Former Home of NC Governor John Motley Morehead

Blandwood, Greensboro North Carolina

Date added: April 03, 2024 Categories:

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John Motley Morehead (1796-1866) was one of Greensboro's most distinguished citizens and an outstanding governor of North Carolina. A lawyer and entrepreneur, he was a statesman of unusual vision. During many terms in the legislature and two terms as governor (1841-1845), he sought legislation to give the state a unified transportation system. He vigorously supported the "Literary Fund" for establishing common schools and for enacting legislation to ameliorate the conditions of slaves. He persuaded the legislature to provide for a penitentiary system, a school for the deaf and blind, and an asylum for the insane. He was foremost in the group who established the North Carolina Railroad which ran from the coast westward to Morganton and opened up the state to trade and travel. He was a trustee of the University for 36 years and organized the alumni association. As his career developed he became prominent in national politics, serving as presiding officer of the national Whig convention which in 1848 nominated General Zachary Taylor for the presidency. He, himself, was twice close to the vice presidency. He was one of the delegates from North Carolina to the Peace Congress at Washington in 1861, and was in 1861-62 a member of the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States. Morehead was host to many distinguished guests during the Civil War years, including Generals Beauregard and Johnston, Commander Lee (brother of General Lee), Cabinet members Alexander Stephens, Christopher Memminger and Judah P. Benjamin. President Davis, fleeing Richmond, was invited to Blandwood but declined fearing reprisals against the Morehead family. Cox and other Federal generals, under Sherman's command, were received with courtesy.

In 1844 while governor, John Morehead met the noted architect, Alexander Jackson Davis. It was at this time that he contracted Davis to enlarge Blandwood. Davis designed a "Tuscan villa" in the then-fashionable Italianate style. Several drawings of Blandwood by Davis are in the Metropolitan Museum. One etching of Blandwood appeared in Andrew Jackson Downing's A Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardens (1859 edition). Davis worked with Downing on this well-known and influential work and supplied the drawing of Blandwood which is the only southern house to appear in that edition.

The original land grant to the Blandwood property was to Thomas McCuiston in 1788. At his death, it was inherited by his son, James McCuiston, who sold it to Charles Bland for 56 pounds in 1795. It must have been during Charles Bland's ownership that Blandwood received its name.

In 1800 Joseph Thornburgh bought Blandwood from Charles Bland. In 1827 Thomas Caldwell sold the land to Henry Humphreys. Henry Humphreys married Letitia Lindsay, the widow of Robert Lindsay. Letitia Lindsay's daughter by her first husband, Ann Eliza Lindsay, married John Motley Morehead in 1821. He purchased Blandwood from his wife's step-father, Henry Humphreys, in 1827. After Morehead's death in 1866, the property was inherited by his younger son, Eugene. He later sold it to his brother-in-law, Julius Gray. Blandwood belonged to the Gray family until 1896 when it was leased and later bought by Keeley Institute. Until 1965 it was used as a rehabilitation center for alcoholics. It is presently owned by the Greensboro Preservation Society.

Site Description

Blandwood is an important early example of the Italian Villa Style of architecture. It is believed by Jane Davies, the biographer of Alexander J. Davis, to be the oldest extant example of this style in the United States. The facade features a three story central belvedere, or prospect tower. The main house with its flanking dependencies represents four distinct building phases.

The first phase was a four room, two bedroom farmhouse owned by Charles Bland in the 1790's. Blandwood apparently acquired its name during this period of ownership. This structure was a simple Federal style home with a clapboard exterior and twin exterior brick chimneys.

In February 1822 Blandwood was purchased by Henry Humphreys, one of the area's most affluent citizens. He made additions to the original farmhouse, possibly by adjoining an existing farmhouse of approximately the same age but with more elaborate mill work. Humphreys also added porches to the front and the rear of the altered house. This period constitutes phase two of Blandwood's architectural history.

Phase three began with the sale of Blandwood by Henry Humphreys to John Motley Morehead in August, 1827. Morehead and his family lived in the existing six room structure unchanged until 1844. On February 3^rd of that year Governor Morehead brought architect Alexander J. Davis to Greensboro to design a large new addition for his house.

Davis was an architect of national and international renown. Morehead became acquainted with Davis during the final year of his tenure as governor of North Carolina when Davis was retained to make additions to the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Morehead served two two-year terms as Governor of North Carolina beginning in 1840.

Davis spent three days at Blandwood working on his initial design for the additions. He developed expansive plans for the front of the existing structure that included a grand entry hall with twin parlors on either side on the first floor, two bedrooms and a small sitting room on the second floor, and a belvedere tower over the sitting room. On the exterior Davis designed arcades extending from each side of the house to small dependencies. The construction work was carried out by Joseph and William Conrad of Lexington, North Carolina.

The house remained essentially unchanged from 1846, when the work was completed, until 1897 when Blandwood was leased by the Morehead heirs to The Keeley Institute which eventually purchased the property in 1905. Blandwood functioned as the site of The Keeley Institute, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation hospital, until it closed in 1964. Numerous changes were made to Blandwood during this time including demolition of the dependencies and construction of new dormitories. The original carriage house was moved and attached to the main house to serve as a dining hall. Interestingly enough, however, the Keeley Institute made very few changes to the Davis portion of the main house.

In October of 1966, Blandwood was saved from certain demolition when the Greensboro Preservation Society organized to purchase and save the mansion. Initially it was planned to use Blandwood as a public meeting place. Later it was decided to maintain Blandwood as a house museum. Restoration efforts began in earnest. Sadly, the carriage house could not withstand being moved a second time when restoration began in August, 1967. 1t was demolished, except for the cupola, and in 1969 a new building was constructed. It was designed to reflect the unusual octagonal shape of its predecessor with the original cupola installed. This facility is available to the public for social events, meetings, and seminars thus fulfilling one of Greensboro Preservation Society's original goals. Dormitories added by The Keeley Institute were demolished in 1967.

Blandwood's north side is its facade. It measures 55' in length, not including the projecting bay windows on each side. Designed by Alexander J. Davis in February sear Jane B. Davies describes Blandwood as an important architectural prototype? with its three story, 38', projecting tower on a rectangular block. The low pitched, hipped roof reaches a height of 32' and has notably deep (4') eaves which are supported by simple wooden brackets with curved terminating ornaments. The ground (entrance) level of the tower has great round arches on three sides and tall, narrow double windows. There are three 10' arched openings in each of the 15' tall arcades which lead to the flanking dependencies with facing gable ends. As on the sides, the second story has double, eight pane, sliding windows with simple wood trim and interior shutters. The third story room of the projecting tower has triple windows centered in each wall. The dimensions of each set of windows are 6' x 8'10 1/2". These are hinged windows that swing inward and, unlike the other windows in the Davis addition, do not have shutters. The detailing above these windows consists of a simple wooden bracket, surmounted by a small masonry cornice. These windows have deep wooden sills.

The exterior of the house reveals its evolution over a sixty year period from the 1790's through 1846 when the construction of the additions designed by Alexander J. Davis were completed. The different ages of the sections of the house are readily apparent, particularly when viewed from the east and west sides where the sections are joined. From these sides one is able to appreciate the design that Davis employed to progress from the older clapboard sections to the Italianate stucco addition in the least noticeable fashion.

The southern side of the house reflects the portions built in the late 1790's and the 1820's. 1t has seven bays. Beginning at the easternmost portion and counting, the two portions were joined between the fourth and fifth bays. This is easily deduced by the unmatched clapboards which are seen on the second story. This attachment is obscured on the first floor by a long covered porch extending across the middle five bays. The porch and two small storage rooms were added to the rear of the house when the 1820's additions were made. Windows were put in each of the storage rooms to maintain visual symmetry between the first and second floors. Each of these small rooms is accessible via a door from the porch. The western storage room is thought to have been used a safe room for travelers, unknown to the family, who needed a place to spend the night. Doors on the first floor, under the second and sixth bays, lead from the porch into the dining room and the governor's bedroom. The porch addition, including the two small rooms, is 55 feet in length and ten feet deep.

The east and west sides of the main house are virtually identical. Each side of the house is 65 feet in length including the porch addition. Beginning at the northern corners and working southward, each features a massive bay window, ten feet tall, ten feet wide, and projecting five feet out from the house. The arcades then interrupt the sides just south of the bay windows. Behind the arcades, on the ground level, are recessed areas which provide covered entrances into the back hall of the house. Leading from these are brick walkways which extend to the dependencies. The door on the western side of the house is centered between two windows. Each of these seven by four foot windows is six panes over nine panes and double hung. The original window on the north side of the eastern door was removed during renovation to allow addition of a door giving access to a furnace room (A portion of the rear hall was enclosed to provide space for the furnace as well).

South of these doorways, in the center of the older farmhouse section, are exterior chimneys with, nine over six double hung windows which are 61 inches by 36 inches in size. These chimneys were stuccoed when the Davis addition was built. The porch addition, including the two small rooms, extends just beyond this section.

On the second floor of the east and west sides, as on the first floor, are corresponding details. Over the bay windows are small double Italianate windows with eight panes in each and with interior shutters. Both the windows and the shutters slide into pockets in the walls. In the areas that project over the recessed doors are two massive 81" x 62", eight over twelve double hung windows. In the older section the windows on the first floor are mirrored on the second floor.

The main house has a standing seam terne coated steel roof. It was replaced in 1987 due to the extreme deterioration of the original roof which was coated with a fiberglass/asphalt compound in the late 1960s. Recent paint analysis reveals that the original roof was painted a reddish-brown. Just as the present roof was reconstructed using authentic tools and methods to match the original, it will soon be painted to recreate the color found on the original as well.

The oldest section of the house is the southeastern section. What was once a long porch running the length of the ground floor of the front, or northern, side of the house is now a long hallway, upstairs, the corresponding space was divided into two small rooms. It has not been determined if these walls were added by the Keeley Institute or Davis.

The two downstairs rooms, which are part of the original farmhouse, are very simple in detail. These are referred to on the floor plan as the Dining Room and Letitia Morehead's Bedroom. This room has been interpreted as Letitia's bedroom because she moved into it following the death of her husband when she moved back to Blandwood to raise her children and help in the management of the household.

Letitia's Bedroom has a small wood-burning fireplace with nine over six double hung windows on either side of it which look out toward the Kitchen Dependency on the eastern side of the house. A new mantle has been installed and grained to complete the detailing in this room. An identical window is in the north wall looking out into the recessed area. The window surrounds are very simple, as was typical of a rural farmhouse. A chair rail has parallel wooden planks beneath it with a plaster wall above. Letitia's Bedroom measures 18' x 11'. A door on the south side of the room leads into the small "storage" room that is a reconstruction of the one added in the 1820 porch addition. The original room was removed when the Keely Institute attached the carriage house at this corner. This small "storage" room has a door on its west wall that opens onto the porch and a 9/6 double hung window on the south wall. This small room measures 10' x 10'.

A door on the western wall of Letitia's Bedroom leads into the Dining Room. This room is dominated by a large, 5'5" x 8'7 1/2", wood-burning fireplace on the west wall. Noteworthy for its Federal style, this mantle has Masonic symbols etched on the base on each side. These markings are curious as there was no Masonic Order in this area during the 1790's. It is speculated that a traveling crafts person may have carried out the work, or that Henry Humphreys, who was a Mason, had the mantle installed. The mantle was grained and the plaster surround marbleized. These original faux finishes were duplicated, following paint analysis, in 1985. As in Letitia's Bedroom, the Dining Room has very simple window surrounds and a simple chair rail for detail with wide, painted planks running parallel beneath. The woodwork in the Dining Room is painted a bright green color which was also determined through paint analysis. There are whitewashed, plastered walls above the chair rail. On the south wall is a door to the back porch with two nine over six double hung windows to the west of it.

On the west wall of the Dining Room is a door leading through a 3' passage into the section of the house added in 1820 by Henry Humphreys. The passageway slopes downward toward the west approximately 1' 1/2". The walls of the passageway are planking resembling that below the chair rail in the Dining Room and Letitia's room. At the end of this passage a second doorway leads into the Governor's Bedroom.

The Governor's Bedroom has much more elaborate detail than the previously described section of the house. The sophisticated recessed wainscoting and window surrounds are of the Federal style and are painted the same bright green that was used in the Dining Room, again as indicated through paint analysis. The mantle on the west wall, also of the Federal style, has a combination of graining and marbleizing that has been authentically reproduced. Like the other fireplaces in the older sections of the house, this one is also a wood-burning fireplace. Deep framing surrounds the windows. The room has a total of four windows located as follows: one on the south wall to the east of the door that leads out to the porch; two, one on either side of the fireplace, on the west wall; one on the west side of the door in the north wall. 1n the northeastern corner of the room are four steps which lead up to a door. A narrow, curving stairway extends from the door to the second floor bedroom above. The northern door of the Governor's Bedroom opens into the Rear Hall.

The Rear Hall was originally the front porch of the "joined" farmhouses. A steep stairway that goes up the west side of the north wall joins it with the corresponding space on the second floor, this stairway is not a part of the Davis addition. The Greensboro Preservation Society brought the newel post and bannister from another notable Greensboro home, Dunleith, when it was demolished. At each end of the hall are doors which open out to brick walkways leading to the dependencies. A door on the west wall has large windows on both sides. The east side originally had a window on each side of the door; however, the window on the north side of the door was lost when a small section of the hall was closed off to house a furnace. This necessitated the installation of a door where the window was previously located. A door on the north side of the hall opens into the main stairwell.

The upstairs section of the old farmhouse nearly duplicates the floor plan and detailing seen on the first floor except that the small "storage" rooms and porch are not repeated on the second floor. The exception to this is in the space over the Back Hall. On the second floor this area was divided into two roams, each with a fireplace, with a small hallway running perpendicular that connected them to the Davis addition. As part of the Davis addition, these fireplaces are coal-bumming and display mantles carved from marble in the Greek Revival Style. Centered on each end is a floor to ceiling eight over twelve double hung window measuring 81" x 62". The wall that created the room on the east end of this space is no longer in existence. The wall forming the roam on the west side has a door topped by a 24" x 30" transom.

The next two rooms correspond to Letitia's Bedroom and the Dining Roan. Accordingly, as these four roams together constituted the original farmhouse, the floors, chair rail with parallel wood planking beneath and plaster wall above, and, window surrounds are repeated in the same simple Federal style described in Letitia's Bedroom and the Dining Room.

The southeast corner room, located over Letitia's Bedroom, is remarkable in that the original pine graining is still intact on the back of the door located on the north wall. This original graining was used as the model when the back of a door on the west wall and the mantle were grained. The wood-burning fireplace shares the chimney with the fireplace in Letitia's Bedroom and bears the same Federal style wooden mantle. There are three nine over six double hung windows in this roam: two, one on each side of the fireplace, on the east wall, and one on the south wall which overlooks the porch.

The door on the west wall leads into a spacious bedroom located directly over the Dining Room. For purposes of interpretation, this room is called the Children's Room. There are three nine over six double hung windows on the south wall overlooking the porch. A wooden, Federal style mantle adorns the wood-burning fireplace on the west wall which shares a chimney with the Dining Room fireplace. This mantle has also been grained using the original graining in the previous room as the model. A door on the west side of the north wall leads out into the perpendicular hallway.

The bedroom located above the Governor's Bedroom also is a part of the 1820 Humphreys addition and as such, has the same elaborate recessed wainscoting and window surrounds described previously. The eastern section of this room was partitioned off to accommodate two restrooms. There are seven windows in this room: three on the south wall overlooking the porch; two on the west wall on either side of the fireplace; two on the north wall which would have looked over the front porch before the Davis addition. It is interesting to note that the windows on the north wall were not sealed. The wood-burning fireplace on the west wall has a chimney in common with the Governor's Bedroom fireplace. The narrow, curving stairway emerges in the northeastern corner of this room. The wall behind it reveals the Clapboard side of the original 1790 farmhouse as well as the chimney from the Dining Room fireplace. A doorway, up two additional steps, is located on the north wall just west of the small stairway leading from the Governor's Bedroom. This opens into one of the roams created over the Rear Hall.

The Davis addition to Blandwood is divided into three sections on both the first and second floors. The middle section is more narrow than the outer sections. Construction was begun in May, 1844 and completed in 1846. 1t is important to note that Davis himself selected many of the fittings for the addition including such details as doorknobs. When Governor and Mrs. Morehead made a trip to New York to purchase furnishings, Davis accompanied them to assist in the selection. Many facets of the design shows Davis's innovative ideas and desire to maximize light and ventilation.

Approaching Blandwood from the north side is impressive. Entering the front portico, the ground level of the projecting tower, one comes through the great front doors into the Entrance Hall. These 10' double doors each have two vertical panels at the bottom of each with eight panes of glass on the top sections. They swing inward into the Entrance Hall. This grand space features elaborate plaster work on the ceiling, as does the West Parlors. It is an anthemion Greek Revival motif of stylized honeysuckle with a medallion of a grape leaf design in the center. The doors to the portico and the twin parlors are framed by Tuscan pilasters and entablature. There are two doors on the south wall. The one on the west side opens into a closet space while the one on the east side has two steps up into the enclosed central stairway. These doors have six recessed panels; two long panels in the center with two smaller panels placed at the top and the bottom of the long panels. This style is duplicated on all doors in the addition with the exception of the massive front doors and in the East and West Parlors. A 9 1/2" baseboard runs throughout the Davis addition--both upstairs and down. These have been marbleized in the Entrance Hall, East, and West Parlors. The woodwork has also been grained in these areas. Both the graining and marbleizing were done to duplicate what was present during the Morehead era at Blandwood.

To the east of the Entrance Hall is the East Parlor. The 10' doors that swing inward are of the same design as the smaller doors in the addition. This parlor may have been designed by Davis to be used as a dining room although the Morehead family chose to continue the dining room in the old section of the house. Since it was designed as a dining room, it has a butler's pantry on the southeast side of the south wall. This pantry has warming and holding cupboards on each side and a second door on its south wall providing access to the East Dependency. On the other side of the fireplace is an identical door that opens into another closet space. The coal-burning fireplace is surrounded by a marble mantle carved in the Greek revival style. On the east wall is a deep bay window 10' wide and 5' deep which is enclosed by 10' tall doors that slide into pockets in the walls. The bay has three pairs of windows surmounted by a keystone arch. The center pair consists of two six over six double hung windows. On each side of these is a pair of twelve pane hinged windows that swing inward. These windows are identical in each of the bays. The sliding doors that enclose the bay each have twelve mirrored panes facing inward. These mirrors were designed to offer maximum reflection of existing light when the doors were closed. The north wall is dominated by a large 8' x 5'10" double window with interior shutters. Rather than being double hung or hinged, these windows and their shutters slide into pockets in the walls. The plaster work on the ceiling repeats the grape leaf design seen in the Entrance Hall.

The West Parlor is the more elaborate of the twin parlors principally due to its more elaborate plaster work. The medallion on the ceiling is slightly more elaborate and is enhanced by a Greek Revival anthemion frieze. Each of the 10' doors that open into the parlor from the Entrance Hall have the same design as the others on the Hall side. On the Parlor side, however, each door has three gilt edged mirror panels. When closed these mirrors functioned as the ones in the East Parlor did-to reflect light. The 10' sliding doors on the identical bay window differ in that they are fitted with panes of clear glass. Architecturally the West and East Parlors are identical, (both measuring 21' x 19'), with one exception: the south wall in the West Parlor has only the carved marble mantle around its coal-burning fireplace. The doors flanking the fireplace in the East Parlor are not repeated here.

The arrangement of windows displays Davis's fondness for good light and ventilation. By opening the doorways and bay windows one can provide a breeze across the house or control drafts. This is also seen in the design of the enclosed stairway. It allowed privacy in the upstairs living quarters as well as control of ventilation by use of the doors on the first floor. A curved stairway leads to the central hall on the second floor. This hall has a large bedroom on both the east and west side and a small parlor on the north side.

Just as on the first floor, the rooms on each side of the center hallway are identical in size, (21' x 19'), and basic layout. They each have double windows with interior shutters, like those in the parlors, which measure north and east walls. In the West Bedroom they are located on the north and west walls. They both have coal burning fireplaces with carved Greek Revival style mantles centered in their southern walls. The only difference in the two rooms is that the East Bedroom has a door on the southern wall, to the west of the fireplace, which leads into a small closet space.

The Upstairs Parlor incorporates the second story of the tower. It has a coal-burning fireplace on the west wall which has a marble mantle like all of the other mantles in the Davis addition. Sliding windows of the same dimension and description as the ones in the bedrooms, including interior shutters, are located on the west wall just north of the fireplace with another set directly across from them on the east wall and a third set centered in the north wall. The main body of the Upstairs Parlor is 14 1/2' x 14 1/2'. Along the southeastern side of the room is a stairway leading to the third story of the tower. A door at the foot of the steps has the original graining intact on the stairway side. Double doors swing outward into the hall from the Upstairs Parlor. Each door has four recessed wooden panels (two at the top and two at the bottom) with nine glass panes centered in three rows between

The third story of the tower is a small, square (14 1/2' x 14 1/2') room completely surrounded by windows. A set of three windows is centered in each of the walls. Each window has eight panes of glass and is hinged to swing inward. The dimensions of each set of windows are 6' x 8' 10 1/2".

The flooring in the Davis addition is pine plank flooring; however, rather than running east/west as they do in the older sections, the planks in the Davis addition run north/south.

Both of the Blandwood dependencies have been reconstructed based on archaeological evidence as well as scholarly research. The exteriors of both are stuccoed in the same way as the Davis addition to the main house.

Archaeological Research conducted by Archaeological Research Consultants, Inc. of Chapel Hill determined that the West Dependency, which was built to serve as Governor Morehead's law office extended thirty feet south and five feet north of the arcade. The building was two stories tall and fifteen feet wide. It was reconstructed with two rooms of equal size, 20' by 15', on the first floor.

Each room on the first floor has a coal burning fireplace and marble mantle centered in the west wall. The northern room is interpreted as the Governor's Law Office. It has four six over nine double hung windows. Two are located on each side of the fireplace in the west wall, another is centered in the north wall. A door is located on the south east wall of the room and leads out to a paved walkway to the main house. A four panel door on at the westernmost point of the south wall opens into a stairway. The southern room is now used as a Nineteenth Century Resource Center. It has two windows identical to those in the Law Office with one centered in the south wall and another on the west wall to the right of the fireplace. It also has a four panel door centered in its east wall that leads out toward the main house. The walls in the downstairs are unpainted plaster. Floors are wide plank floors made of southern yellow pine.

The second floor also has two rooms of equal size with the stairway opening into the northern room. As these rooms are utilized for archives and storage of museum collections, they are sheet rocked rather than plastered. The floors upstairs are the same type of wide plank flooring found downstairs. There are two windows, one centered on each gable end.

The roof on the dependency is like that of the main house: terne coated steel with a standing 1" seam.

The East Dependency, or Kitchen, like the West Dependency, is fifteen feet wide with two stories. It differs in that it is forty feet long; five feet north and thirty feet south of the arcade. Photographs of the two dependencies indicate that some existing structure may have been incorporated to enlarge the 1844 East Dependency. Close examination of late nineteenth century photographs show the building with the two different roofing materials: a standing seam roof on the north section and slate on the south end. Tax records also note the different roof materials. These two different materials were used in the reconstruction as well. Photographic evidence also reveals that the south side of the kitchen was covered in clapboards rather than stucco. This treatment has also been reproduced.

The East Dependency has been reconstructed as a kitchen, its original function, as well as an educational facility for visitors to Blandwood. Like the West Dependency, it was reconstructed with two roams of equal size on each floor. The north room is used as the Education Room. The windows are six over nine double hung. There is one centered in the north wall and another to the right of the marble mantle on the east wall. The mantel surrounds a coal burning fireplace. A door leads from the west wall out to a paved walkway to the main house. A second door leads from the westernmost section of the south wall into the Kitchen.

The south room is interpreted as an early nineteenth century plantation kitchen. Its dominating feature is a massive brick wood burning fireplace on the south wall. It has a beehive oven. One window is located on the western wall with the other on the eastern wall. A stairway, which like the one in the West Dependency, is located in the easternmost section of the north wall. A door closes the stairway off from the Kitchen. A door in the west wall leads out to the same paved walkway.

The floors are wide plank southern yellow pine. They have been left unfinished. The walls in the Education Room are of unfinished plaster. The walls in the Kitchen are bare planks of yellow southern pine. Just as in the West Dependency, the upstairs rooms are used solely for storage; therefore, the upstairs rooms are sheet rocked.