CityView Magazine

With its Georgian lines and fine materials reflecting expert craftsmanship, the house would fit in well with the famous James River plantations on the outskirts of Williamsburg, Va. station WFLB. He was the first president of Highland Country Club. “Everybody loved John D.,” Mrs. Ingram said. “He loved to play golf and had his own caddy.” She remembered seeing him heading out to HCC in his golfing attire that included knickers and high socks. By the time the Curries built the house their children were grown, she said. They had previously lived on Woodcrest Road. The house has been the home of the Keiths since 1995. She is the former Anne Bell, whose family owns Bell’s Seed Store. He grew up in Lumberton and is an appraiser. With 5,000 square feet on the main floors and 1,500 in the basement, it has been a wonderful place to raise their three children, now grown, Anne said. Fayetteville architect Basil Laslett designed the house, and L.P. Cox of Sanford was the contractor. It’s said that the architect and the Curries made countless trips to Williamsburg to study architectural features in order to achieve an authentic design. Inspiration for the house came from Evelynton Plantation, which stands on Route 5 near Williamsburg. Evelynton was originally part of Westover Plantation built by William Byrd, founder of Richmond, around 1750. Evelyn was his daughter. Since 1847, the property has been in the Ruffin family. The house and outbuildings were burned during the Civil War. (A bit of trivia: Patrick Edmund Ruffin, family patriarch, fired the first shot of the war at Fort Sumter.) The present house, described as Georgian Revival, was erected in 1937 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The architect was W. Duncan Lee, who did the restoration of Carter’s Grove, another plantation outside Williamsburg. No detail was too small for Mary Currie in designing her dream house. Plans and sketches date back to the ‘50s, the Keiths said, and six or seven plans were drawn before she got the design she wanted. Much thought was put into the placement of the house on the high lot of almost two acres, Tom said. The grounds, landscaped by Charles F. CityViewNC.com | 41

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