Restoration and Renovation of "Playmore" (Home Tour)

In 1879, Charlestonian Samuel Prioleau Ravenel and his wife Margareta retained Francis Poindexter, a furniture maker and woodcarver with extensive knowledge of the woods of western North Carolina, to construct Highlands' first summer house.  The estimated cost of construction was $3,500.50 for the handsome imposing two-story weatherboarded frame Italianate-style house.  The wide center hall, the living room, game room and dining room are all sheathed in pre-blight chestnut which has remained unpainted and aged to a rich warm color over the past 143 years.  the floors in these room are laid with alternating boards of white ash and black walnut.  The grand stairway was the first in Highlands.

Check in at CLE office at 9:30am       Limit 20

Presenters:  John Mitchener and Heath Massey, previously recognized by the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation for the renovation of their former Ansley Park home in Atlanta, purchased the 135-acre property in 2020 and are thoughtfully restoring and renovating this historic house and outbuildings.