Historic
WEBBLEY
403 South Washington Street
Shelby, North Carolina
This property has been placed
on the
National Register of Historic
Places
The Historical Significance of
Webbley
Webbley, more commonly known today as
the O. Max Gardner House, was the home of one of North Carolina's most
prominent 20th century public leaders. A key figure in the State's famous
"Shelby Dynasty," O. Max Gardner (1882-1947) enjoyed a distinguished career
that included service as a State Senator, as the State's youngest Lieutenant
Governor (1916-1920), and later as Governor from 1929 to 1933.
Gardner, who was a Shelby native,
was the son of Dr. Oliver Perry Gardner, a physician and veteran of the
Confederate armies, and Margaret Young Gardner. The youngest of a family
of twelve children, he entered the North Carolina College of Agriculture
and Mechanic Arts (now North Carolina State University) in January, 1900
and graduated in 1903. As a student at North Carolina State, he was elected
captain of the football team. Upon graduation, he was appointed an instructor
in Chemistry and served in that capacity until 1905, when he entered the
law school of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. At Chapel
Hill, Max Gardner played on the football team and was elected captain of
the squad at the end of the 1905 season. He is the only person to have
served as captain of the football team at both State and Carolina and was
the first State alumni to serve as Governor of North Carolina.
During his term as Governor, Gardner's
administration was responsible for legislation which resulted in a thorough
reorganization of State government, including unification of the highway
system, the formation of the Highway Patrol, the consolidation of the University
of North Carolina, the extension of the constitutional school term, the
passage of a workers' compensation law, and the abolition of that State
tax on real property. He often referred to the combining of State, Carolina
and the Woman's College in Greensboro into a Consolidated University of
North Carolina as the most important achievement of his career and he is
known today as the Father of the Consolidated University.
On the national level, the former
Governor served under President Franklin D. Roosevelt as Chairman of the
Advisory Board of the Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion. He also
served under President Harry S. Truman as Undersecretary of the United
States Treasury. He was appointed as the United States Ambassador to the
Court of St. James in early 1947, but did not live to fulfill that appointment.
Gardner's wife, Fay Webb Gardner
(1885-1969), was one of the most vibrant political personalities in the
history of the State of North Carolina. It has often been suggested, and
not entirely in jest, that she was the equal of her husband as a politician.
After Governor Gardner ended his term of office and moved to Washington
in 1933 to open a national law practice, Miss Fay, as she was known by
her friends, became one of the capital's most popular and most favored
citizens, moving easily among presidents and their wives, ambassadors,
kings and queens, senators and congressmen, and numerous other notables
on the Washington scene.
Miss Fay, who was also a Shelby native,
was popularly known as the first lady of North Carolina long after Governor
Gardner's death in 1947, and she remained a positive force in public and
humanitarian services until her own death in 1969. She had the uncanny
ability to be at ease and at home in the White House, the Governor's Mansion,
or at the home of a friend in Shelby. These characteristics were publicly
recognized by more than three score of the most important members of the
State and National Democratic Party when she was honored in 1958 by the
Women's National Democratic Club in Washington. During these ceremonies,
she was described by former President and Mrs. Harry S. Truman as "North
Carolina's all-time gracious citizen. A wonderful woman, and the wife of
one of the great men of our time." During these same ceremonies, Eleanor
Roosevelt stated that Miss Fay was "always the same - cordial, enthusiastic,
human, understanding and delightful." Margaret Truman added that as long
as she could remember "Miss Fay had been an ornament to political and social
life in North Carolina and Washington."
Webbley, which was never actually
owned by Governor Gardner, was the home of Miss Fay's parents, Judge James
L. Webb and Kansas Love Andrews Webb. The home is named for Miss Fay's
father who, along with her uncle, Judge E. Yates Webb, formed the first
generation of the renowned Shelby political dynasty.
Besides being the home of two great
political families, Webbley comprised the setting for a segment of Thomas
Dixon's The Clansman and for D. W. Griffith's classic movie "The Birth
of a Nation." In addition, W. J. "Sleepy" Cash, author of the historic
work, The Mind of the South, was a frequent visitor at Webbley in the post
1911 period.
Although Governor Gardner spent much
of his last 25 years in Washington, he always considered Webbley home.
And, he expressed a strong desire to return to Webbley whenever time permitted.
Some of his fondest memories recalled receptions at Webbley for political
dignitaries and other special guests. As a matter of fact, almost every
Governor of North Carolina from 1900 to the present time has been in the
home at one time or another. The home, which is listed on the National
Register of Historic Places, had been cited by the United States Department
of the Interior as one of the most distinguished residences in the State
of North Carolina.
The History of the Land and the
Home
The lot where Webbley stands was
a part of the original 147-acre tract of land that James Love donated to
form the Town of Shelby on August 11, 1841. The first recorded owner of
the property was John D. Dameron, who acquired the property in February
of 1845. The lot where the home now stands (identified on the original
plat of Shelby as number 19) remained vacant until the property was purchased
by Augustus W. Burton in 1850. Burton built the first house on the property
in 1852. The two-story structure faced South Washington Street and was
of Italianate design. Burton was the son of Judge Robert H. Burton of Lincoln
County and was himself a practicing lawyer in Shelby. Before being licensed
as a lawyer, he "read law" under Thomas Ruffin and Richmond M. Pearson,
both of whom served as Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court.
During the time he lived in the house, Burton served as a State Senator
and as District Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
The ownership of the property during
the Civil War and the immediate postwar years is not entirely clear from
the historical and public land records. For instance, A.R. Homesly purchased
the property sometime either before or during the early years of the war.
However, Homesly sold the property on June 13, 1863, to R.W. Roark for
$4,000. Roark was the grandfather of Clyde Roark Hoey. The record further
establishes that Mrs. Adelaide Williams McAfee, the wife of Colonel Leroy
(Lee) McAfee, purchased the property as a result of a public land auction
on April 1, 1869, for the sum of $1,002. She and her descendants owned
the property thereafter for a period of approximately 35 years.
Mrs. McAfee was the daughter of George
Washington Williams of York, South Carolina, a prominent lawyer, legislator,
and during the later part of his career a distinguished Federal Court Judge.
Colonel McAfee, on the other hand, was a native of Cleveland County. He
graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1862,
receiving the highest honors in a class of some 69 students. At the beginning
of the Civil War he was a resident of Texas, where he practiced law, but
came back to North Carolina and entered the service of the Confederacy.
During the War, he attained the rank of Colonel in the 49th Regiment, and
as such was the highest ranking officer in the Confederate armies from
Cleveland County. McAfee also represented Cleveland County in the General
Assembly during the 1870-71 Session. Colonel McAfee died in 1873, at the
age of 37. Years later his nephew, noted author Thomas Dixon, dedicated
his novel The Clansman to his Uncle Lee.
The McAfee heirs sold the property
to H.I. Washburn for $3,100 on June 17, 1905, thereby ending their family's
ownership of Webbley. The property, however, changed hands on several more
occasions before the end of the year. Washburn sold the property on June
30, 1905 to Clyde R. Hoey and his wife, Bess Gardner Hoey, for the sum
of $3,500. Mr. Hoey, who was married to one of Governor Gardner's sisters,
later became Governor of North Carolina (1937-1941) and also served the
State as a United States Senator. In fact, Hoey is the only person in North
Carolina history who was ever elected to both the State House of Representatives
and the State Senate, then to the National House of Representatives and
to the United States Senate. Although Governor Hoey owned Webbley for approximately
two months, he never lived in the house and sold the property on September
1, 1905 to J. Edgar. Poag.
Poag subdivided the undeveloped portion
of the property into smaller tracts and on September 30, 1905 sold the
homeplace to Mr. And Mrs. J.A. Anthony for the sum of $2,000. Mrs. Anthony,
the former Olive (Ollie) Gardner, was also a sister of O. Max Gardner.
Anthony was a prominent Shelby attorney who formed a law partnership in
Shelby with O. Max Gardner, his brother-in-law, in 1907. During that same
year, Anthony and his wife initiated renovations in the original house
that totally changed the appearance of the structure. Although remnants
of the 1852 structure can be seen in places in the current dwelling, the
house one sees today is primarily the result of the 1907 renovations.
On March 14, 1911, after virtually
overbuilding the old home, the property was sold by J.A. and Ollie Anthony
to Judge James. L. Webb for a recited consideration of $9,000. Judge Webb
and his wife Kansas thereafter moved into the home with four generations
of their family: the first generation consisted of the Reverend George
Milton Webb, Judge Webb's father; the second generation consisted of Judge
Webb and his wife, Kansas Love Andrews Webb; the third generation consisted
of Judge Webb's two children, Madge Webb and Fay Webb Gardner, and his
son-in-law, O. Max Gardner; and the fourth generation consisted of the
first two children of Fay and Max Gardner, James Webb Gardner and Margaret
Love Gardner.
The Reverend George Milton Webb,
who lived in the house from 1911 until his death in 1917, was one of the
most noted pioneer Baptist ministers in the South and served over 40 churches
during his ministry. His father, James Milton Webb, was the first pastor
of Shelby's historic First Baptist Church.
Judge James L. Webb - "Judge Jim,"
as he was fondly known - was the head of the Webb family. He served the
State of North Carolina for 32 years, 12 as a District Attorney and 20
as a Superior Court Judge. His younger brother, E. Y. (Yates) Webb, who
lived next door to Webbley at 331 South Washington Street, was a lawyer,
a state legislator, a United States Congressman, and finally a Federal
Judge for the Western District of North Carolina. His term as representative
from the old 9th Congressional District ended upon his appointment to the
Federal Bench. Incidentally, the seat he vacated was claimed in the 1919
general election by none other than Clyde R. Hoey.
Upon Judge Webb's death on October
1, 1930, the house passed by intestate succession to Miss Fay and her sister,
Madge. Madge had left the home in 1916 to marry but returned soon thereafter
when the marriage failed. Madge lived in the home with Miss Fay until her
death in 1953. When Madge died leaving no heirs, Miss Fay became the sole
owner of Webbley. At her death in 1969, Miss Fay's only surviving son,
Ralph Webb Gardner, was granted a life estate in the property with a remainder
interest to F.W.G. Inc., a real estate holding company formed by Miss Fay
to allow her to more easily devise her real estate holdings.
When Ralph died in 1982 and complete
title to the property passed to F.W. G., Inc, the corporate stock was so
widely disbursed that no one stockholder had the ability to make a corporate
decision. And, due to various factions among the stockholders, no one group
was able to secure enough votes to control corporate affairs. This chaotic
stock ownership of Webbley virtually paralyzed all efforts to properly
maintain the large home. As a result of this situation, Webbley gradually
fell into a serious state of disrepair.
Immediately after Ralph's death,
however, O. Max Gardner III and his wife, Victoria Harwell-Gardner, launched
what turned out to be a lengthy, seven-year battle to purchase the property.
Gardner was the great grandson of Judge James L. Webb and the grandson
and namesake of Governor O. Max Gardner. His father, O. Max Gardner, Jr.,
was born in the home in 1922. In addition, Gardner lived in the home in
the early 1950's with his mother and father, Max Jr., and Sara Hoyle Mull
Gardner.
The fate of Webbley was finally resolved
on July 7, 1989, when Max III and his wife purchased the home and the remaining
three vacant lots adjacent to Webbley for $300,000. In addition thereto,
they also agree to release F.W.G., Inc., and its officers and stockholders
from any and all potential civil claims that they could or might have asserted
against them.
A Description of the Home and
Its Architecture
As previously noted, the house is
an early twentieth century overbuilding of a mid-nineteenth century Italianate
dwelling, and though remnants of the earlier structure can be seen in places,
the house is of thoroughgoing Colonial Revival character. The main portion
of the present structure, the rear half of which incorporates the framing
of the 1852 house, is of frame construction on a brick foundation and roughly
square in plan, rising two stories under a low-pitched hip roof with a
flat roof deck and roof balustrade. The twin parlors at the front of the
home, the three bay front with the four large fluted Ionic columns, and
the two front bedrooms with adjoining baths on the second floor were all
a part of the 1907 renovations. In addition, the two story bay which projects
from the center of the north side was added in 1907. The side porch with
the porte-cochere attached was also added as a part of the changes made
in the structure at the turn of the century.
The main roof of Victorian metal shingles
is accented by gabled attic dormers centered on its west and north slopes.
Each dormer contains a louvered attic ventilator beneath a fanlight window.
Brick interior end chimneys rise near the west ends of the north and south
sides of house. A pair of interior chimneys rise on the backside of the
roof deck.. Windows are of nine-over-one sash on the first floor, and six-over-one
on the second.
A full-height, flat-roof portico supported
by the fluted Ionic columns dominates the symmetrical three-bay front on
the west side of the home. The columns end with ornamental capitals made
of terra-cotta. The capitals are affixed to the columns with load-bearing
wood plugs, which carry the weight from above. The capitals are of the
scamozzi design.
The wide frieze of the portico contains
rows of paired horizontal panels. Curvilinear sawn brackets carry underneath
the overhanging eaves of the portico and continue under the eaves of the
entire house. A balustrade with turned balusters and large, square-in-section
posts - components identical to those on the roof deck above - surmounts
the portico roof.
The portico is flanked by one-story
porches sheltering the end bays of the façade. These are supported
by Doric columns connected by a handrail carried on turned balusters. Similar,
but shorter balustrades are mounted along the flat roofs of these porches.
The central bay of the façade
extends forward on the first-floor level in a three-sided vestibule. A
single French door of three lights over five under a fanlight window occupies
the center face of the projection, flanked by paneled pilasters. On the
side faces of the projection are side window lights composed of twenty-one
lights each, with small groupings of six lights over fifteen light groupings.
A balustrade carries across the top of this projecting vestibule, in front
of the paired windows occupying the center bay of the façade on
the second floor level.
As previously noted, a two story
bay projects from the center of the north side elevation. An open porch
with a porte-cochere attached extends off the first floor around this central
bay; both porch and porte-cochere have roof balustrades identical to those
of the small façade porches.
Two hip roof ells extend from the
main block of the home on the rear elevation. The one on the southeast
corner is two stories and two bays deep; its two-story companion is only
one bay deep, but it is in turn extended on the first floor level with
a one-story, hip roof projection. A one-story, flat roof enclosure connects
the two ells.
The interior of the main block of the
house follows a center hall plan, two rooms deep. Remnants of the woodwork
of the 1852 house can still be seen, chiefly with an occasional symmetrically
molded door surround with corner block rosettes, but the majority of the
present interior work is high quality finish in the Colonial Revival manner.
The large flat arch leading into the northwest parlor features two acanthus
leaf corbels as compared to the pocket doors that lead into the opposite
parlor on the southwest side. Consistent throughout the first level are
molded Victorian cornices and high molded baseboards, with plaster cover
molding in the dining room. In fact, most of the interior walls in the
home are plastered. The doors have horizontal panels, and large sliding
pocket doors separate the first floor rooms on the north and south sides.
A wainscot of vertical panels carries throughout the center hall. The hall
is divided mid-way by a transverse flat arch flanked by free-standing circular-in-section
posts set on paneled pedestals. The closed-string stair rises along the
south wall of the rear section of the hall; its molded handrail is supported
by thin balusters and it terminates in a volute.
A group of five matching brass chandeliers
adorn the formal areas on the main level of the home. The dinning room,
in addition to one of the brass chandeliers, features two brass wall sconces
that are identical in design to the chandeliers. The wallpaper in the dining
room is a hand-painted Italian mural, which was personally selected by
Miss Fay during one of her European trips. The dining room chairs, which
have long since been bequeathed to heirs of the family, were originally
covered with a hand-woven fabric, which was made to match the wall mural.
The mantels or fire surrounds in the
home vary in form, including Neo-Georgian, Neo-Federal, and Neo-Classical
types. Several of the mantels have delicate relief carvings of garlands,
swags, urns, and other motifs. All of the mantels on the first level are
accented with variations of marble tile. All of the mantels on the second
level are of classical French and English design with iron firebacks. At
the top of the staircase on the second floor are identical reeded columns
mimicking those directly below, flanked by twin stairways terminating at
either side of the ells. In the upper hallways of the second floor appear
several turned Victorian corner beads, some with center turnings. The baths
display Victorian hexagonal mosaic tiles on the floor, and some have the
original 1907 wall tiles. The bath of lavender and yellow décor
on the upper level was copied by Miss Fay from New York's Waldorf Astoria
Hotel.
The interior of the second level features
twin master bedrooms with twin baths on the west side (the front elevation).
Miss Fay and Governor Gardner always used the master bedroom on the northwest
side of the home until Governor Gardner's death, when Miss Fay moved her
sleeping quarters into the old library on the lower level. The second level
of the two-story bay on the north side was used as a bedroom, sitting room,
or den over the years. The rear elevation on the north side terminates
with a bedroom/kitchen.
The front master bedroom on the southwest
side was used by the Gardners' children as a bedroom and at times a second
level den. Ralph Webb Gardner used this room for his own bedroom when he
lived in the home as an adult from 1977 until his death in 1982. It was
in this very room he took his own life on March 22, 1982, exactly 100 years
from the date of the birth of his father, Governor O. Max Gardner.
The two-story bay on the southeast
side of the home consists of two large bedrooms and a single master bath.
The southeast ell ends with twin two level sleeping porches featuring rollout
windows of three lights over one.
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