Located at the south end of High Street, the home of Shirley and George McCrary is a 2005 addition to the Town of Mooresville. Sixth generation residents of Mooresville, the McCrarys were longtime occupants of George’s family home, the 1826 Zeitler-McCrary House at 4845 High Street. When the McCrarys decided to leave the family home to their son, they asked Huntsville architect Frank Nola Jr. to design a new house for them that would be reminiscent of the family place. Aside from basic functional requirements, the McCrary’s instructions to their architect were simple; create a house that combines the emotional comforts of yesterday with the creature comforts of today.
The house draws its inspiration, both exterior and interior, from Federal style structures of the early 19th Century. The simple building shapes, rendered in traditional wood, brick and stone, recall the architecture of Tidewater Virginia, introduced to the Deep South by Mooresville’s founders. The combinations of various forms and shapes create the sense of a structure that has grown and evolved over several generations. The irregular placement of windows on the front elevation, the use of poplar siding of various widths, and authentic operable wood shutters are just a few of the elements that impart an instant sense of history. The placement of the house at the crest of a small rise in the terrain, and close to the street, behind an ancient cedar tree, anchors the house to its setting and makes it appear as if it has always been there.
The design of the intimate walled garden to the north of the house was collaboration between the McCrarys, Frank Nola and garden designer Bill Nance. An exuberant wooden gate and a stone trough fountain align with the gabled roof garage to create the main axis of the garden. A rectangular tapis vert, circumscribed by a brick path, serves as the central organizing element of the space. The perimeter beds are planted with a variety of traditional shrubs, including boxwood, camellias, hydrangeas, peonies and seasonal bulbs.
