Given its historical motifs, the architect’s famous name, and this owner’s perfect pitch, no wonder this garrison Colonial looks so authentic. The house is, nevertheless, a mid-20th-century reproduction built in North Carolina’s Piedmont, not far from Raleigh.
The house, built in 1949, shows how comforting the style can be. Initially a straightforward, gable-end block with a jetty or overhang at the second floor (making it a garrison house), it’s a solid postwar example. The designer was Boston architect Royal Barry Wills (1895–1962), the renowned proponent of adapting traditional New England house designs, especially Capes (but also garrisons, saltboxes, and churches). These New England “Colonials” were modern, built with electric kitchens, ductwork, closets, and mid-century bathrooms. Their rooms interpret the good old days as, perhaps, we wish they had been.
This…
