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Edwin C. Holt House
Now referred to as the "Wise House" the house was orginally the home of lumber/cotton baron--Edwin C. Holt whot constructed the home using some of the most exotic hardwoods available worldwide. The house was purchased in 1919 by Jessie Hargrave Kenan Wise. The majority of the beautiful wood (the hallmark of the home) was recently painted over during UNCW's "restoration" of their Alumni Office. Tiger oak stair and hardwood flooring fortunately avoided wall-to-wall carpeting.
Next door, (then two-doors down) the Thomas Emerson house (then-president of Atlantic Coastline Railroad). The house was purchased in 1923 by Sarah Kenan, and was rebuilt after being gutted by fire using salvaged pieces with a fire-resistant steel and concrete superstructure. "Miss Sarah" lived there and the sisters (and family) continued to buy up real estate after surrounding buildings burned or became available otherwise, and completed an eight-nine foot prison-like "privacy wall" around the properties. The outrageously wealthy Miss Sarh lived on inside the self-imposed-deterioration of Kenan house until just before the end when some say she actually moved into the home of staff—thinking she was insolvent.--the final stages of dimentia. She finally succumbed to what many feel was lues in 1968.
Rumor has it that banking executives from New York came to Wilmington to finally settle the estate, during their visit literally millions of dollars in cash, silver, etc. was inventoried.
The homes, along with furnishings, and ancillary works of art were ultimately donated to UNCW--a public school. The university continues to spend hundreds of thousands of supposed “donations” to maintain and staff the home as a private residence for the Chancellor of this state institution—quite a perk! Occasional receptions are held in the public areas of the home, supposedly justifying the expense.
When ownership of the property moved from the Kenan family to UNCW, two cases of wine discovered in the basement vault were split between the Kenans and Chancellor Wagoner. The university’s case was finished off that summer by workers—twelve bottles of CHÂTEAU LAFITE ROTHSCHILD.
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Derived from single RAW image in Photomatix, cropped, processed, and reduced with Picassa
Edwin C. Holt House
Now referred to as the "Wise House" the house was orginally the home of lumber/cotton baron--Edwin C. Holt whot constructed the home using some of the most exotic hardwoods available worldwide. The house was purchased in 1919 by Jessie Hargrave Kenan Wise. The majority of the beautiful wood (the hallmark of the home) was recently painted over during UNCW's "restoration" of their Alumni Office. Tiger oak stair and hardwood flooring fortunately avoided wall-to-wall carpeting.
Next door, (then two-doors down) the Thomas Emerson house (then-president of Atlantic Coastline Railroad). The house was purchased in 1923 by Sarah Kenan, and was rebuilt after being gutted by fire using salvaged pieces with a fire-resistant steel and concrete superstructure. "Miss Sarah" lived there and the sisters (and family) continued to buy up real estate after surrounding buildings burned or became available otherwise, and completed an eight-nine foot prison-like "privacy wall" around the properties. The outrageously wealthy Miss Sarh lived on inside the self-imposed-deterioration of Kenan house until just before the end when some say she actually moved into the home of staff—thinking she was insolvent.--the final stages of dimentia. She finally succumbed to what many feel was lues in 1968.
Rumor has it that banking executives from New York came to Wilmington to finally settle the estate, during their visit literally millions of dollars in cash, silver, etc. was inventoried.
The homes, along with furnishings, and ancillary works of art were ultimately donated to UNCW--a public school. The university continues to spend hundreds of thousands of supposed “donations” to maintain and staff the home as a private residence for the Chancellor of this state institution—quite a perk! Occasional receptions are held in the public areas of the home, supposedly justifying the expense.
When ownership of the property moved from the Kenan family to UNCW, two cases of wine discovered in the basement vault were split between the Kenans and Chancellor Wagoner. The university’s case was finished off that summer by workers—twelve bottles of CHÂTEAU LAFITE ROTHSCHILD.
__________
Derived from single RAW image in Photomatix, cropped, processed, and reduced with Picassa