The John Duckworth House

 

The John Duckworth House

South Caldwell Street in Brevard is the site for the most prominent example of Queen Anne style architecture in Transylvania County. The John Duckworth House, built in 1905 by a prominent businessman and local real estate agent, highlights many distinctive features of the architectural style popular from 1880-1910. Asymmetry, a (near) wrap-around porch, numerous gables, and a turret all show elements of the Queen Anne style. Ornate details were also characteristic of this style, which can be seen in the wood trim that ends in finials on the corners of the porch. The variety of textures and materials used on the façade, such as the German siding covering the first two floors and the decorative scallop and diamond-shaped wood shingles that cover the attic and front tower, are also a hallmark of the Queen Anne style.

The John Duckworth House's Center Hall and Stairs

This special style, which was popularized by Queen Victoria, harkens back to English architecture of the early 1700s. Inside, the John Duckworth House has plaster walls with vertical panel wainscoting and molded plate-rail, chair-rail, and baseboards. On the fireplaces are fancy stock mantels with beveled glass mirrors and carved overmantels with glazed tile facings. The door and window surrounds are molded, with bullseye corner blocks, and the stairs are embellished with an ornate turned-spindle balustrade and carved newel. All these picturesque interior and exterior features give Queen Anne homes that classic storybook quality.

A note about the John Duckworth House in the Transylvania Times, Sept. 23, 1904

John Duckworth, a native of Brevard and one time owner of Duckworth Drug Co. at the location of what is O.P. Taylor’s today (formerly Long’s Drug), supervised the building of this house for himself. He later lost it through a mortgage foreclosure, and the house went on to be owned by the Franklin family, who made several changes, including the addition of a north room and opening the center hall behind the front stairs. Mary Sue Thorne, who at times kept boarders, owned the home from 1946 until 1995. Over one hundred years later, this large, lovely Victorian frame house is still unquestionably one of the finest in Brevard.

Photographs and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library. This article was co-written by Anne-Monique Ransdell and Laura Gardner. Visit the NC Room during regular library hours (Monday-Friday) to learn more about our history and see additional photographs. For more information, comments or suggestions contact NC Room staff at ncroom@transylvaniacounty.org or call (828) 884-1820.