Right in front of you, you’ll see a grand gray two-story house with a big wrap-around porch and a round, turret-style tower on the right-just look for the place that looks fancy enough for a fairy tale tea party.
This is the John Waddey Carter House, a true Queen Anne style beauty that’s been catching eyes since 1896. Imagine the clatter of horse carriages on the street as this gray, weatherboard-sheathed house rose up, inspired by architect George Franklin Barber’s clever designs. The house’s star feature is its dramatic, two-story gable that dares you not to gasp, while the polygonal tower at the corner looks like it could hide a Victorian secret or two-maybe a nosy neighbor keeping an eye out for who’s coming to call! That huge, one-story porch is perfect for imagining elegant gatherings, with genteel Victorians sipping lemonade beneath the steep, metal-clad roof. There’s even a swooping bay window and a utility wing called a service ell-because every historic house needs a few mysterious corners. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988, the Carter House now stands right in the East Church Street-Starling Avenue Historic District, holding onto its stories of old Martinsville, even while the world outside keeps spinning. And hey, if you’re feeling fancy, give that porch a royal wave as you go by!
