Numa Estus Knight (1893-1963) was born into a farming family in Huntsville Township, Rockingham County. In 1915 he married Lake McClintocks (1897-1992), and the couple had five children: Mildred Lolene, Kenneth, Numa, Jr., Audrey Millicent (died in 2022 at the age of 102 years old!), and Ruth Iris. The family attended Grace Methodist Church at the corner of West Friendly and North Edgeworth streets. Lake was a member of the Floralinian Garden Club and was education secretary for the Greensboro Council of Garden Clubs, the organizer of the annual April House and Garden Tours.
Numa Knight was an auto mechanic by 1935, specializing in “all night service” of general repairs for all makes of cars. He was innovate in offering an early form of roadside assistance…”open Sunday except during church hours”! His career remained in the automotive industry, serving as an oil company salesman and then to that of an automobile dealer by the time he retired.
The couple purchased their land on the corner of Aberdeen Terrace and Fairmont Street in 1922, and with new mortgages of $2500 in 1926, $500 in 1927, and $3200 in 1928, they might have been financing phases of construction of their home. With the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, many families struggled to maintain their homes. Perhaps the Knights also struggled, but in 1934 they refinanced their remaining $3,145 mortgage through the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation, a program set up by the governmental “Home Owners’ Loan Act of 1933. The refinancing resulted in the family remaining in their home until 1959, when the Knights sold their house to Myrtle and Paul F. Welch.
The Knight residence takes the form of a classic Craftsman Bungalow. Bungalows were inspired the exotic architecture of the Far East and India. The side-gabled, two-story massing of the house is screened by a low sloping roofline that shelters a full-width front porch. The symmetrical façade features a main entry flanked by double-hung 5 over 10 sashes. The upper sashes feature an unusual wood muntin design. The front porch is typical of the Craftsman-style featuring battered-post-on-pier porch supports. The squared posts are tapered as they rise, thus the “battered” effect and the posts are positioned on brick piers, hence the name. An oversized dormer window dominates the roofline, with exposed rafters, wide overhanging eaves, and a trio of Craftsman-style six-over-one windows. The interior appears to be well-preserved, featuring original trim details, and floor plan. To the rear, a beautiful garden features a water feature and a relaxing seating area.
Six vintage homes in the Westerwood neighborhood will open their doors to ticket holders during Preservation Greensboro Incorporated’s 13th annual Tour of Historic Homes & Gardens on May 20-21, 2023. The tour will highlight charming features of early nineteenth and twentieth century architecture, including Craftsman bungalows, and examples of Colonial Revival design.
Written by Benjamin Briggs
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