MID-LAWN (WEBB-PATTERSON HOUSE)

08.19.2016 (G. Kueber)

(Below in italics is from the National Register listing; not verified for accuracy by this author.)

One of the best-preserved Italianate-style houses in Hillsborough, the Webb-Patterson House (Mid- Lawn), is a two-story gable-and-wing house prominently sited on the northwest corner of East Queen and North Cameron streets. The house is three bays wide with a projecting two-story wing on the right (east) end and a two-story, side-gabled wing at the rear (north) that project beyond the right elevation. It has plain weatherboards, two-over-two wood-sash windows, three interior corbelled brick chimneys, and sawn brackets at the roofline. The entrance, centered on the façade, has a double-leaf one-light-over-three-panel door with etched glass. It is sheltered by a one-story, hip-roofed porch that extends across the left two bays of the façade and is supported by chamfered posts with sawn brackets and has a turned balustrade. There is a projecting, bay window on the right end of the façade with flush wood panels above and below the windows and brackets at the roofline. An entrance on the right elevation has a double-leaf two-panel door that is sheltered by a three-bay- wide, hip-roofed porch supported by chamfered posts with sawn brackets. There is a two-story, hip-roofed wing at the rear and a series of one-story additions that connect to an original brick kitchen with six-over-two wood- sash windows and an interior brick chimney. According to the current owner, James Webb Jr. had the house built in 1881, and in 1919 it was sold to David and Elizabeth Patterson. County tax records date the building to 1881. There is a stone wall along the south edge of the property and mature boxwoods line the front walkway. An original barn and servants’ quarters have been lost.

From Gardens of Old Hillsborough, 1971:

There is no tradition that a planned, or formal garden ever existed here but, since the original house of brick was destroyed by fire, it is possible that the garden was also destroyed, or neglected. However, fine magnolia trees and an exceptionally large and beautiful pecan tree remain. There was formerly a large planting of sweet shrub. Old bulbs come up early everywhere. The Madonna Lilies were one of the features of the garden. Mrs. Patterson remembers a stalk bearing twenty-six blooms.