Alleghany Pumpkin House

The Estel Wyatt House | Alleghany County, North Carolina | c. 1900

This unique home in Western North Carolina is thought to have been built c. 1900 by Estel Wyatt, an architect and bachelor from the area. Estel was the oldest of four sons of Calvin J. Wyatt- a successful merchant and one of the county’s largest landowners. He operated a store and a whiskey distillery near the site of this home, built by his son Estel.

Some memories of him mention that Estel was an architect, so it’s no surprise that he built such a magnificent home, however, some reports claim that local architect, James Weaver, may have been responsible for the design.

At one point, the windows were filled with stained glass, but as you can see from the modern photos, those are long gone. Luckily, I was able to dig up an old image of this house in better days so you can see what it once looked like.

Eventually, Estel sold the house and farm and over the next decades, it changed hands a few times with many tenants calling this place home during that time. One tenant who lived here in the 1970s recalled her memories of the house:

“I remember that beautiful colors would fill the halls when the sun shined through the stained glass windows. There was a large fireplace in the main living area and another in a main floor bedroom. There was a room off of the kitchen where fresh spring water flowed into a catch basin.”

Today, the farm where this house stands is used seasonally to grow pumpkins, making for a unique scene in the Fall months.