| Victoria
1600 The Plaza
1895
This essay is extracted from Victoria's
documentation submitted for inclusion on the National Regsiter of
Historic Places.
Tucked in among tall trees behind a cast-iron fence on a narrow
residential lot is Victoria, a late nineteenth century frame house.
Moved to its present location in the early twentieth century, it was
previously located on North Tryon Street, once one of the finest
residential streets of the city, now the main street of the commercial
section. The asymmetrical structure appears strongly vertical as a
result of the tall front end
gable and the engaged two-and-one-half story tower, circular in
section with a conical roof. The exterior wall covering is narrow
horizontal siding, except on the tower and attic gables where
fish scale shingles are used. The roof is slate.
Windows are
two-over-two double hung sash with flat board architraves with
molded tops.
In plan, the front two-story section of the house is T-shaped with
the stem of the T-towards the street. To the rear are kitchen and
bedroom wings. A one-story shed porch having a low rail, a geometric
screen-like balustrade, turned posts, and sawn sunburst brackets
supporting a row of spindles, wraps around the advanced bay beginning at
the recessed entry on the left and curving around the base of the tower
terminating against the front of the
cross gable on the right. The doors to the entrance vestibule on the
left are set in a heavy flat board chamfered architrave which is
slightly ramped at the base. Applied panels scalloped at the bottom
occur where the architrave is ramped as well as at the upper corners and
center. Beneath the beveled glass transom (a replacement) are nicely
carved natural oak double screen doors that have recently been filled in
with glass.
To the left of center on the front gable end in both the first and
second stories is slightly wider than a normal window. The centrally
placed attic window contains a central louvered panel surrounded on the
top and sides by small square stained glass panes. At the peak, the
eaves are decorated with alternating rectangular faceted panels and
roundels. The bargeboard has a carved curvilinear decoration. The corner
tower has three window at each level. The third level, slightly narrower
than the first two, has single pane casement windows. Above these is a
band of square wood panels encircling the tower.
The blank bay wall on the right side of the house to the rear of the
tower on the second floor is adorned with a shield set in a gabled
frame. The projecting cross gable end has double windows on all three
levels. At the peak, the bargeboard is ornamented with a trellis motif;
on the opposite side, the left side of the house, the gable is treated
in a similar fashion except that the trellis is diagonal. A window is
placed on this facade midway between the first and second level. To the
rear of the cross gable the roof continues down to shelter the back
rooms onto which the one-story gable roof kitchen and flat roof back
porch and bathroom are attached.
The interior of Victoria is characterized by a free flowing yet
compact plan and exuberant detail typical for the late nineteenth
century. In the stem of the T there is a side hall on the left side of
the house containing a closed string stair rising on the outside wall.
To the right are front and rear parlors entered through single and
sliding double doors respectively and connected by sliding double doors.
Across the rear, forming the crosspiece of the T, are two large rooms
flanking a narrow hall. The kitchen wing is enclosed on two sides by a
porch. The second floor plan resembles that of the first.
One of the most interesting features of the house is the extensive
use of handsome ornamental tiles. The main
stair has square cream colored tiles set in the square carved
newel on the exposed sides of the cap and base; and these tiles also
occur between every second
baluster, being framed by the square balusters and interrupting the
turned ones. The tiles, said to have come from Italy, are variations of
a circle of swirl motif, either abstract such as a circle set in field
of diagonal squares of realistic such as the profile of a Roman soldier
set within a circle. Tiles are also used to decorate the fireplace
hearths and surrounds. In the front parlor, the hearth has a geometric
pattern, the surround features a floral pattern, but the individual
tiles are subtly modeled to compose large figures in low relief
extending across several tiles--standing figures on the sides and a
reclining figure across the top. The rear parlor and dining room
fireplaces have figure and floral designs respectively in higher relief.
Also of note in the interior is the treatment of wood details. Window
and door architraves are symmetrically molded with roundel corner blocks
topped with a flat peaked finial with an incised half sunburst. Doors
have seven panels, usually with chamfered rails and styles (the wainscot
in the hall is done in a similar fashion). The original hardware, which
is silverplate, is extant to a large degree. Delicate bent wood and
spindle-work screens decorate the upper openings of the parlors' double
doors and the opening into the bay formed by the tower off the front
porch.
Well executed mantels demonstrate a variety of woodworking
techniques. In the front parlors, freestanding truncated colonnettes
with floral pattern gougework support a low arch with faceted pattern in
the spandrel which in turn carries the mantel shelf. An elaborate
overmantel containing a faceted mirror is decorated with the same
faceted pattern and carries a spindle-work canopy. An mantel similar in
form but with no overmantel occurs in the rear parlor. The dining room
mantel is the most elaborate, having spindle-work shelves, two glazed
cabinets, a gougework panel and three beveled mirrors. The second floor
mantels and trim are simpler.
Victoria is said to have been built about 1895 by R. M. Miller as a
wedding gift for his son, R. M. Miller, Jr. Miller and his sons were
substantial members of the Charlotte business community. He was an
alderman for Ward One, president of the North State Club, and shared
business interests with his sons in wholesale groceries, grains, cotton,
tobacco, and was president of the D. A. Tompkins Company (consulting and
contracting engineers and dealers in machinery), as well as a member of
the board of directors of the Commercial National Bank.
Originally one of two identical houses, Victoria stood beside its
mate, located at the corner of Tryon and Seventh Streets. Soon this
central urban location was usurped by downtown commercial expansion and
Victoria was moved to its present, quiet, residential site and the other
house was demolished. This was believed to have taken place between 1910
and 1920. During the first half of the twentieth century the house
served a variety of owners and purposes; the property was a boarding
house for a period of time. The current owners have enthusiastic, long
range plans for the restoration and preservation of the structure. |
