The Cupola House is a

historic house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that is preserved as a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a variety of ...

Edenton, North Carolina The town of Edenton is located on the Albemarle Sound in North Carolina's Inner Banks region. It is the county seat of Chowan County. The population was 4,397 at the 2020 census. Edenton served as the second official capital of North Carol ...

. Built in 1756–1758 (as determined by

dendrochronology Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of chronological dating, dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed in a tree. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, ...

), it is the second oldest building in Edenton, and the only known surviving example in the

American South The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is census regions United States Census Bureau. It is between the Atlantic Ocean and the ...

of a "jutt," or overhanging second floor. It was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1970. and

Description and history

The Cupola House is a two-story gable-roofed house with external brick end chimneys. It is now covered with weatherboards; recent research suggests it may originally have been covered with rusticated siding, similar to the siding still in place on the cupola.

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is the former residence and plantation of George Washington, a Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States, and his wife, Martha. An American landmar ...

and the Redwood Library have similar siding. The roof is covered with wooden shingles. Two main rooms flank a central passage, which was an uncommon layout in colonial

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

but was not rare in other colonies. The unique aspect of the house is its combination of a cupola with an overhanging upper story. The cupola is

octagon In geometry, an octagon () is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, which alternates two types of edges. A truncated octagon, t is a ...

-shaped and covered in wood that has been cut to imitate stonework. Inside, the house features elaborate finishing which denotes the "social hierarchy" of the rooms. The stair brackets of the staircase in the central hallway feature carved floral decorations and moldings, while the doors leading to the two main rooms are surmounted by pediments. The house includes ornate mantels and woodwork on first and second floors. The cupola is reached from the attic by a "barrel stair," a spiral stair framed within vertical wood sheathing that looks like a large barrel. The house lot was originally more spacious, extending to Edenton Bay. The property was owned by a succession of merchants, including Richard Sanderson, a shipowner. Francis Corbin, the Earl of Granville's land agent, bought the lot in 1756 and built the current residence. The Cupola House is one of several sites of historic Edenton. Other historic sites open for tour include the James Iredell House, Roanoke River Light, Barker House, Chowan County Courthouse and St. Paul's Church.

References

External links

Cupola House Association

Historic Edenton
– arranges tours of Cupola House * {{National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina Historic American Buildings Survey in North Carolina National Historic Landmarks in North Carolina Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina Houses completed in 1725 Museums in Chowan County, North Carolina Historic house museums in North Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Chowan County, North Carolina Houses in Chowan County, North Carolina 1725 establishments in North Carolina

Description and history

See also

References

External links