Overview

If the walls of The William Thomas House could talk, chances are they would tell stories of the prominent families who have dwelled within, of the fascinating people who have visited, of a struggle for survival and the changes in a growing capital city. It’s a story worth sharing. Robert Terelius Gray, the original owner, was an attorney, reporter and editor. Indeed during the 1890s he assisted Josephus Daniels in the purchase of The News and Observer. He and his wife, Caro Lilly, began putting together parcels of land for a home at 530 N. Blount Street in 1879. By 1881 a two-and-a-half story frame house was pictured standing on the property. The Gray-Fish-Richardson House, as it would later be called, reflected dwellings that occurred in and around Oakwood during the late 19th century and is one of the few houses that have retained its original site through the years. The Grays had two children. Their son, Robert Lilly Gray, was also an attorney and practiced with his father. From 1904-1918, he was an editorial writer with The News and Observer. Robert married Mary Shackelford of Fayetteville who was a student at unc in Chapel Hill at the same time he was – truly an accomplishment in the late 1800s Granddaughter Frances Gray (m. Patton) was born in 1906. Frances obviously inherited writing genes from her father and grandfather. She grew up to become an author, famous for her collections of short stories and a novel, Good Morning, Miss Dove, which became a Book-of-the-Month Club selection made into a movie. The Gray-Fish-Richardson House provided the setting for several of Mrs. Patton’s short stories. In one, “Representative Ham,” the Young Matron’s Chapter of St. Luke’s Women’s Auxiliary met in the front sitting room to sew clothing for a missionary’s family in China. Widowed in 1912, Mrs. Caro Gray lived in the house until 1936. Her daughter, Lilly Gray Fish, rejoined her in the house from 1926-35. From 1937 until 1948, the house had periods of vacancies as well as a number of different owners. In 1948, Margaret E. (Mug) Richardson purchased 530 N. Blount Street for her parents, Armid and Ella Liles Gray Richardson. The Richardsons lived in the house until 1971. Mug was famous in her own right. Known as Arthur Godfrey’s “Girl Friday”, she was crowned Miss North Carolina of 1934, one of the first state pageants held. The seventies and early eighties found the house home to a number of occupants, and eventually its use as office space from 1983-93. In 1993, Jim and Sarah Lofton saw through the building’s commercial use and slightly down-at-the-heels appearance to envision a warm and welcoming bed and breakfast inn. After an extensive renovation with an eye to recapturing the warmth and spirit of Victorian days, The William Thomas House opened in December, 1993. The house reflects the quiet genteel glow of Southern Hospitality and the practical comforts and conveniences of twenty-first century hostelries