The Bellemonte House, constructed between 1817 and 1825, may not be on your radar screen, but it soon will be. It was moved last year to a beautiful wooded lot on Bishop Road on the back side of Wesleyan College. I became aware of the house recently on a tour of Rocky Mount that John Jesso conducted for the Rocky Mount Blackbirds – class of ’62. Wonderful people! (I was delighted when invited to join them for a few hours.) Intrigued, I went back for photographs to share with you. The restoration is nearly complete by the looks of the outside. There are no signs of a semi-formal garden with period fencing that is planned, but as a gardener, I await this addition with anticipation.

The Bellemonte house sat in the front of the Wesleyan College for 28 years until Oldham House Moving of Ramseur and Oldham House Movers of Seagrove came together and relocated the structure a quarter of a mile away. Bishop Beat, a N.C. Wesleyan College Newsletter, wrote that the move would make room for the constructed of a new building at the college’s main entrance “to accommodate much-needed classrooms and office space.”

Here’s a little history….Bellemonte was originally the home of Dr. John R. Bellamy (1794-1846), a physician who owned a large tract of land north of Rocky Mount. He began construction on Bellemonte, a Federal architectural style home in 1817. There is a two-tier portico with balustrades that are a Chippendale- inspired pattern The house was developed in stages over several years and follows the I-house form.

In 1918, Bellemonte was acquired by Mack C. Braswell of Battleboro, a landowner, and merchant. In 1956, the Braswell heirs donated 200 acres of farmland adjacent to the Bellemonte House to become the site of N.C. Wesleyan College. In 1988, the Pearsall family donated the Bellemonte House to the college and it was moved 400 yards south to the front of the college. In 1989, the house was restored and listed as one of 28 Nash County sites on the National Register of Historic Places. The beautiful restoration of this historic home is something to celebrate along with so many things that are happening on Main Street Rocky Mount and the surrounding area. It is all endlessly fascinating and important in the drama of building a future while honoring the past.

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