We were very thrilled to be given permission to enter the old Watson place in Warren County, North Carolina. The owner is a very nice man that lives in Maryland. He bought the property with the hopes to restore it and live there with his horses. I must say the property is absolutely gorgeous. Rolling acres with pecan trees, a pond and many old outbuildings. By all appearances this was a simple farmhouse, with some touches that make us feel this was a well to do family back in the day. (Video tour of house at top of post.)
A lot of people were asking if the house felt creepy or anything and I have to say, not in the least bit. There weren’t any bad vibes at all, well the basement was a bit off putting, but that’s because it was dark. This house wouldn’t take much work to get it back in shape!
Part of the roof is slate with the rest an asphalt shingle. Original windows throughout the house. Some of the mantels had been modernized with a stone finish. Not a fan of that, and I am sure the previous owner did that. We feel the build date for this house is going to be 1820-1840.
An interesting feature of this house, the bedrooms upstairs all have sinks in them! A lot of people have been surprised by this, but it wasn’t too uncommon. When indoor plumbing came along, most houses would have had one bathroom, usually downstairs. More well to do families would put sinks in the bedrooms so you could wash up before bed and upon rising in the morning.
We are still researching the chain of ownership for this house. The locals we spoke with always referred to this as the “old Watson place”. There are a couple of other names we are looking at. One name is Austin Allen, who is buried in the cemetery beside this house. If it was his at some point we have actual farm names for it and snippets of articles about parties he had at the house. We are still trying to get his history put together, and trust me, that’s going to be one article you don’t miss!
