Former Charlotte mayor and congressman list their side-by-side uptown homes for $3.55M
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Harvey B. Gantt's Uptown townhouse is listed for $1.9M. Photo: Courtesy of Lighthouse Visuals
Longtime friends Harvey Gantt and Mel Watt are selling their neighboring Uptown townhomes for a combined $3.55 million.
Why it matters: Gantt, Charlotte's first Black mayor, and former U.S. Rep. Mel Watt have been friends and Fourth Ward neighbors for nearly 50 years.
Flashback: Their friendship grew out of local politics, where Watt worked on one of Gantt's campaigns and their families grew close.
- As Fourth Ward lost residents and businesses to the suburbs, Gantt proposed they buy side-by-side lots. They designed the homes in 1979 and moved their families in by the early 1980s.
- Watt tells us that Gantt "had a vision of what downtown Charlotte would be that was well advanced beyond other people's vision of what it would become."
Layout: Inside Gantt's home, listed for $1.9 million, you'll find four bedrooms and three.5 bathrooms across 4,419 square feet.
- Watt's home is listed for $1.65 million, with three bedrooms and four bathrooms across 3,068 square feet.
Zoom in: Gantt, an architect behind many Charlotte landmarks, designed the homes. He says he wanted something contemporary that still "put a friendly face to the street" in the historic neighborhood — think front porches and balconies that fit in with the old houses but don't feel suburban.
- Gantt's home has a light-filled design studio, plenty of wall space for art and a layout built for entertaining during his time as mayor.
- Watt's standouts include an indoor sauna, a built-in bar and a custom sound system that plays throughout the house — and has doubled as a PA system for political events.
- The properties share a tennis court where their children grew up playing — and Gantt thinks the next owners might appreciate it for pickleball.
Yes, but: Living close doesn't mean constantly crossing paths. "The houses are very private," Watt said, adding that he can go weeks without seeing Gantt.
- The homes share a history, not a blueprint. "These houses are similar, but they are very different also," Watt said. Gantt calls them "siblings, not twins."
What's next: Both families are downsizing nearby, trading side-by-side living to become vertical neighbors at condos a few blocks away. The friends prefer to sell their homes together but they are willing to sell them separately as well.
Janelle Rayford and Charisma Southerland with Howard Hanna Allen Tate have the listing.
Take a look around Gantt's home:
See inside Watt's home:
