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Elisha Sewell House


Double gable front house built circa 1905--one of Hyde's most unusual houses

The unique and eccentric double-gable front, of "butterfly" roofline, distinguishes this two-story, double-pile house with center hall plan. The finely finished exterior featuring split shake shingles in the gables and deeply molded cornices and frieze boards accented by the application of two colors of paint, contrasts sharply to the unfinished interior; the second floor was never plastered and the trim was installed in only one of the downstairs rooms. Although area merchant Elisha Sewell (1868-1953) had the house and barn built in 1905, he never had the interior of the house finished. Sewell, whose second wife died in 1918, lived in this house with his children until the 1930s. Although the house was occupied in the 1950s, it has been vacant for many years. The corbel-capped chimneys with stuccoed arches and brick dentils are distinctive architectural features.

(Photo from Historic Lake Landing Landmarks brochure submitted by Margie Brooks from the Greater Hyde County Chamber of Commerce. Information on this house was taken from the National Register Nomination for the Lake Landing National Register Historic District.)