Welcome to one of Charlotte’s Premiere and important historic residential properties. This 1954 Modernist home was design by Jack Orr Boyte, a respected Charlotte native architect, who had met and was influenced Frank Lloyd Wright; and this home reflects his style and movement. 1930 Providence Road was originally designed and built for the Neiman family, who owned a prominent Jewelry store on Tryon Street. Ms. Neiman was very involved with many of the “detail” selections that made this home so unique and special then and remain so today. After the death of her husband, she resided in the home until 1996, when she sold it to the current owners.
Tim and Ron, who just sold the home, were not seriously looking to buy a home and came to see this one on a lark, but upon arrival and touring the home, they quickly decided this was the home they had both dreamed of and set to making it their own. Tim is an architect and both are design enthusiasts, so they knew they wanted to maintain and preserve all of the Modernist details and features that set this home apart.
While the home has an address of Providence Road, it actually faces Cassamia. The .8 acre lot rises from Providence and the home is nestled on the highest point, giving it a commanding presence. The home sweeps across the beautiful front lawn, it’s low profile exhibiting clean lines accentuated by Roman brick and redwood cedar siding.
From the long driveway, guests will enter the home from the far right side, where the sunroom and it’s bank of windows is cantilevered creating dramatic effect as one approaches the front porch. The porch is linear and runs with the front of the home defined from the lawns by a multitude of vertical metal rods and gradually rises with apple orchard slate steps to the landing. Here one is greeted with a warmth of textures where the slate floors, stack stone wall, Roman brick, slated wood siding and ceiling, metal poles, obscured corrugated glass sidelight and over sized Mahogany front door, with starburst center door knob, all blend harmoniously.
Step through the front door and into welcoming foyer which continues the varied textures of the porch. Apple orchard slate floors give rise to a wide floor to ceiling wall of the same glass used in the sidelight, which is used to define the foyer and give separation from the living room. This area is lighted by a starburst chandelier, original to the home.
Walk around either side of the glass wall into the spacious living room, which features an oversized sliding glass door to the pool terrace and providing wonderful natural light to this area. There is also a floating fireplace offering Georgian pink marble surround. The triangular gas log fireplace is like a sculpture that defines the living and dining spaces, as it is about 5’ tall with large cylinder flues rising from the top to the ceiling. Just beyond it is the gracious dining room offering a wall of glass sliding doors to the dining terrace and pool. The opening of both sets of sliding doors in the Living and Dining areas create amazing flow and allow the indoor and outdoor spaces to interact beautifully, a huge plus for entertaining! This home has hosted over 200 guests at a time, at various special events.
To the right of the living room is a large yet warm and comforting den, featuring gorgeous walls made of square mahogany panels. The Den also offers a wall of built-in cabinetry and selves and glass and wood framed wall the separates it from the adjoining sunroom. This wall of glass defines the spaces and allows light to filter from one room to the other. The sunroom, originally the game room, has the same square mahogany paneling and floor to ceiling/wall to wall windows overlooking the trees.
Off of the dining room through swinging door is the kitchen and breakfast room. The Breakfast room is separated from the kitchen by a counter with storage below and is large and bright due to the expanse ofwindows wrapping two walls. The kitchen is large by today’s standards and was very large in the 1950’s. It is a unique galley style that L’s into the utility and laundry area, all areas naturally lit by a very large bank of windows covering an entire wall.This Kitchen is the original kitchen and has the stove has stood the test of time beautifully. There is a multitude of Geneva metal cabinets that offer many specialized storage needs. The lower ones are topped by the extensive original boomerang counters, still in perfect condition. The refrigerator wall is designed to hold a commercial set of separate refrigerator and freezer. Behind it is the laundry with another sink, perfect hand washing or cutting stems and arranging flowers. Nearby is a cool service bath. Down a hall are additional storage closets, entrance to the basement for great storage and a doorway into the den. Between the breakfast area and kitchen is access to the double carport and outdoor storage, this is at the very far rear of the home. It is designed so a car can pull into the carport then drive through and the drive will circle around lead you back to exit the property. So no backing up is needed!
Now back to the Foyer and head to the left and up a step to a landing offering a planter and large plate glass window over looking the from lawns, then down the hall to the bedroom wing of the home. Immediately on the left is the guest Powder room, conveniently close by but tucked away from the living spaces. This bathroom is all original, and is in like new condition. So much personality with the retro sink and slant back cabinetry, the bronze tone ceramic tile and the harlequin wallpaper. On down the hallway is an abundance of closets for storage needs…coat closet, cedar lined closet, large linen closet, and a luggage storage closet. The closets along the exterior wall all have windows for natural ventilation. On the right side of this hallway are two secondary bedrooms, both ample and offer good closet space and expansive windows overlooking the pool. The second bedroom is slightly larger and offers a built-in dressing table. In between is a Jack-n-Jill bath, an original large “Pretty in Pink” bath offering an oversized vanity with slant back cabinets beneath, a center retro sink and mirror with windows on either side which overlook the pool. This bath has a “Hollywood” tub/shower combination, that would make Marilyn Monroe smile. At the end of the hall is an open area with another large glass plate window overlooking the front lawn and acts as it’s own foyer to the Master Suite.
The Master is very gracious and has two walls full of windows, one of which also offers wonderful views of the terraces and pool. There is also a built-in dressing table here as well as a large walk-in closet with a hidden safe (for all of Ms. Neiman’s jewelry) and a private bath. The master bath is again all original and in mint condition. It has long vanity with two retro sinks atop of a slant back beautiful wood cabinet and transom windows above the mirror. There is an large walk-in shower with multiple body sprays, yes!- Original to this home. This bathroom is wrapped in soothing teal and gray tile.
Heading outside from either the living or dining rooms, you step out onto the apple orchard slate terrace, which steps down to another terrace with surrounds the stunning pool. on the far side of the pool is a raised circular terrace also topped with the same slate. the gas heated pool was built in 2007 and is 12x42, a concrete and plaster construction that runs 3-6 feet deep with 12” wide seating steps at one end and a fountain in shallow sitting area with 6’ tile wall at the other end. In between the fountain area and the swimming area is a stepping stone bridge that leads to the far side of the pool. The walls, terraces, pool and landscaping truly make this a stunning environment to enjoy alone or with family and friends.
There are so many special little details of this home to enjoy, the original light fixtures, the pull-out hanging rods in all the bedrooms and laundry, built-in clock in the kitchen, built-in speakers for surround sound, irrigation system for the lawn, dual HVAC systems….and more. There are hardwood floors throughout the home, except cork in the Sunroom, and ceramic tile in the kitchen/breakfast/laundry and baths.
And then there is the location, so convenient to most anything in Charlotte, with plenty of shops, restaurants, entertainment, country club, churches, hospitals, library, museums, parks and more within a mile or two, and Uptown is just minutes away! Wonderful public and private schools are nearby.
This home sold in just one day, but we wanted to share it's history and photos with you all.
