1948 Darnall Residence
A casually elegant 1948 house at the upper crest of Gillette Woods epitomizes the oeuvre of Tryon architect Shannon Meriwether, designed with motifs that captured America’s imagination after World War II. This example could be in California with its Mid Century Modern fenestration, low-pitched roof, broad eaves and “airplane wings” ground plan. Interiors are oriented to views outdoors, the house has a “see through” corner, the effect is rambling and airy. An open carport is oversized to showcase Detroit’s flashy bechromed behemoths. Materials are classic Tryon — old brick, massive exposed timbers salvaged from 19th century cabins, and wavy flitch-edge pine siding — along with fieldstone for the hardscape elements of landscape design.
Scandinavian influence on Mid Century Modern is apparent. Indeed Meriwether’s client, an attorney who turned over his Cincinnati house to Norwegian resistance pilots during the Second World War, was later knighted by King Haakon. His widow, Sarah Ernst Darnall, lived on for many years here, retaining their black butler from Cincinnati as her Tryon majordomo. In her absence he had permission to host classy parties for his black friends. During one such swank affair it is amusingly recalled how two white mountain boys, lost in the woods, knocked on the door seeking directions. They were right surprised to discover the denizens of this fashionable dwelling.
Shannon Meriwether’s interiors are often “woodsy”
with entire rooms paneled, as this bedroom.
His design for a custom-made door is subtly enhanced
by its kickplate and
handmade metal strap hinge.
Soaring ceiling of guest wing corridor has exterior brick
on one side, the face of a retaining wall. Earth outside
is nearly to the window sill, while inside the architecture
suggests airy clerestory windows. Opposite are transoms
to admit their natural light into bedrooms, as well as to
promote ventilation — when built in 1948 the house was
not air-conditioned.
Photographs by Brenda Gray
Sculptural lavatory sporting high-style Moderne fittings is “up to date in ’48.”
Grills conceal hot-water heating registers in the beamed, wood-paneled library,
with a view toward the elegant white-graveled motor court.
During the Sixties, Tryon artist Karl Lohse painted “From Piney Ridge” for Mrs. Darnall to hang in her living room
with its panoramic view south toward South Carolina.
Lohse taught aspiring painters in his studio El Taarn — originally designed by earlier Tryon painter
Homer Ellertson whose ancestry was, not coincidentally perhaps, Norwegian.
