Shannon Keith
"Even though you may own a historical home on paper, you never really feel like you own it," said Joe White, one of the owners of the Myrtle Grove Plantation at 4226 N.C. 43 South in Macclesfield. "You feel more like a caretaker of the property and have a responsibility to share it.
"And that's really what we want to do, share this with the people."
White and partner Dan Roberson will be doing much more sharing of Myrtle Grove, now that they have added another addition to the 1842 main house that will service an additional 50-60 people in two new dining areas.
"The project has added the equipment needed for the catering operation and the space needed for event venues," said White. "But it does it without compromising the historic integrity of Myrtle Grove."
White and Roberson said they first purchased the historic Charles L. Vines House in 1999 after seeing it while visiting friends in Edgecombe County.
"We weren't looking for a home at the time," said White. "But after we saw it and found out it was for sale, we jumped right on the deal.
"Now when people ask us how we came to the area, we tell them that a house brought us here. Literally."
White and Roberson, both of who are supporters of historic preservation and recycling, worked on the nineteenth century home for two and a half years, before moving in permanently in 2002.
"It was a lot of work involved," said White. "Until we got here, the whole upstairs didn't have electricity and never had."
Being so passionate about historic preservation, White and Roberson performed a majority of the work themselves.
"You learn how to do it as you go along," said Roberson.
"And of course there are always going to be a few more projects we would like to do in the future," said White.
After letting the house be added to some local home tours, White and Roberson started offering the house and grounds as a venue for private parties, receptions, luncheons and dinners.
"We always figured this would be a little sideline," said White. "We never knew it would grow like this."
As Myrtle Grove Catering started growing, they realized that the house could not accommodate larger parties at the house.
"Although the house is very large, it also has a lot of smaller rooms," said White. "We couldn't have larger parties here."
White said that's when the two decided to add an addition to the main house to accommodate larger groups.
However, White and Roberson did not want to take away from the historical element of the house.
"We wanted something that would compliment the main house," said White, "And still give us the extra space.
White and Roberson found the 1880s-period Cobb House in Falkland, about four miles away from Myrtle Grove.
“We bought it for a dollar,” said White. “Then had it moved down here and connected the addition to the house with an 18-foot connector.”
White said that the structure was moved by John Landen and Sons Inc. of Greenville. The restoration and addition project was done by Lambeth Restoration and Building of Tarboro.
White said that architectural elements for the addition, such as doors, mantels and window trim, came from houses in Edgecombe, Pitt and Beaufort counties that could not be saved and were incorporated into the project to give the structure a new identity while saving them.
"As a tenant house, it didn't really have much history," said White. "So we gave it some."
White said that now, the business can do on-site catering or bring a group into the home foe the event.
“Our first event in the new addition was on Aug. 22,” said White. “We have getting more and more calls everyday.
“In fact, we are booked almost every day during the Christmas holiday.”
White and Roberson will be hosting a grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony at 2 p.m. Sunday,
“We are going to have cake and ice cream and just have a summertime ice cream social.”
White said that anyone interested in learning more about the house or Myrtle Grove Catering, call 827-5876 or visit myrtlegrovenc@aol.com
