Mrs. Bennett Smedes House

Contributors:
Burett H. Stephens, architect
Dates:

1909

Location:
Raleigh, Wake County
Street Address:

123 Park Ave.

Status:

Standing

Type:

Residential

Note:

The Manufacturers’ Record of May 6, 1909, reported that Mrs. B. Smedes had plans prepared by B. H. Stephens and was seeking bids for construction. The local city directory showed Mrs. Smedes at 551 Person Street in the 1909-1910 volume and at 125 Park Ave. in the 1911/1912 volume. The United States Census, however, listed her at 123 Park Ave., which is the current street number at the corner of Jackson St., where she lived. The News and Observer of September 12, 1909, listed Mrs. Smedes as one of the clients for whom Stephens had contracted to build a house before his company failed. Henrietta Smedes was the widow of the Rev. Bennett Smedes, who had been rector of St. Mary’s School located nearby. (It was common for widows to continue under their husbands’ first names.) The house is a 2-story frame structure with a projecting left front bay, shingled second story, and bold, simple classical details. Mrs. Smedes subsequently moved to Cameron Park, the newer suburb across Hillsborough Street, where she resided in the multi-unit residence of her daughter, Mary Smedes Poyner.