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John Eli Brattain House
1883
Laura A. W. Phillips
April 3, 1980
The house at 305 Main Street, Davidson, North Carolina was built ca.
1883 by John Eli Brattain. This delightful Victorian cottage displays
strong influences of both the Carpenter Gothic and
Italianate styles popular during the latter half of the nineteenth
century.
Perhaps the most unusual, and at the same time intriguing, aspect of
the exterior of the Brattain House is the fact that all four elevations
are nearly identical. Because of the asymmetry and relative intricacy of
the design, one does not immediately notice the repetitive nature of the
four sides. Only after close observation and several walks around the
house does one realize the clever, almost pinwheel-type, continuity of
the overall design.
The primary facade of the one-and-one-half story Brattain House faces
west and Main Street. Like the other elevations, it features a
gable roof with
cross gable on the right-hand bay and gabled
dormers above the other two bays. All gables are lavishly decorated
with stylized-icicle sawnwork bargeboards and three-dimensional pendills
of the same design at each corner. The bargeboard of the gabled bay
enframes a
4/4 sash, pedimented window with crossetted surround. The
curvilinear design in the tympanum of the pediment is repeated above the
sash windows of the dormers. The overhanging eaves of the roof are
accented by decorative sawnwork brackets. Even the plain wall surfaces
of this fanciful house are decorative, with the major walls being
sheathed in molded siding and wall spaces under the porches being
covered with German (or drop) siding. The
hip-roofed porch on the west facade shades both the window of the
left bay and the main entrance and projects forward in front of the
entrance. In the
Italianate manner, the porch is supported by chamfered posts set on
square plinths and with sawnwork brackets and turned pendills above the
post caps. The placement of the posts is further accented by a cluster
of sawnwork brackets under the porch eaves above each post. A heavily
turned balustrade connects the posts. While the original front door with
arched panels has been replaced with a more simple six-panel door, the
original Italianate style entrance surround with its narrow sidelights
and transom remains. To the left of the main entrance is a tall, 4/4
sash window with crossetted surround and projecting cornice. To the
right of the doorway, as part of the projecting gabled bay, two windows
of identical design to the porch window complete the composition of the
main facade of the house.
Moving in a clockwise manner, the other three elevations differ
little in their basic design from the west facade. In fact, the upper
half-story -- with bargeboarded gable and dormers -- of each of the
other three elevations is identical to that of the west facade. The
first story of the north elevation has no porch, and instead, four
identical sash windows of Italianate influence -- like those on the west
facade -- punctuate the wall surface. (The window on the north-east
corner has, however, been altered so that it is now only about half the
length of the others.)
The first story of the east, or rear, elevation has been somewhat
altered, with the addition of a utility room, mid-twentieth brick
stairway leading to the back entrance (which utilizes what appears to
have been the original front door) and alterations to several windows.
The upper half-story, however, is still intact.
The south side elevation is only slightly less elaborate than the
west facade. It, too, boasts a porch of similar design to that of the
primary facade. Although this side porch gives the same overall
impression as the west front porch, it is actually somewhat less
elaborate. Its posts are turned rather than chamfered, its balustrade is
slightly less heavy than that of the main porch, and while the brackets
at the head of each post are almost identical to those on the front
porch, the cluster of brackets above each post and under the eaves is
not present. Like the front porch, the side porch features a window with
crossetted surround and an entrance like that on the front, only in this
case the original door with its square, rectangular and round arched
panels remains intact. Between the door and main window of the porch,
two small windows have been cut into the porch wall. To the right of the
porch, the first story of this elevation differs from the others. Here,
the projecting bay exhibits a paired window with 4/4 sash, all of which
is encompassed by a crossetted surround and a triangular pediment with
incised decoration matching that of the window above.
Other features of the exterior include interior brick chimneys and a
brick pier foundation, now totally infilled with brick.
The interior of the Brattain House has undergone numerous alterations
during the last quarter century to suit the needs of the present owners.
However, several original details of interest remain. A late Victorian
stairway with turned
balustrade and heavily turned
newel runs along the side of a transverse hall to the second story.
An acorn shaped pendill decorates the corner of the second floor opening
above the stairway (The south side entrance of the house leads to this
transverse stair hall ). The room in the southeast corner of the house
features an elaborate late Victorian mantel, perhaps moved from another
room of the house. Each side of this mantel has paired, engaged, spindle
like colonettes, and the pointed-arch frieze is edged with a spool-like
beading. Acorn-shaped pendills, echoing the one found in the hallway,
decorate the center as well as either side of the frieze. Carved
roundels and half-roundels complete the design of the mantel. The
bedrooms of the upper half-story have upper walls which slant inward to
accommodate the shape of the roof. The north side bedroom features an
early twentieth century mantel of Colonial Revival influence. Most of
the interior doors have four panels and molded surrounds.
The Brattain House is situated not far back from the street, but is
surrounded by a well-kept, comfortably landscaped corner lot. |
