by Edward Ellis, Special Correspondent
It was – and still is – a mansion.
A hero of the American Revolution owned it and lived there with his elegant wife. President George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette were among its distinguished visitors. A Union general occupied it during the Civil War. The colossal 1770s structure has been moved twice. It was once a convent, and it served as New Bern’s public library for thirty years. At its 1972 dedication as part of the Tryon Palace Historic Sites and Gardens, the First Lady of the United States did the honors.
Architects have a special language to describe the historic John Wright Stanly House. They say it’s a two-and-a-half story Georgian design “fairly contained and symmetrical” painted white with black shutters, a hipped roof, roof deck, interior chimneys, modillion cornices, a pediment over the entrance door and first-floor windows, dog-ear trim, six-panel doors, chair-rail that carries up the staircase of the central hall and then add words like dentils and balusters and newels and reeded pilasters and frets – all of which means that its classic, gorgeous and probably few in town would be able to duplicate it today.
When John Wright Stanly, the revolutionary hero, was the owner, it stood on Middle Street near Broad Street where the federal building is today. In the 1930s, to make way for that new U.S. Post Office and Federal Court building, the Stanly home was lifted and carried out back to a lot facing New Street across from First Presbyterian Church. At that location, it was the city library for thirty years.
Back in the day, J.W. Stanly’s wife, Ann Cogdell Stanly, was the woman of the house and one of the town’s social leaders. Ann’s father was a wealthy merchant, planter, and politician who helped run off the Spanish when they invaded Beaufort in 1747 and was later an ally of Governor William Tryon. Her nearby miniature portrait is courtesy of Tryon Palace.
In 1965, the home was hauled to 307 George Street to join the Tryon Palace restoration complex. Pat Nixon, wife of President Richard Nixon, presided over its dedication. Today, it’s a tourist draw listed in the National Register of Historic Places.