GRIMSLEY-FRY HOUSE, 408 Fisher Park Circle

This Neoclassical Revival house was begun in 1907 by architect Richard Gambier for insurance executive George Grimsley. Overlooking Greensboro’s Fisher Park, the two-story frame house features a stone foundation, a broad porch of Ionic columns that engage a porte-cochere, and a high, hipped roofline pierced by hipped dormer windows and tall corbelled chimneys. The design of the house blends classical elements with features associated with Colonial Revival architecture, including a main entry flanked by sidelights and a transom, a bay window, and use of louvered shutters. The house was first occupied by Grimsley, then president of Jefferson Standard Insurance Company. Years later it was purchased by Fielding Fry, a one-time mayor of the city and founder of North Carolina National Bank.

The Neoclassical Revival style grew from enthusiasm to explore the architecture of America’s founding period generated in part by the celebration of the country’s 100th birthday during the Philadelphia Centennial of 1876. The style was further refined by the Classical motifs that embellished the Columbian Exposition of 1893, held in Chicago. The Colonial Revival style and the Classical Revival style were sometimes blended to create impressive compositions that were formal and monumental in design. Classical Revival style buildings often feature monumental columns as part of a front facing portico. In the case of the Grimsley-Fry House, the classical Ionic columns are scaled to a Colonial Revival porch. True to the Colonial Revival style, the arrangement of windows and doors is formal and symmetrical, with the front door flanked by side lights. The stonework associated with this property is notable, featuring Mount Airy Granite that is attributed to the craftsman Andrew Leopold Schlosser.

This property was listed as part of the Fisher Park National Register Historic District on 29 October 1991 and was locally designated as a Landmark Property 13 September 1984