Mount Pleasant, North Carolina
Mount Pleasant is a town located in eastern Cabarrus County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 1,652. The town center is located at the crossroads of Mount Pleasant Road and North Carolina Highway 73. ...
and restored.
Description
The board-and-
batten
A batten is most commonly a strip of solid material, historically wood but can also be of plastic, metal, or fiberglass. Battens are variously used in construction, sailing, and other fields.
In the lighting industry, battens refer to linea ...
exterior of the Lentz Hotel is supported by a timber frame of chestnut. The building reflects the "bracketed mode" of construction, made popular by American architect
Andrew Jackson Downing
Andrew Jackson Downing (October 31, 1815 – July 28, 1852) was an American landscape designer, horticulturist, and writer, a prominent advocate of the Gothic Revival in the United States, and editor of ''The Horticulturist'' magazine (1846–5 ...
(1815-1852). This "
Carpenter Gothic
Carpenter Gothic, also sometimes called Carpenter's Gothic or Rural Gothic, is a North American architectural style-designation for an application of Gothic Revival architectural detailing and picturesque massing applied to wooden structures ...
" style includes brackets under especially wide eaves, vertical board-and-batten sheathing, and heavy
lintels
A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented structural item. In the case of ...
over the windows. The seven
mantels
The fireplace mantel or mantelpiece, also known as a chimneypiece, originated in medieval times as a hood that projected over a fire grate to catch the smoke. The term has evolved to include the decorative framework around the fireplace, and ca ...
and the staircase are of the
Greek Revival
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...
tradition. The exterior siding is cypress, interior walls are pine, and the floors are made of heart pine planks.
History
Built by W. R. Scott in 1853, he sold the property (then known as the Mt. Pleasant Hotel) to John Lentz in 1863 for $1,350 in Confederate currency. The Lentz family operated the Hotel for over 60 years, spanning three generations. In 1911, the Lentzes built an outside set of stairs so the upstairs rooms could be used by the female students of Mont Ameona Seminary after the school burned (it was considered unseemly for girls to walk through the downstairs rooms where men could be present).
The Lentz Hotel was the social center of Mt. Pleasant during the last quarter of the nineteenth century and the first part of the twentieth century. In fact, it was "famous for parties and social events". Much of the Hotel's prosperity came from the town's dual role as a trading and educational center.
In 1926, the Lentz family sold the hotel.
Over the 20th century, the hotel changed hands several times. Used as a rental property, the Lentz hotel deteriorated. In 1980, the current owners made plans to demolish the hotel and build a new building. However, the Mt. Pleasant Insurance Company and local
preservationists Preservationist is generally understood to mean ''historic preservationist'': one who advocates to preserve architecturally or historically significant buildings, structures, objects, or sites from demolition or degradation. Historic preservation us ...
started exploring other options. With funding from the Historic Preservation Fund of North Carolina and the Daniel J. Stowe Foundation, the Lentz Hotel was moved to its current location on College Street in Mount Pleasant.
After being moved, the Lentz Hotel was completely restored. It is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...