It’s April, and that means spring. And for flower lovers, it means the annual Virginia Historic Garden Week. For nearly 100 years, garden clubs celebrate this cherished tradition by showcasing the beauty of Virginia’s historic homes and gardens.
In the region, we have a number of houses that have beautiful gardens, but one of our favorites is in Martinsville. It’s beloved for multiple reasons, but we love the way flowers and greenery appear to be built into the design of the house.
The John Waddey Carter House was built in 1896 and designed by George F. Barber. With an impressive two-story tower and a one-story wrap-around porch, it was designed to illustrate the importance, wealth, and social status of the owners. Known locally as “The Grey Lady”, the home is as magnificent today as it would have been in 1896.
The other reason we find the building fascinating is because there is a home on West Main in Danville that looks very similar. Same two-story tower and one-story wrap-around porch, with many of the same elegant features. These two buildings are not exact copies, but to the average layman, they might appear to be. But you must be wondering: why would one architect design such similar buildings for prominent local businessmen? Wouldn’t having a replicate of your house one town over diminish your social standing?
Interestingly, the architect likely never met either owner. The basic design of the house was from a mail-order catalog.
This will probably inspire thoughts of the Sears “kit homes” that dominated the early part of the 20th Century. But Sears sold the design and the pre-cut materials to build the house. George Barber just sold the designs.
Barber didn’t invent selling architectural plans via mail order, but his designs were incredibly popular and he ran his mail order business for more than a decade. His houses were lavish, elegant, and prized by the upper class. And unlike other mail order architects, Barber was always willing to make small changes to his designs, per the customer’s request.
Between his personal touch and the beautifully designed homes, Barber dominated the industry. As the May 5th, 1896 edition of the Tennessee Morning Tribune noted, “…this firm occupies the proud position of being the largest producer of architectural plans and designs in the world.” However, although Barber sold upwards of an estimated 20,000 designs in his lifetime, his willingness to alter plans slightly for the buyer makes identifying those homes difficult. For instance, Magnolia Manor in Chatham has long been thought to be a Barber design as was the (now demolished) Caretaker’s Cottage in Green Hill Cemetery.
Do you think you have a Barber home? Let us know.
