This painfully symmetrical abode was constructed in the 1880's to serve as the Gatekeeper's Cottage for the Green Hill Cemetery. The gatekeeper's residence was on one side of the house and his office was on the other; hence, the two doors. The cottage is located at the confluence of West Fisher Avenue, Wharton Street, and Battleground Avenue at the south side of the cemetery. The structure is known for its Gothic style with romantic undertones. "It remains the last known Victorian-era cemetery gatekeeper's cottage in North Carolina, and one of the best examples of residential Gothic Revival architecture in the state." That quote comes from Preservation Greensboro's website where you can read even more about this structure, including names of past and present owners.
As you scroll down to the bottom of the link Preservation Greensboro's article on this house (10/5/08), you will see a 1973 article from the now-defunct Greensboro Daily News. Accompanying the article is a side view of the cottage that shows the extreme pitch of the roof. It appears to be a 45 degree angle. We can't imagine how one would shingle this roof!
A severe style that echoes the past in ways that are familiar to me and in which I relished the idea of sitting on a front porch watching the rain fall on the leaves of the snowball bush.
Posted by: Abraham Lincoln | Tuesday, May 26, 2009 at 07:47 AM
What a sweet, sweet little cottage. How wonderful it has been loved and cared for over the years. June
Posted by: June | Tuesday, May 26, 2009 at 08:23 AM
Interesting post, everything in it.
Yeah, I wouldn't want to roof that house.
Posted by: Dina | Tuesday, May 26, 2009 at 11:07 AM
Someone roofed it! I like symmetry, so I like this lovely little house!
Posted by: cieldequimper | Tuesday, May 26, 2009 at 01:18 PM