On an old gravel road, one bordered by horse pastures and woodlands, in one of the last rural areas of Mecklenburg County quietly sits a historic little cottage.
Built in 1950, the wood-frame structure was hand-built by the son and (believed) brother of the original homeowner, Ms. Lillie. It is said that the majority of the rough-sawn framing members were actually derived from trees harvested off the property itself.
The dimensions are a mere 22’ x 22’ and equal a total square footage of 484. The building is comprised of a full kitchen, bathroom with walk-in shower, single bedroom, and main living / dining area.
The original house featured Dutch / German cove wood siding (the majority of which was saved), RayWall space heaters, a 2x4 ‘Main and Range’ electrical panel with Bussman screw-in fuses, pine hardwood floors, six-over-six wood windows (believed to be Anderson), a smooth-sided Kohler toilet, and a 48” x 48” cast iron Kohler Princess tub (yes, you read that right, great big tub, tiny little house).
Both the land and house trace back through a few local historical families, such as the Blythe, Houston, and Craven.
It was J.F. Houston who sold the property to the original homeowner. He was the son of the proprietor of the Long Creek general store which used to sit on the hill at the corner of the historic “Great Road” & Mt. Holly-Huntersville, not far from the Long Creek Grist Mill and one of the area's oldest Agricultural Schools.
As told to the new owners by J.F.'s grandson, Robert, the store was often visited by the Davidson family of Rural Hill on their travels back from visiting with the Belk family in Charlotte. (The historic Houston home still currently stands, although it is slated for demolition in the near future.)
The gravel road the cottage sits upon dates back into the 1800's and even is shown on the 1911 Mecklenburg County Map, being it was once an essential travel-way for area residents and merchants to access the local natural spring (which dates back to 1871 and Catawba Nation legends).
The road was also one of the earliest mail routes in the area, dating back to 1893 when the US Rural Free Delivery (RFD) was established to create a network of rural routes for carriers to deliver and pick up at roadside boxes. (This was also the same route that ran along Gilead Road past the historic Torrence Store and into Huntersville.)
Purchased by its new owners with the sole intent of attempting to save this unique cottage from being lost as has happened with many older houses in the area, the owners have been carefully peeling back the layers of the past while trying to meld it into the present so that it can continue to stand as livable tribute of a time long passed.
While they were not able to save as much as they wanted to, they did try to keep as much of the home to the original intent of its design by retaining the majority of the German cove siding (while custom crafting the replacement pieces); replacing the wall heater system with new modern models; replacing the oil-damaged floors with new solid hardwoods; staying with the 'six-over-six' styled windows; duplicating the wood trim with solid window returns; and remaking or repairing small architectural details like the arch over the front door and side door awning.
The circular fronts steps, made from handset quartz and concrete and built by the late C. Blythe and an unknown craftsman, (who may have had a hand in the building of the historic stone grandstand at Long Creek Elementary school, ), were also carefully worked around, reinforced, and completely preserved as they are as much a unique acrhitectural feature as the house itself.
They were even able to salvage much of the quartz and field stones that had once surounded the front and side garden beds to reuse in the new cottage garden that was installed in the front yard in memory of Ms. Lillie. (Much to the delight of remaining grandchildren who had helped set the stones in the original beds.)
And while they did have to remove the oversized 48” x 48” cast iron Princess tub from the house (mostly due to the weight), it is still on site and plans are for it to eventually be reworked into a garden feature in the future so it can stay with the home, where it belongs.
We thank you for your interest!
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