Constructed around 1919, the spacious one-and-a-half story W.C. Fields House was one of the first Craftsman bungalows in Kinston.
The house retains many of its original features, including the narrow weatherboard siding, decorative knee braces, exposed rafters, wide shed dormer, interior end chimneys and engaged front porch with a prominent segmental arch and battered stone piers. The use of the massive rubblestone for the foundation, chimneys and piers, as well as for the support of the circa 1925 porte cochere, is an unusual style in Kinston and eastern North Carolina.
Other unique architectural features include a terrace with an internal drain system emptying into the stone scupper and sandstone steps on the east side of the bay window (north elevation) which leads to a small service door into the kitchen area for food and milk deliveries.
Equally intact, the interior features original mantels, pocket doors, french doors, paneled doors, parquet floors of quarter-sawn oak with mahogany accents, built-in cabinets, some original light fixtures, and three period bathrooms.
The second-story floor plan lends itself to modern living or conversion into a bed & breakfast establishment with three large bedrooms, two full baths and four walk-in closets with plenty of room for a large master suite/owner's quarters on the main level.
The spacious, light-filled rooms have 10-foot ceilings on the first floor complimented by a large covered front porch and terrace on the front and an enclosed back porch.
The large lot allows plenty of room for parking, a garden, pool and pool house or additional outdoor living space.
Constructed by the prominent Fields family, citizens of Kinston since the mid-19th century, the house was donated to Preservation North Carolina by the decendents of William C. Fields who reside in South Carolina.
The structure has been used for commercial purposes for years. It is currently on the National Register Study List and may be eligible for state and federal historic preservation tax credits.
Area Information
Kinston is a 2009 All-America City
and part of North Carolina's Inner Banks region. It has been the county
seat for Lenoir County since 1791. It is home to the NC Global
TransPark a combined airport and industrial complex and an NC Main
Street community. To learn more, visit www.downtownkinston.com, www.ci.kinston.nc.us or www.kinstonchamber.com.
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W.C. Fields House first floor plan (
Claudia Deviney
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