Coats House

Early 1860s; Thomas H. Coats, builder; 11503 St. Andrews St., Tarboro
 
Advertised for sale in 1865 as “a new brick ‘English’ Cottage,’ “the picturesque house was evidently drawn from Minard Lafever’s Architectural Instructor (1856).  Built as Coats’s own residence and an advertisement of his modern taste and skill, the house presents many innovative features:  the hip roof interrupted by a front central gable and a cupola, the “Italian” blocks accenting the windows, the rafter brackets of the eaves, the diminution of the second-story windows, and an elaborate ventilation and insulation system.  A detached brick kitchen and board-and-batten smokehouse complete the ensemble.  Coats, a Virginia-born contractor, built several buildings designed by architect  William Percival.