Preston Place

Preston Place. . , Preston Place is the oldest home in Salem and one of the earliest in the Roanoke Valley. The Salem Museum and Historical Society renovated and reopened the home in 2017, so that Preston Place will continue to stand as a witness to history and a way of life long gone., Who Lived Here , John Cole, a local blacksmith, built a cabin on this site in the 1790s. He opened his home to travelers passing through Salem along the Great Road that ran from Pennsylvania to Tennessee. His guests included Davy Crockett and Louis Philippe, future king of France., In 1820, Cole sold the property to John Johnston who built this home. Johnston reused materials from Cole's cabin, including the exposed beams that can be seen throughout the structure. The Johnston family lived here until 1879 when Charles Isaac Preston for whom the house is named, bought the property for $600., Preston was a farmer, a Confederate war veteran, and town sheriff of Salem. After his death the property was passed down through the family to Dr. Esther Clark Brown, the first female physician of Salem. She realized the importance of the home and, after her death in 2010, Dr. Brown's family donated the property to the Salem Museum and Historical Society. The Salem Museum and Historical Society is grateful to the City of Salem and the donors, volunteers and workers who made the renovation of Preston Place possible., About the House , The home Johnston built in 1821 had two rooms below and two above. The early Federal-style house features Flemish-bond brickwork, gauged brick jack arches, and a corbelled brick cornice. A one-and-half story rear brick ell and indoor kitchen were added in the mid-1800s and enlarged in 1946. A well exists in the backyard by the massive Osage Orange tree, but other outbuildings, including a kitchen, smokehouse, and corn crib, wore lost over time. Preston Place is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register., Captions (left to right) , . Preston Place in 1946. Photo provided by Salem Museum and Historical Society , . The home is constructed using Flemish-bond brickwork. Numerous glazed or heat-discolored headers (ends of brick) alternate with stretchers (sides of brick) to create a decorative surface that is quite rare among surviving buildings in the area post 1830. , . The first-floor windows have gauged jack arches. The bricks are arranged so the joints radiate outward from a common center. The second-floor windows are overlaid by a course of sailor bricks laid on their long faces with only an end exposed. , . The decorative brick cornice below the roof overhang consists of three corbelled courses of bricks with the middle course angled to form a sawtooth pattern. It is now painted white. , . Charles Isaac Preston; Dr. Esther Clark Brown