Coastal Carolina Research

Carpenter Builders

Williamson House Cottage, ca. 1860, Tarboro, NC.

Carpenter-Builders – Most of the historic architecture that we see around us was not designed by famous architects but by local builders or carpenters.  These men could achieve success in their own right and become prolific builders throughout a certain region.  The craft was often passed on through the family and new designs were learned from so-called pattern books or builder’s guides.  Numerous of these books were in circulation during the nineteenth century, by authors such as Asher Benjamin, Owen Biddle, and Minard Lafever to name but a few.  They would introduce local carpenters and builders to the classical orders, and the popular architectural style of the time, such as Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate, or the Gothic Revival for instance.  Clients could also use the books to show a craftsman the type of ornament they desired for their dwelling.  Often times, builders would move from one area to another and introduce new trends.  An example of such a builder is Jacob W. Holt, who was born in Prince Edward County, Virginia.  Holt’s career spanned almost half a century, from the 1830s until his death in 1880. During that time he not only worked in Virginia and North Carolina, but was also influenced by the Greek Revival and Italianate styles and some of the more eclectic styles during the post-Civil War period.  Despite being inspired by the designs in various pattern books, these carpenter-builders would have interpreted these in his own specific manner.  Two builders in Tarboro, NC, William and John W. Lipscombe were originally from Virginia, but started working in Tarboro in the 1850s, and their names are associated with several surviving buildings in town.  They themselves may have been responsible for interpreting a design from a pattern book in a specific way and making it part of their repertoire.  The prefabrication of certain decorative elements such as brackets, but also of entire sash windows, not only allowed carpenters to standardize their practice and be able to offer clients a more accurate price for the construction of a dwelling, but it also allowed them to stay active during slow construction periods by prefabricating the necessary elements.  (Photographs by Jeroen van den Hurk)