CityView Magazine

According to a history sheet of the home assembled by Wade Parker Jr., and given to auction bidders last spring, Novikoff also painted faux marble trim and borders on the fireplaces in the library and an upstairs bedroom. It’s possible that he also painted other trimwork throughout the house. Thanks to a handful of public records, signature dates on his artwork and interviews, we know that it took nearly 15 years for Novikoff to finish the work at Stone Manor. But the research often uncovered more questions than answers about his time in Fayetteville. We still do not know how Novikoff came to know the Pittman family or how he decided on his subject matter. We found works by Novikoff in both Baltimore and in Philadelphia where he painted iconography for St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church, a stark contrast to the work that lives on the walls of Stone Manor. In 1933, Novikoff painted two murals for Baltimore’s Enoch Pratt Free Library that commemorate landmarks in printing, including a representation of Johannes Gutenberg, inventor of the world’s first printing press in 1439. According to Parker, it was after his time in Baltimore that Novikoff then moved to Fayetteville and lived in the new Prince Charles Hotel, which at the time was owned by Dr. R.L. Pittman, the first owner of Stone Manor. “I remember seeing him around the house during the 1940s,” said Jeanette Pittman, wife of the late Raymond Pittman, son of R.L. Pittman. “He looked like a man in his 50s or 60s.” American vital records from the early 1900s list several George J. Novikoffs or George Novikoffs. Novikoffs with varying birth and death dates have popped up among official records in New York, California and Maryland. One is buried in upstate New York, though a far more likely Novikoff is interred in Parson’s Cemetery in Salisbury, Md., near Baltimore. Another George Novikoff traveled to America through Liverpool in July 1912 on the famous RMS Lusitania. Nearly three years later, on May 7, 1915, the ship would sink off the coast of Ireland at the hands of a German U-boat and usher the United States into war. It is believed George J. Novikoff studied art in his native land, according to a published newspaper clipping sent to us by Peter Deveraux of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore. It is also thought that he taught his craft in the 1930s to a thriving Russian community near St. Nicholas Church in Philadelphia. Russian ex-pats had settled in the nearby neighborhood and established an art school across the street from the church where Novikoff’s iconography can still be seen today. It is fortunate that most of Novikoff’s work remains well-preserved though a few of his murals at Stone Manor need touching up. Last summer, Raleigh art conservator David Goist was hired by my parents to inspect the artwork and assess the costs of restoration. While Novikoff is not necessarily considered a master in official art circles, his pieces indicate a talented artist whose colorful murals deserve any maintenance they require. Of course, the murals aren’t the only parts of Stone Manor deserving of attention. The rooms are time capsules in and of themselves. Embroidered and perhaps original silk drapes hang in each one. In the dining room, a button hidden in the floor and once used to summon servants still buzzes loudly when pressed. A tiled, windowed solarium can be entered from the west parlor where the stone granite that gives the house its name is on rich display. It was forever dubbed Stone Manor. Perhaps even more fascinating than the luxurious furnishings or opulent artwork, even the artist himself, is the family which built Stone Manor. For generations of Pittmans, the house gave sanctuary in times of joy and tragedy. It also gave them a birds-eye view of the city they helped to build.CV Next: The series concludes in June with a look back at the history of the Pittman family and a look ahead at Stone Manor’s future. But first, look for a special edition of CityView in May with an exclusive update on the continuing research surrounding the history of Stone Manor’s artist. 30 | April/May • 2010

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