One of the finest Federal townhouses surviving today in North Carolina, this house was built for Lewis Utzman, a cabinetmaker, and reflects the lifestyle of the more affluent citizens of the 1800s.
Jacob Stirewalt, a master builder of the period, constructed the house which features a unique carved staircase, based on one found in Owen Biddle’s “The Young Carpenter’s Assistant,” which was published in 1810.
The staircase, with a hand carved and graduated “tulip & scroll” design, winds in a beautiful curve from the first floor to the third floor attic.
Around 1819, Utzman sold the house to Judge James Martin. The house was sold to Maxwell Chambers in 1847 and later used as a manse by the First Presbyterian Church until 1913. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps show that by November 1913, the house had been moved and rotated from its original location, facing Innes Street, where the two-story brick manse now stands.
The rear fa