Mount Airy in Surry County, North Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)
The Graves House
Photographed by Mark Parker, December 30, 2024
1. The Graves House Marker
1953
has been listed in the
National Register
of Historic Places
by the United States
Department of the Interior
Erected by United States Department of the Interior.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Architecture. A significant historical year for this entry is 1953.
Location. 36° 31.1′ N, 80° 36.597′ W. Marker is in Mount Airy, North Carolina, in Surry County. It can be reached from the intersection of Fairview Avenue and Laurel Street, on the left when traveling west. The marker is to the left of the front entrance. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 309 Fairview Ave, Mount Airy NC 27030, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in North Carolina’s Piedmont. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Upper South, in Appalachia, and specifically in Southern Appalachia. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen
this page online
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: 90 MM Gun Tank M47 Patton (approx. 0.4 miles away); Edgar Harvey Hennis House (approx. 0.4 miles away); R. R. Galloway House (approx. 0.8 miles away); Rufus Haymore House (approx. 0.9 miles away); The L.H. Jones Auditorium (approx. one mile away); Trinity Episcopal Church (approx. 1.1 miles away); The J.D. Smith Building (approx. 1.1 miles away); Leonidas Harold "L.H." Jones (approx. 1.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Mount Airy.
Regarding The Graves House. Excerpts from the Graves House Nomination Form:
The 1953-54 Ben and Barbara Graves House is an important example of early modernist domestic architecture in Mount Airy, North Carolina. The one-story International Style house was designed by NCSU School of Design professor Cecil D. Elliott and reflects the influence of pioneering modernist architect Mies van der Rohe on North Carolina architecture during the period. The Graves House is composed of a rectangular corewith alternating expanses of windows and solid wall and a hyphen connection to a front carport. Clerestory windows illuminate the simply-finished interior...Photographed by Mark Parker, December 30, 20242. The Graves House Marker to the left of the front entrance
Benjamin Kelly Graves (d. 1997) was the son of George O. Graves, the founder and president of the Mount Airy Mantel and Table Company, one of several industries for the manufacture of furniture and architectural components that operated in Mount Airy during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries...Barbara Wrenn Graves (1926-2014) was the daughter of Lucien Patterson Wrenn, who operated Granite Mercantile in Mount Airy, and his wife, Beatrice Pelley Wrenn.
Also see . . . The Graves House Nomination Form (pdf). Prepared by J. Daniel Pezzoni, Landmark Preservation Associates, 2018 (Submitted on January 2, 2025, by Mark Parker of Hickory, North Carolina.)
Photographed by Mark Parker, December 30, 2024
3. The Graves House
Credits. This page was last revised on January 8, 2025. It was originally submitted on January 2, 2025, by Mark Parker of Hickory, North Carolina. This page has been viewed 194 times since then and 48 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on January 2, 2025, by Mark Parker of Hickory, North Carolina. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.
