854 Main Street, Danville
Business partners and devoted brothers James and William Lipscomb had houses built side by side, each nearly the mirror-image of the other. James's house was demolished in 1903 to allow for expansion of the neighbouring mansion next door. But William's house survives (above).
Built in 1885, this Victorian classic shows Italian and French Renaissance influence, with a Gothic window to the rear for good measure. A rich bracketed cornice and coloured slates on the octagonal roof complete its well-developed architectural character.
The Lipscomb brothers operated a successful grocery and general merchandise business at the bottom of Main Street near its intersection with Bridge. In such a prime location near the Riverside Cotton Mills and the tobacco warehouses, the Lipscombs surely profited handsomely from the burgeoning local economy.
Migrating from Pittsylvania County with his parents, William - one of 12 children - served in the Confederate Army's Danville Grays, Company B, 18th Virginia Regiment. He married Mary Augusta North, who died in 1938. The home was left to their daughter, Ethel.
In the 1950s, her son, Fenton North Gravely, and family moved back to his childhood home to be with his mother, making the fourth generation of the same family in a span of over 77 years to occupy the home.
In 1962, the property was sold to Dr and Mrs M Howell Watson who resided upstairs over the office of his ophthalmology practice, before selling to Brian Turpin and his family, who restored it to a fully-functioning home.
The house is currently valued at $200,000. Of two stories, it has three bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms in just over 3,200 square feet.
854 Main Street, Danville
Business partners and devoted brothers James and William Lipscomb had houses built side by side, each nearly the mirror-image of the other. James's house was demolished in 1903 to allow for expansion of the neighbouring mansion next door. But William's house survives (above).
Built in 1885, this Victorian classic shows Italian and French Renaissance influence, with a Gothic window to the rear for good measure. A rich bracketed cornice and coloured slates on the octagonal roof complete its well-developed architectural character.
The Lipscomb brothers operated a successful grocery and general merchandise business at the bottom of Main Street near its intersection with Bridge. In such a prime location near the Riverside Cotton Mills and the tobacco warehouses, the Lipscombs surely profited handsomely from the burgeoning local economy.
Migrating from Pittsylvania County with his parents, William - one of 12 children - served in the Confederate Army's Danville Grays, Company B, 18th Virginia Regiment. He married Mary Augusta North, who died in 1938. The home was left to their daughter, Ethel.
In the 1950s, her son, Fenton North Gravely, and family moved back to his childhood home to be with his mother, making the fourth generation of the same family in a span of over 77 years to occupy the home.
In 1962, the property was sold to Dr and Mrs M Howell Watson who resided upstairs over the office of his ophthalmology practice, before selling to Brian Turpin and his family, who restored it to a fully-functioning home.
The house is currently valued at $200,000. Of two stories, it has three bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms in just over 3,200 square feet.