Blandwood
Greensboro, North Carolina
Background:
Blandwood, a National Historic Landmark, is best known as the home of North Carolina Governor John Motley Morehead and for its 1844-1846 transformation by nationally prominent architect Alexander Jackson Davis. Recognized as perhaps the earliest surviving American Italianate villa, the house is a landmark of nineteenth-century American architecture. Constructed in the 1790s and first expanded in the 1820s, the house underwent its Davis-designed transformation in the 1840s, creating a distinctive façade with tower and dependency wings.. In 1905 the property was adapted as the Keeley Institute for addiction treatment, which altered the house and grounds. A local preservation group purchased the property in the 1960s to save it from redevelopment and opened it as a house museum, a use it continues today.
Project Summary:
JKOA prepared a Historic Structure Report to document the chronology of Blandwood’s construction, alterations, and 1960s-1970s restoration. JKOA work included measured drawings and photodocumentation, physical investigations, and archival research in early drawings, photographs, and documents, along with a comprehensive condition assessment and prioritized recommendations for repairs and preservation. The JKOA team also conducted scientific material dating and coordinated an engineering assessment of existing mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems to support sustainable museum use. The HSR will serve as the guide for repairs and interpretation.