The Griffis-Patton House

The Griffis-Patton House was built for William Griffis and his family between 1835 and 1850. William Griffis, a native of England, his wife Sarah Horn Griffis, and their sons Abel and Thomas were prominent members of the Haw River community. William and Abel were successful farmers while Thomas left Haw River in 1840 to study medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Upon graduation, Dr. Griffis returned to Alamance County to practice medicine.

In 1844, William Griffis deeded his property, including the large, Greek revival family home, to his wife and sons. In 1859, Dr. Thomas Griffis bought the family home from his mother and brother. Dr. Griffis lived as a bachelor in the house until some unknown date when he moved to Texas where Dr. Griffis mother and brother had relocated years earlier. Even after his move, Griffis retained ownership of the family house, using it as rental property. Upon Griffis death in 1903, the house became the property of Dr. Griffis few closest relatives. In 1911, Griffis heirs sold the family house in Haw River.

Following this transaction, the house was sold twice more within a year and a half. Finally in 1913 it was purchased by Lonnie and Mary Bason Patton whose descendants occupied the house. The Pattons were long-time residents of Alamance County and, like the Griffises, were successful farmers and well-respected citizens of Haw River. In 1936, Mary Patton sold the Griffis House to her nineteen year old daughter, Hazelene, who (along with Hazelene`s husband; Clyde Tickle) lived in the house until 1982 when Mr. and Mrs. W. Eric Hinshaw lived there with their daughter Morgan and son Lee. In 2006 the present owners of the Griffis-Patton house, Donnie and Rita Carden with their daughter Mindy purchased the house from the Hinshaws.

The Griffis-Patton House is significant for its architecture as well as its historical associations with prominent Alamance county residents. The house reflects several trends of nineteenth-century North Carolina architecture. While brick, the primary construction material used in the Griffis-Patton House, was not common in earlier dwellings, it had, by the mid-1800?s become a popular residential construction material. Mid-nineteenth century architecture saw another new trend, also reflected in the Griffis-Patton House: romantic revivals were an architectural rage and Greek Revival architecture was a particular favorite of architects and builders. The 1830`s and 1840`s (the period during which the Griffis-Patton House was built) saw every type of structure, including churches, schools, and banks, as well as houses, reflect the Greek Revival Style. The Griffis-Patton house is a well-preserved example of this trend which, as Michael Southern (in Doug Swaim`s Carolina Dwellings) explains, shaped the general conception and execution of houses throughout the State.

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