Preserving History

Belle Banks and her son Torrance enjoy a chat on the front porch of Cedar Grove. Photo: Marianne Levigne

Cedar Grove acquisition will protect land around one of North Carolina's finest antebellum homes

The first time Belle Banks saw Cedar Grove was shortly after her husband Dick inherited the antebellum house from his mother. With their two-year-old daughter in tow, Belle inspected the enormous house. What she found was discouraging. While solidly built from bricks made on-site with Mecklenburg clay, the house had no indoor plumbing or electricity, and many of the windowpanes were missing. The only source of heat was the fireplaces in each room. No way, Belle told her husband, there was no way she would live there without indoor plumbing.

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