 1920s buildings that house just about every service a small town could muster.

Does Gibsonville or Greensboro have more unique, locally-owned businesses? “Gotcha beat,” Bromilow says, noting locations such as The Hardwood Store of North Carolina; Once Upon a Chocolate; and Wade’s Jewelers, where a 3-D printer makes molds for custom pieces.

One thing’s for sure: nobody with two nickels to rub together will go hungry. Within walking distance are several restaurants, including longtime favorites Jack’s BBQ, Pete’s Grill and Kimbers Restaurant. Ethnic flavors abound at Happy Garden (Chinese), Reno’s Pizza & Italian Restaurant, La Casa Dorada (Mexican).

Ines Roets, from Argentina, owns Ines Bakery, home of delectable sweets such as alfajores, which are coconut and caramel-filled cookie sandwiches, and savory empanadas that Facebook fans drive an hour or more to buy.

For lunch, I duck into the decidedly downhome Six Scoops, a homemade ice cream and sandwich shop, and order a barbecue sandwich. Its hickory-smoked flavors tickle my taste buds. No wonder it’s so good: the owners also own Hursey’s Bar-B-Q in Burlington.

Stuffed for the moment, I saunter down the street and stick my head into The Bow Bettie’s, a children’s clothing boutique, that, yes, appears to stock more hair bows than there are little girls’ heads in North America.

Since opening the store in June, owners, Heather Cole of Whitsett and her mom Teresa Hodges of McLeansville, have harnessed walk-in customers, along with Etsy and Facebook-driven sales from as far away as New York and California.

I’m starting to get the picture of Gibsonville as a model for small-town sur-

72 SEASONS •

STYLE

& DESIGN

Fall 2017

Finishing touches make a home.

The right gift makes an impression.

easy drive • easy parking • easy check-in easy screening • easy baggage claim

La Tisserande For home, garden and special occasions, La Tisserande combines European flare with American sensibility.

InterIor DesIgn servIces AvAIlAble 1228 Reynolda Road • Winston-Salem, NC • (336) 529-6370

www.latisserande.com

renew your

body & soul at

about face voted best spa in the area

CHANEL • CLARINS • SKINCEUTICALS • BARE MINERALS

1107 N. MAIN STREET • HIgH poINT • 336.889.0400

www.aboutfacedayspa.com Fall 2017

249 S Stratford Rd • Winston-Salem | (336) 997-9012 | normanstocktonclothier.com

SEASONS • STYLE & DESIGN 73

LIFE&HOME vival in the post-Industrial Age. Here you have locally-owned, web-savvy retail, plus commuter jobs, plus home-based workers, plus a tourist hook or two.

High on the sightseer to-do list are trains, real and miniature. Last year, Bromilow bought the Gibsonville Garden Railroad and incorporated it as a nonprofit venture.

With 1,600 feet of track in 10 loops that mimic the mountains-to-sea character of the state, the Garden Railroad is open to the public on the first Saturday morning of every month from April to December (weather permitting).

Bromilow, now 70 and retired, ticks off more Saturday attractions. A farmers’ market operates from June to the beginning of October. The town sponsors an evening concert series, Groovin’ on the Green, on the first Saturdays of those fair-weather months.

A Saturday visit also enables stops at eight décor-related businesses that some jokingly call “G’ville Mart” after the home furnishings markets in High Point and Atlanta.

Husband-and-wife team Jim and Chris Smith of Burlington and their colleagues are responsible for half of those businesses: The Mill; D’Kays Warehouse; The Dive; and Faux Real Paint Co. The group incubated in the old Liberty Hosiery mill (formerly the Hiawatha mill), which was in Jim Smith’s family. Earlier this year, the stores spread out to new spaces, but they stayed in Gibsonville to keep the synergy with each other and neighboring shops.

“We feed off each other. When I don’t have something, I send ’em down the road,” says Kay Burnette, who runs D’Kays, a rustic furniture and accessories business on Eugene Street.

The final stop on my tour is the most luxurious: Burke Manor Inn & Pavilion.

For owners, Lil and Lori Lacassagne, it’s a dream-come-true, like Myra

Burkhead’s antiques mall. They had been running the top-rated Saint Jacques French Cuisine in Raleigh, one of the country’s best French restaurants, when they set out to realize their goal of owning an inn.

A Google search led them to Burke Manor Inn, which was built in 1906. A few years later, department store owner J.W. Burke bought the place. Yes, the same Burke from the Charlotte Hawkins Brown story.

Burke and his wife, Etta, an active businesswoman and early proponent of Parent Teacher Associations, were lavish entertainers. The home stayed in the family until 1999, when the Brady family bought it and ran it as a bed-andbreakfast for more than a decade.

Enter the Lacassagnes.

“We sat on the veranda, having a glass of wine and watching the trains go by, and said, ‘We have to have this,’” says Lori.

They renovated the inn, which opened in 2011 and has been a mainstay of the community ever since, a spot for weddings, private parties and corporate outings, not to mention overnight guests and gourmands who book dinner reservations at its eight-table French restaurant.

As devotees of locally-grown food, the Lacassagnes crow about eastern Guilford County and its bounty. They refer guests to beer tastings at nearby Red Oak Brewery; to wine tastings at Grove Winery; to fresh produce at the nearby Smith Farms stand; and to fall chestnut roasts at High Rock Farm.

They’re smitten with downtown Gibsonville.

“We have an international town here, on one street,” says Lil, in his charming accent. “Gibsonville is rocking and rolling.” h Learn more about Gibsonville by going to gibsonville.net. Maria Johnson is a regular contributor to Seasons.

Selling and Servicing BabyLock Sewing,Embroidery and Quilting Machines and Sergers.

Summer may be cooling down, but the fun is heating up!!!

Before

After

Stage it. Sell it. Profit.™ Proudly Serving: Realtors Builders Investors Homeowners

2921 Battleground Ave, Ste E Greensboro, NC 27408 (336) 763-0528 www.callalilyquilts.com

74 SEASONS •

STYLE

& DESIGN

color consulting | creative furnitue upcycle product sourcing | extensive marketing experience

We carefully design and implement strategies to ensure your property stands out from the competition by targeting the appropriate buying demographic.

Our redesign services provide eco-friendly and cost effective ways to freshen-up your home for the way you live today.

www.renderedneststaging.com | Kathy@ renderedneststaging.com

336.740.5151 Fall 2017

Floral Design • Delivery Service Home Décor & Gifts Weddings & Special Events Come Visit Our Retail Shop!

1616 Battleground Avenue, Suite D-1 Greensboro, NC 27408

Tuesday -Saturday 10am to 5pm

315 S. LIBERTY ST. WINSTON-SALEM, NC 27101 | 336.893.5777

336.691.0051

mcmanus2@bellsouth.net

w w w. r a n d y m c m a n u s d e s i g n s . c o m

TRUN K SHOW W E D N E S DAY, O C TO B E R 2 5 10 AM – 6PM D OV E R S Q UA R E 336.851.5025

M A I N A N D TAY L O R S H O E S . C O M

Fall 2017

SEASONS • STYLE & DESIGN 75

Fall’s Top Ten

Farms, foliage, home tours and a hint of the holidays to come

By Annie Ferguson

Vintage Market Days of Metro Greensboro

Open Farm Day

Get your vintage fix at this upscale indoor/ outdoor market featuring original art, antiques, clothing, jewelry, handmade treasures, home décor, outdoor furnishings, food and seasonal plantings. September 22–24, 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. (4 p.m. on September 24), Summerfield Farms, 3203 Pleasant Ridge Road, Summerfield. www.vintagemarketdays.com

Spend a fall afternoon on two local farms, where you can meet the farmers, goats, kids, sheep and lambs. You can even “throw a pot” with local potters. Tour the gardens, taste the cheese, feel the fleece, learn about local food and farming, and buy local products such as artisan cheese, wool, yarn, and pasture-raitsed pork and beef. September 24, Noon until 5 p.m., Goat Lady Dairy and Rising Meadow Farm, 3531 Jess Hackett Road, Climax. www.goatladydairy.com

Holiday Market

Shops at Old Salem Holiday Open House

Get a jump on the holidays by attending an allthings-Christmas market, featuring specialty gift stores, fashion jewelry, clothing, foods, holiday decorations and ideas, home accessories and décor, food and wine sampling, plus, of course, Santa. November 3–5 (times vary by date), Tickets: $8/adult, $1/kids 6–12, under 6 free, Greensboro Coliseum Complex, 1921 West Gate City Blvd, Greensboro. www.gilmoreshows.com/holiday_market.shtml

Enjoy seasonal music, food, craftsmen, vendors and shopping at Old Salem. Munch on cookies, sip tea, watch craftsmen create their handmade wares (such as authentic German paper stars), purchase Moravian sugarcake and make progress on your holiday shopping. November 12, 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., Old Salem Visitor Center and shops on the square, 900 Old Salem Road, Winston-Salem, w w w. o l d s a l e m . o r g /e v e n t s /e v e n t / shops-at-old-salem-holiday-open-house

LIFE&HOME

Art in the Great Outdoors

Parade of Homes

Autumn Leaves Tour with Toby Bost

Art in the Arboretum is a juried art- and fine-craft event, featuring 50 regional artists, exhibiting their hand-crafted wares in an outdoor gallery. Also, enjoy entertainment on three stages, interactive art activities, Garden Quest, a monarch butterfly exhibit and two food courts. October 1, noon until 5 p.m., Greensboro Arboretum, 401 Ashland Drive, Greensboro. www.greensborobeautiful.org

In the market for a new home in Guilford or Forsyth counties? During this two-weekend event, visit a variety of homes and communities and meet with area builders, designers and suppliers. Many of these newly constructed homes are move-in ready. October 14–15, 21­–22, 1-5 p.m.Greensboro Builders Association, www.greensborobuilders. org/home-tours and Home Builders Association of Winston-Salem, www.hbaws.net

Take in the fall colors of Old Salem’s native trees.

The multi-chromatic experience features arborist, horticulturist and author Toby Bost, leading a tour of Old Salem’s trees, their historical uses, and the value of trees today and how they might work in your yard. October 27, noon. Tickets: $17, Old Salem, 900 Old Salem Road, Winston-Salem. www. oldsalem.org/events/event/seasonal_tree_tours

Holiday Greenery Festival

Holiday Magic: A Dickens Christmas

The Running of the Balls

Fragrant live greenery and light balls are available for order, starting on October 1. Along with Fraser fir wreaths and roping, a new mixed-greens wreath (Fraser fir, boxwood, and Leyland cypress) will be available this year. Donate $20 so that a Meals-on-Wheels client will get a wreath and bow for the holidays. Come join the festive pick-up party. December 3, noon until 5 p.m., Greensboro Beautiful, 1001 Fourth St., Greensboro. www.greensborobeautiful.org

This fundraising annual event turns Downtown Burlington into a Christmas wonderland. Activities include horsedrawn carriage and train rides, sledding and snow play, a holiday market, food and entertainment. December 8, 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. Downtown Burlington, www.btowneventsnc.com/holiday-magicdickens-christmas.html

Sprint under the majestic oaks of Sunset Hills during this neighborhood’s annual celebration of the season. Hundreds of balls of lights turn this venerable neighborhood into what just may be the most wondrous Christmas scene in the city. Sign up to race or to volunteer, or come out to cheer on your friends. For your very own light balls, see the Holiday Greenery Festival listing.

December 9, 6 p.m., Sunset Hills, Greensboro. www.therunningoftheballs.com

color

Put a piece of

in your life.

From Our Kitchen To Your Table For Over 25 Years

Come find your one-of-a-kind piece at the Piedmont Craftsmen’s Fair.

Explore handmade home goods, jewelry, furniture and decorative items from some of America’s finest artisans. Meet the craftspeople. Learn their techniques. And, most importantly, find a piece that you can take home and treasure.

MOrAViAN ChiCKeN Pie Salem Kitchen prepares Gourmet to Go meals. Our location in Winston-Salem, off Miller Street, offers a remarkable variety of fresh and frozen, chef prepared entrees, sides, soups, salad, breads and desserts packaged to go. Salem Kitchen also offers full service catering.

Visit the gift shop at Salem Kitchen for an extensive selection of tables linens, featuring April Cornell. We offer a variety of gift items including La Cadeaux melamine, Caldrea products and Nouvelle candles. Check out the wine shop while you’re visiting.

Creative design by Vela Agency

Advance Tickets: PiedmontCraftsmen.org November 18 & 19 | Benton Convention Center • Winston-Salem, NC

336.373.6200

2214 Golden Gate Drive • Greensboro, NC

Photo: Daniel Stoner

50 Miller Street • WinSton-SaleM, nC 27104 • 336.722.1155 • WWW.SaleMkitChen.CoM

Carriage House Antiques & Home Decor

Artist: Melanie Miller - Jewelry

Monday-Friday 10-6 • Saturday • 10-5 Sunday 1-5 Carriage_House@att.net

78 SEASONS •

STYLE

& DESIGN

Fall 2017

LIFE&HOME

THE LANGUAGE OF HOME

To the Table, Everybody How the dining room came to be

D

By Noah Salt

ining Room: According to Merriam-Webster, “Dining Room,” a noun, has one very plain and simple definition: A room used for serving meals.

No obfuscation or fancy verbal footwork there, cousins. But clearly, neither Merriam nor Webster bothered to consult our Southern mother about the proper use of a “Dining Room.” She had very firm (we might even say unbending) views on the subject.

Simply put (and here we are dangerously paraphrasing), the dining room of a responsibly maintained house has traditionally been where important meals are served to one’s family, friends or honored guests on any occasion that merits special treatment.

Sunday lunch and meaningful family days like birthdays and anniversaries are high on the official approval list, but national holidays — Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner — qualify as even higher in status given the room’s natural air of formality that the rest of our house lacks. Family china, dating back almost to the Mayflower, sparkled from a cherry heirloom cabinet, after all, and the pecan dining room table gleamed with an authority all its own.

Curiously, according to Webster, the word dates from Early Modern English in 1601, the same year William Shakespeare was at his peak and “gobble” and “simpleminded” were current in the lexicon of Elizabethan England, which (not to belabor a point) fairly describes a certain mother’s mood if she detected certain youthful charges gobbling their meals “as if late for a fire,” an offense to a room where meals were meant to be enjoyed at a “civilized” pace.

Whatever else may be true, a modern dining room comes with a colorful legacy. During the Middle Ages, persons of wealth and high social stature dined in Great Halls, stately rooms draped with coats of arms and expensive trappings intended to impress or intimidate friends and adversaries alike. Tables and sideboards were laden with the bounty of summer gardens and freshly killed and cooked game — a place where everything from marriage feasts

Fall 2017

to statecraft were conducted.

In Colonial America, formal dining rooms developed in only the best of private houses, carefully removed from kitchens where fires were always a danger. Taverns of that era set aside private dining rooms for those needing discretion with their dinner, notably Philadelphia’s famous City Tavern, opened in 1773, where the likes of Adams, Franklin and other Sons of Liberty broke bread and hatched plans for a new nation under God. You can still dine there today where Walnut crosses Second Street in the City of Brotherly Love.

Over time, hotels and inns and finer urban restaurants adopted the concept of private dining rooms — think the Plaza’s Oak Room or the 21 Club — and the elegant formal dining room was established as a staple of middle-class values for decades, up until the 1990s or so, when the so-called “Open” concept knocked down walls that merged kitchen and dining room life in the interest of enhanced sociability. For a time, traditional dining rooms across the fruited plain, especially down here in the South, became little more than idle pass-through museums of family photos and Hummel figurines.

According to more than one architectural authority, like Victorian necklines and pleated plaid skirts, dining rooms are making something of a cultural comeback a almost two decades into the New Millennium. Ancestral memory or simply a yearning for needed decorum is apparently at the heart of this revival, a place set apart for important gatherings, whatever the occasion.

Somewhere, wherever she is, our late Southern mama must be pleased how things that go round, indeed, eventually come round.

As our glasses are raised in her favorite room this holiday season — the holiest place in the house once more in fashion — we might be moved to offer, by way of a toast, the fitting words of novelist Anita Diament, who declared, “The Sabbath is a weekly cathedral raised up in my dining room, in my family, in my heart.”

Well said. Now, will someone please pass the gravy boat? h SEASONS • STYLE & DESIGN 79

LIFE&HOME

HOMEWORDS

The Will

When objects of affection become objects of affliction

By Cynthia Adams Illustration by Harry Blair

O

ur house, a mishmash of objects from yard sales, consignment shops or the emptying out of dead relatives’ homes, has soul.

Soul takes time. Hours haunting antique shops and junking here and abroad. Nostalgia is a huge aspect of what made the cut. It took years to put together a service for 12 (of pre-Occupied Japan) blue willow china like my great-grandmother Lauretta’s.

Meanwhile, my husband scoured for ancestral John Gould bird prints.

Yet some of our best finds were free! A vintage Spanish chandelier was salvaged from a neighbor’s trash can one Monday morning — a magpie’s eye caught the twinkle of a dangling crystal. I’ve sanded and painted chairs pulled from the curb. My heart palpitates whenever I open a magazine and see what an inventive someone refashioned from frumpy to fabuloso.

In theory, these objects are wonderfully unified and appealing. They are rounded out by artworks from long gone or newly emerging artists. Subject matter is freewheeling. (An artist friend, Harriet, pointed out that I had unwittingly amassed a collection of infant portraits, memorialized after their untimely end.) Initially thunderstruck, I kept them out of sight for a period, but now they are back on display and comprise my Dead Baby Collection.

Don’t judge.

When it was time to update our will, I composed a family email. What would they like to have earmarked for them when we slipped off the raft and dog paddled to the far shores of Valhalla?

A long silence ensued.

Perhaps they disliked thinking about our inevitable deaths. Then again, maybe it was something else.

At last, a lonely, succinct response. My brother John emailed: I don’t want any of your crap. We’ve got too much of our own to deal with.

John is pragmatic. He owns no dead baby portraits. By age 7, he was way ahead of Marie Kondo, the clear out your closets and be magically transported to happy guru. Kondo has sold over 6 million copies of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Kondo has a method. So does my brother: Don’t accept crap, not even from your big sister.

My nephew Travis didn’t want anything either but pleaded we please get rid of an oil portrait and a sculpture, both, apparently, “with bad mojo.”

80 SEASONS •

STYLE

& DESIGN

Oddly, he didn’t mention the Dead Babies.

A sentimental niece was phoned. Jesus, I wanted Kelly to want something.

She hesitated. I held my breath. “Well, there is something,” she said shyly.

“You know that statue of the dog at your front door? I always liked that.”

It is a concrete dog that reminded us of our schnauzer, moldering with age and bearing sweet Kip’s dog collars and tags. No blue-and-white china. No bird prints. No dead baby portraits.

“That’s it?”

“That’s all I can think of right now,” she replied softly. “Sorry.”

No takers.

We ended the call; I stared off into the stormy clouds beyond my office window. I considered the fate of my grandmother’s button box. My mother-in-law’s thimbles. Political memorabilia.

Memento mori.

Damn that Marie Kondo! I felt magically transported, alright, with one foot on the raft. h Cynthia Adams is no millennial and has no idea how to live the Marie Kondo way. She is a contributing editor to O.Henry, the flagship publication of Seasons.

Fall 2017

ON-ROAD PERFORMANCE AND OFF-ROAD CAPABILITY ARE NO LONGER MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE.

Levante is an SUV with a sports-car soul. It features a powerful twin-turbocharged V6 engine, sophisticated �ve-way air suspension, and Q4 intelligent all-wheel drive that grips the road with exhilarating handling. Levante �ts your lifestyle with Italian craftsmanship, luxury and performance.

FOREIGN CARS ITALIA 5603 Roanne Way, Greensboro, NC 27409 • 336-518-3014 www.foreigncarsitalia.com *Maserati Levante MY2017 base MSRP $73,300. Not including dealer prep and transportation. Actual selling price may vary. Taxes, title, license, registration fees and $699 dealer administration fee not included. ©2017 Maserati North America, Inc. All rights reserved. Maserati and the Trident logo are registered trademarks of Maserati SpA.

York Collection

Y O U R H O M E S AY S A L O T A B O U T Y O U .

W E’ R E H E R E TO LI S TE N .

Your home is a reflection of you. Ferguson’s product experts are here to listen to every detail of your vision, and we’ll work alongside you and your designer, builder or remodeler to bring it to life. Our product experts will help you find the perfect products from the finest bath, kitchen and lighting brands in the world. Request an appointment with your own personal Ferguson product expert and let us discover the possibilities for your next project.

Visit fergusonshowrooms.com to get started.

GREENSBORO 305 FRIENDSHIP DRIVE (336) 664-6509 ©2017 Ferguson Enterprises, Inc. 521607

WINSTON-SALEM 7905 N POINT BOULEVARD (336) 759-0253

FERGUSONSHOWROOMS.COM