Philander Pearsall House

Philander Pearsall Front View

     This beautiful home is located at 314 South Front Street in Wilmington, North Carolina. It was named the Philander Pearsall House after the original owner, Philander Pearsall. Initially constructed in 1899, this historic two-story home is right off the coast of the Cape Fear River and a short walk from the infamous riverwalk. Built in the Queen Anne Style, which follows the romantic movement style of housing of the Victorian era[1], this house includes several large porches on the front, back, and second floor. It has a tasteful yellow color to the outside wood paneling, with a cylindrical tower on the front east side of the house. The tower, the irregular roof shaping, the many chimneys, and the endless number of large windows provide this home with the Queen Anne structure that flooded Wilmington during the late nineteenth century.

Philander Pearsall Back View

     With over four thousand square feet of living space and over ten thousand square feet of land, this house features five bedrooms, a dining room, a family room, a great room, a living room, and three and a half baths. Guests are welcomed with the sight of a large wooden staircase in the front foyer with an open style that leads into the great room, dining room, and living room. Each room includes nine-foot ceilings and large windows, some of which include stained glass. The kitchen has been renovated to portray a sleek, clean black and white look that places a more modern feel to the viewer than the rest of the house. Each bedroom includes a fireplace, except for the master bedroom, which has a private balcony looking at the riverfront. The sides of the home include some greenery areas and a private driveway with a white gated lattice leading to the backyard.

     The rear side of the Philander Pearsall House is genuinely the show-stopper. With endless views of the Cape Fear River, guests can enjoy the beautiful scenery of downtown Wilmington. With a private backyard, you can take steps and arrive at multiple notable restaurants and countless shopping opportunities. This places homeowners right in the middle of downtown while still having a private, secluded feel to the home. The house has only noted two major architectural changes, which include an alteration to the rear porches and a solarium that was added to the back. However, it is unknown how drastic these changes were and when specifically they occurred.

Book Excerpt from The City of Wilmington: The Metropolis and Port of North Carolina

     Philander Pearsall was born on April 6^th, 1855, in Duplin County, North Carolina. He was a wholesale grocer for many decades, owning what appears to be a third of a three-story grocer and commission dealer named McNair & Pearsall, which was officially organized in January of 1888. This business included large quantities of “staple and fancy groceries… While the general stocks are full and complete they make specialties of flour, rice, coffee, canned meats, molasses, and water ground meal.”[2] It was run by John F. McNair, who also served as the director of a local bank, Philander Pearsall, who ran the business of the grocer and commission, and H. Hunt who was a short partner. The building was located at 214 North Water Street and is noted as being a leading mercantile that helped “contribute to making Wilmington a prominent market and center of distribution.”[3]

     On June 9^th, 1892, Philander and Mary Moore Brown of Frankfort, West Virginia, were married at thirty-seven and thirty-one. Prior to marriage, Mary was a schoolteacher before changing her career as she moved to Wilmington. It did not take the newly Mrs. Pearsall long before she began getting involved in her church and civic work around the port city. She would go on to serve as one of the first presidents of the North Carolina Sorosis, which is a women-organized community service club that is “committed to promoting volunteerism, improving our community, and fostering new friendships”[4] around the Wilmington area. She was also the vice president of the Catherine Kennedy Home and assisted in the organization of the Cape Fear Garden Club.

Philander Pearsall Gravestone

     In June 1989, Mary Pearsall purchased a part of the lot along South Front Street from Alice L., Keith Calder, Joseph K., and Phila C. Nye for $2,500. However, the New Hanover County Census for 1900 states that the family did not reside on the lot until 1900, which leads to the assumption that the house was constructed between 1898 and 1900. Four years later, the house was added to the Sanborn Insurance Company Map of Wilmington. On January 20^th, 1937, Philander Pearsall died in the home from Myocardial Insufficiency, or heart failure, at eighty-one and was buried in Oakdale Cemetery. Seven years later, the now-widowed Mrs. Pearsall sells the home to Elijah O. Hewlett for $9,350. Mary Moore Brown Pearsall passed away on May 15th, 1952, in her sister's home in Richmond, Kentucky, and is buried alongside her husband at Oakdale Cemetery.[5]

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Map c. 1914

     Ownership of the house moved to Elijah O. Hewlett, who was born on April 4th, 1889, in New Hanover County, North Carolina. The newly twenty-three-year-old Elijah then married Fannie T. Keen, twenty-five, at the home of Reverend J. H. Foster on May 14^th, 1912. Sadly, their marriage was shortened when Fannie passed away on January 22nd, 1923, at the age of thirty-nine, from “Dropsy of Pleura due to tuberculosis."[6] She is buried in Oakdale Cemetery. Mr. Hewlett purchased the Philander Pearsall House in 1944. It is presumed he lived in the house alone; however, it is noted that his sister, Miss Lillie Hattie Hewlett, was staying with him for a time during 1959 and passed away in the home on September 12^th of that year. It was that same year that Elijah Hewlett retired from his employment at the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, where he was the assistant general passenger agent for fifty-seven years. He passed away on February 16^th, 1967, after enduring the effects of a long illness. He is buried alongside Fannie at Oakdale Cemetery.

     Nannie and Marguerite Hewlett did not sell the house again until August 31st, 1978, when they sold it to William Fetner. Mr. Fetner and his wife, Elsie Fetner, sold it six months later to the Wright Chemical Corporation. It is unclear why the corporation invested in the property. However, they sold the house the next month to Daniel Powell and Suzanne Ruffin Roth. The house has sold numerous times since and is now estimated to be around $1.4 million today.[7]