3 historic mansions asking $510k to $1.45M perfect for a bed and breakfast, old-school brewery or residence

I do.

I mean, I don’t have the money to do this nor the business vision nor the commitment. Details, details. But I’m huge fans of people who do.

Here are three historic mansions in the area old enough to have names.

Please let me vicariously live through you as you turn one of these pretty remarkable local properties into … something.

The Lowenstein-Henkle House

• Built: 1893
• Address: 221 Walnut St., Statesville, NC 28677. 
• List price: $510,000. Brittany Hill of Excel Real Estate Group has the listing.
• Specs: 7,127 sq. ft.; space currently configured in to six 2-bed, 2-bath apartments.

They don’t call Victorian homes like these “painted ladies” for nothing. This big Queen Anne beauty was originally a single family home built by Dr. Julius Lowenstein, a local dentist who also ran a successful wholesale liquor distillery.

Dr. Lowenstein later moved to Atlanta to run a candy company. Yes, a dentist who had liquor and candy businesses, I know, I have so many questions about that too. But back to the house.

The Henkle family owned it next, and the late state senator C.V. Henkle was born here.

The house also spent a period used as a funeral home.

It faced demolition in the 1980s, when local historic preservation advocates saved the house by raising money to have it moved one block directly behind its original location on Broad Street.

The house is two blocks from the main downtown of Statesville and on the National Register of Historic Places. Listing notes that zoning allows the property to be used for offices, retail, restaurant and event space.

The Marsh-McBride House

• Built: 1917
• Address: 207 S. Elm St., Marshville, NC, 28102.
• List price: $549,900. Kinsey Cockman of Allen Tate has the listing.
• Specs: 4 beds, 3 baths 4,257 sq. ft.

Built for local merchant Edward Marsh (he’s not the town’s original namesake, but Marsh family ancestors included prominent landowners in the 1800s), construction on this grand example of Neo-Classical architecture took three years.

Marsh later lost the house to bank foreclosure in 1931, two years after the stock market crash.

During the financial chaos of the Great Depression, the bank that took the house soon went under itself, and the house was sold at auction again. It changed hands once more in 1938, when it was bought by local timber dealer Henry McBride.

The McBride family lived in the house for many years, giving the house the second half of its name. And while all homes involve projects, the listing notes this house is not in urgent need of restoration but is move-in ready, and could be used as a residence, office or event venue.

Edgewood Farm

• Built: 1853
• Address: 11132 Eastfield Road, Huntersville, NC  28078

• Specs: 4 beds, 1 bath, 3,136 sq. ft., 21 acres
• Listing price: $1,450,000. Eric Gamble of HM Properties has the listing.

Mecklenburg County doesn’t have many antebellum homes still standing, making Edgewood Farm, a recognized historic landmark, rare.

This house was originally a plantation with orchards, livestock, honeybees and feed crops. Like other plantations at the time, the land was worked by slaves.

Edgewood was built by Robert Davidson Alexander and his wife, Abigail. The two lived in the pictured log cabin, built around 1830 and still standing, until the construction of the larger plantation house.

The original property was once about 400 acres, but even at its current size, 21 acres with easy access to 77 is a remarkable find. The listing notes that while buyers will likely want to make updates, the main house is sound and move-in ready.

Real estate tips? If you know of any unusual, interesting or perfect properties for sale or rent, let me know, [email protected]. Thanks!