About the House
In 1915 Albion and Irma Dunn chose a large lot in the popular Skinnerville neighborhood for their new home. The Dunn's new home, built in a blend of Craftsman and Colonial revival styles, was completed in late 1915 or early 1916. The home was large fitting Albion's stature as mayor of Greenville and a prominent local attorney. After The house was sold by the Dunn's in the 1940's, it passed through a hand full of owners until in 1985 it went into foreclosure and fell into the hands of a landlord who divided it into four apartments and demolished the side sections of the original large front porch rather than make the repairs it needed. With this purchase for rental purposes, the house entered a period of decline for about twenty years until I purchased it in April of 2004. It is amazing how much a structure can deteriorate with twenty years of deferred maintenance! Since that time I have removed the apartment partitions and restored the original floor plan, more of those details later. Below are details about the house from a couple of professional sources.
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The following is from "The Architectural Heritage of Greenville, NC" published by the Greenville Area Preservation Association in 1988.
"The Albion Dunn House rates as one of the finest early twentieth-century residences in Greenville. The House was designed by the prolific and talented firm of Benton & Benton of Wilson. Even today, the design of the House is distinctive. A great central dormer dominates the square two story structure. The dormer roof flares at the eaves, and an arched window is set in the center. Stucco and shingles give the dormer an interesting texture. The first floor of the house is constructed of brick and the second story is shingled. The over-hanging eaves and rustic shingles give the house a picturesque character. Porches form an important part of the house design: a large porch (now altered) shelters the Fourth Street facade, while a glassed-in sunporch (now altered) is on the East side, and an open porch is on the West. The front door is made of paneled oak and is flanked by multi-pane sidelights and transom."
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The following excerpts are from the City of Greenville's Survey and Research report from when the house was designated as a landmark in 1997.
Framed by mature trees, the Albion Dunn House is situated in the Skinnerville section of Greenville. Skinnerville, developed in 1882, was Greenville's first residential suburb, and the home of many of it's prosperous merchants and professionals during the first quarter of the twentieth century.
The Albion Dunn House is a frame and brick two-story hipped roof dwelling type commonly referred to as American Foursquare. These house types, generally two rooms wide and two rooms deep with a center hall or asymetrical floorplan, were popular in the early twentieth century. Foursquares are found nationwide in various guises -- Prarie School, Craftsman, Colonial Revival, or, in the case of the Albion Dunn House, a combination of the later two styles. The Albion Dunn House, is a more elaborate example of this house type.
The Albion Dunn House has a lively facade , accentuated by the raised basement and first floor's brick veneer against the shngle clad second floor. Windows vary from the three-part Craftsman style double-hung sash windows on either side of the front elevation entrance and the large twelve-over-one double hung sash windows at the second floor to the East elevation's projecting two-stage gabled bay extension where a three-part Craftsman style window assemblage lights the Dunn's former dining room and, above, are Craftsman style casement windows. Shaped rafter tails peek out from the roof, and fanciful dormers with flared eaves and decorative Colonial Revival style arched windows break the roofline at the front and west elevations. Both dormers retain molded trim and stucco within each gable. Other striking exterior features include the two interior chimneys, whose patterned brick and limestone shoulders are flush against the house's west and east elevations. The roof of the house, originally of wooden shingle was replaced with standing seam metal and then asphalt shingle some years ago.
Originally, a wide hipped roof porch ran across the first floor's front elevation and was still in place as recently as 1983. Of this front elevation porch, the center section, sheltering the house's entrance remains; its paired square wooden post supports over brick piers are original. The center entrance, framed by a multipaned transom and large multipaned sidelights, combines Colonial Revival style symetry with Craftsman Style fenestration. There is a side porch at the west elevation of the house, sheltering another entrance and two casement sash windows. This porch has, in addition to paired posts over brick piers and the same arched space as the front, its original Craftsman style balustrade. The east elevation's side porch, which had been enclosed to serve as a sunporch, has been altered into a weatherboarded side extension. At the rear elevation there is a one-story weatherboarded extension; this extension still has a standing seam metal roof.
Within the front entrance, a small vestibule opens into a large parlor with simple baseboards, narrow oak flooring and plaster walls. Large beaded wooden beams run across the west parlor's ceiling. The mantle piece in this room was removed but the tile fireplace which corresponds to the tile fireplace in the east parlor remains. Other original features in the house include the Colonial Revival style wooden mantle piece in the east parlor which is identical to an original mantle piece in the nearby Alfred Moseley House. The house, although alterd, has retained a great deal of its early twentieth century character.
