Cedar Grove Plantation is a historic

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

located in

Huntersville, North Carolina Huntersville is a large suburban town in northern Mecklenburg County, North Carolina Mecklenburg County () is a County (United States), county located in the southwestern region of the U.S. state of North Carolina, in the United States. As o ...

and built between 1831 and 1833. It was the home of James G. Torrance, a planter living in central Mecklenburg County. It is currently privately owned, and is closed to the public. The

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

was named for its location in the midst of a grove of Cedar trees.

History

Cedar Grove Plantation was built in 1831 by James G. Torrance. Torrance was the son of Hugh Torrance, a Revolutionary War veteran, who owned and operated a store of the site of the plantation in the late 18th and early 19th Century. Torrance built the home to showcase the Torrance family's substantial wealth. They owned thousands of acres of land and enslaved over 100 people. The Plantation's main crops were cotton and corn, as well as other foods that would have been needed to feed the Torrance family and the enslaved people who lived on the plantation. When James died, he left the plantation to his third and final wife, Margaret Allison Torrance. The House is noted for its combination of both Federal and Greek Revival architecture.

Architecture

The building is a historic

plantation house A plantation house is the main house of a plantation, often a substantial farmhouse, which often serves as a symbol for the plantation as a whole. Plantation houses in the Southern United States and in other areas are known as quite grand and ...

located near Huntersville,

Mecklenburg County, North Carolina Mecklenburg County () is a County (United States), county located in the southwestern region of the U.S. state of North Carolina, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 1,115,482, making it th ...

. It is a two-story, five bay by three bay,

Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

-style brick mansion. It has gable roof and features high stepped brick end

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

s that incorporate chimneys. The front and rear facades have one-story, three bay porches supported by

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

ed brick

Doric order The Doric order is one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of t ...

columns.

References

Houses in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina Plantation houses in North Carolina Houses completed in 1833 1833 establishments in North Carolina Brick buildings and structures in North Carolina {{NorthCarolina-struct-stub