207 Cascade Avenue, Fleshman-Graham House, 1925

A brick Colonial Revival H-shaped house that is oriented perpendicular to the street. It was built to face the Langenour-Fleshman House, home of Geraldine Graham’s parents, although she had the Victorian style home demolished in 1967. The main entrance is to the east while the back entrance faces Park Boulevard. It features a slate roof, steel-support system, two separate second-floor areas with separate staircases, and a central paneled living room with an 18-foot ceiling.

The house was built by Thomas H. and Mina Fleshman for their daughter Geraldine, who married Gregory Graham. Fleshman had been district manager for Mutual Life Insurance Company and was successful in real estate as well, allowing him to retire from active business and devote his time to the supervision of his investments. Local architect Luther Lashmit designed the home, which won a national design award.

Luther S. Lashmit (1899–1989) was a native of Winston-Salem where he practiced for many decades, both with Willard Northup's firm and alone. He designed the award-winning 1925 Fleshman-Graham House, and oversaw a major remodeling of Burton Craige's house at 134 Cascade in 1928 that transformed a mid-nineteenth century brick farmhouse into an elegant Colonial Revival style house.

Lashmit studied architecture at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, and attended the École des Beaux-Arts Fontainebleau in France. Like Northup & O'Brien, he designed a large number of period revival residences, primarily for wealthy families. Perhaps his best known is Graylyn, the Norman Revival estate across from Reynolda House, completed in 1931. The fact that he also designed the 1940 Streamline Moderne “Merry Acres” for R. J. Reynolds, Jr. (demolished 1978) is a testament to his versatility. (https://ncarchitects.lib.ncsu.edu/buildings/B001945).