Books

Great Houses and Their Stories: Winston-Salem’s “Era of Success,” 1912-1940

Author and distinguished architectural historian Margaret Supplee Smith, Ph.D., and noted photographer Jackson Smith tell the rich histories of more than 75 great houses through beautiful new photography, historic photographs, personal narratives, and oral histories. Through diligent research of historical records and interviews with residents and local historians, they’ve uncovered fascinating stories about the families whose fortunes shaped neighborhoods like Buena Vista, West Highlands, and Reynolda Park.

In the early twentieth century, Winston-Salem was hailed as the “town of a hundred millionaires.” Booming tobacco and textile manufacturing industries converged to make Winston-Salem the largest and richest city in all of North Carolina, and major architects flocked to the area to design for its newly wealthy clientele. Ambitious commercial buildings and gracious suburban estates abounded, hosting generations of families that shaped the economic future of the country.

Great Houses and Their Stories explores Winston-Salem’s finest residential architecture from that era–its spacious mansions, palatial gardens, and even working farms–and delves deeply into the stories of the people who lived and worked in those historic buildings. This is a book for the preservationists, history buffs, and architecture lovers of the world and for the Winston-Salem residents who have always wondered about the abundance of green-roofed mansions still surviving in their city, even as similar pockets of early 20th century architecture throughout the country have been lost to time.

By publishing this book, Preservation North Carolina hopes to advance the preservation of Winston-Salem’s rich architectural legacy, which is highly threatened by demolition and overdevelopment.

Tax, shipping and handling are included.

The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein

For a limited time, Preservation NC is offering a special rate the powerful book, The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein. Rothstein presented a keynote session at the Preservation North Carolina’s 2020 Virtual Conference.

In this groundbreaking history of the modern American metropolis, Richard Rothstein, a leading authority on housing policy, explodes the myth that America’s cities came to be racially divided through de facto segregation—that is, through individual prejudices, income differences, or the actions of private institutions like banks and real estate agencies. Rather, “The Color of Law” incontrovertibly makes clear that it was de jure segregation—the laws and policy decisions passed by local, state, and federal governments—that actually promoted the discriminatory patterns that continue to this day.

Books are $16 each which includes tax, shipping and handling.

North Carolina Architecture – Local Pickup

For a limited time, Preservation NC is offering a special rate on its award-winning 50th Anniversary publication, North Carolina Architecture by Catherine Bishir. This gorgeous coffee table book tells the history of the state through its buildings and features timeless images by noted architectural photographer Tim Buchman.

A special rate of $48 (includes tax) is being offered.

To take advantage of this option, you must be able to pick up the book at our Raleigh headquarters location. Please coordinate pickup with our staff by emailing Chrissy Pressley at cpressley@presnc.org.

North Carolina Architecture

Cameron Park, A Remote Retreat on Hillsboro Street, 1910 to 2010 – Local Pickup

Published in the fall of 2014, this book covers a 100-year span in the Raleigh neighborhood of Cameron Park. Written by accomplished historian Ruth Little, with photographs by David Strevel, this charming book contains a richly illustrated narrative about Cameron Park and its residents through its first century. The purchase price of $15 includes tax.