Diana Constable lives in a most unusual home. The building sits on a wooded acre right in the heart of Fuquay-Varina, serene in the midst of a modern world that belies its origins. Long ago, though not so far away, it was the school for all the children who walked, rode, or came by buggy from miles around. It was shown on a 1904 map of Wake County as the Cardenas School. This area was an agrarian hamlet with dirt roads and scattered fields in the midst of treed acres that were not easy to tame.
Schools provided a center for local communities, as people drew together to provide “book learning” for their young ones. A 1917 report card shows that the school year ran only from September to March. Miss Ellie Nichols, the long-time teacher at Cardenas School, signed the report card, attesting to the diligence and academic prowess of young Bruce H. He was probably busy plowing, planting, weeding, harvesting and hunting during the other months. School buildings also served as community centers for dances, celebrations, and public presentations. They were where people came to buy war bonds, in support of the costs of The Great War, World War I. The teacher boarded at the home of the nearby postmistress.
At the other end of town, near the Fuquay Mineral Spring, the “Squire” Ballentine School served from 1842 to 1888. You can tour it now, because it became part of Fuquay’s Centennial Park Museum complex in 2000. There was a Needmore School and a White Oak School, among others.
Diana was out running behind the current location of the ReStore when she saw a shadow through the trees. Upon further inspection she found a shabby old building with the glass panes missing from the windows. What a surprise it was to crawl in and find that the interior was in much better shape than the outside, and appeared quite sound, even though there were vines growing up through the ceiling. Diana said, “We need to get this place!”
Further sleuthing revealed that the property was owned by a lady near Charlotte who had inherited the land but had never visited it. After many inquiries about the building, there was a sudden reply that the land was to be sold and the building must be moved within the following two weeks. Previously, it had been moved to a new location by rolling it along on logs. Fortunately, the foundation had large beams that kept everything from shifting, and angled joists that added to the integrity of the walls and floors. Now, it was moved down Purfoy and across a field on a flatbed, and then expanded.
The basic layout was two classrooms, side by side, each measuring 25’ square. Another portion of the building had side-by-side doors leading into a cloakroom for the two classes. To the left went grades 1 through 4, and to the right, grades 5 through 8. That portion had separated from the main structure, so it was rebuilt to the previous dimensions. There had never been plumbing nor electrical wiring. Each classroom had three windows on one side and two on the other, and each window had a transom that could be opened to let the hot air out.
With so much to do, some contractors were hired, although much work was lovingly completed by Diana’s family members. It took 2 ½ years to finish the renovations. The floors of white pine still have their texture, grooves, and patina. They were not sanded down and the cracks were not filled, but remain strong and beautiful. The frames of the windows are original and unstained. The lath and plaster walls were professionally redone and the roof was replaced. A heavy pull-down roller door, similar to a roll-top desk, can still be used to separate the two classrooms. The mechanism is stamped with an 1890 patent. The school stopped enrollment around 1920, but the pupils who were attending continued to study there until the final group finished up in 1926.
With the expanded wing, the entire structure was moved, this time farther away from the highway. This crew consisted of highly skilled professionals for sure. They jacked up the beams and carefully set them down on the transport vehicle. With nerves of steel, the mover’s teenage son took the wheel and obeyed the instructions of his dad, who said, “Look at me,” while he kept eye contact and called out small turns of the wheel for the careful positioning of the vehicle. It was like a miracle when the building settled exactly where it needed to be on the newly prepared foundation. It was a costly operation, but worth every penny.
The double classroom became Diana’s living, dining, and kitchen areas. The newer wing in the back has the bathrooms, an entrance, bedrooms upstairs and down, and side storage areas under the eaves. Diana carefully selected the furnishings to maintain the period feel and honor the historic origins of the school. Each chandelier was a treasured find. Her favorite came from Darryl’s restaurant in Raleigh on Hillsborough Street. It had been a gas fixture but is now electric. She found a stained-glass window which is a focal point of the kitchen and dining areas. One sofa and one chair are original, but the other pieces are wonderful finds, many from local dealers. A very large and heavy kitchen island used to be a set of bins in a hardware store. It was hauled in before the exterior wall was fully enclosed, becoming a true built-in.
Before its serendipitous rescue, the structure had been used as a rental property, a stopover for migrants and work crews, a home for sharecroppers, a storage building, and even the birthplace of an infant whose delivery was assisted by Dr. Glen Judd who had arrived by buggy.
Diana hosted an open house in the fall of 1997 to show off the school and share it with the community. People came with stories, memories, and interesting mementos. There is an old class photo showing over 50 students grouped in front of the building in 1911. Dr. Currin’s mother had the hand bell used by the teacher, which was offered and added to the collection. Marvin Johnson contributed the woven pine straw basket he made as a school project years ago. People related their experiences, including, lest we wax too nostalgic, tales of school violence and bullying, which are not new. Back then there were also plenty of tussles and scrapes, with knives being drawn on occasion. Or they might simply have been enjoying a game of Mumblety-peg.
The building had come full circle. Diana found a piece of the old chalk tray, though the blackboard itself was missing. She re-fastened it on the same wall and happily home-schooled all five of her children. There are a small table and chairs where the younger of her ten grandchildren have enjoyed themselves. There are shelves of books of all kinds. There is a grand piano. The gardens and patio and yard offer outdoor lessons, and history is built in. There are cabinets that house collections of arrowheads from local tribes, glass globes with lighted features inside, and even unexploded ordnance pieces, complete with black powder, dating back to earlier wars.
Diana has a gift for reaching out and getting to know people. Her two sons and three daughters are all close enough for family visits. She smiles and says, “I love my home.” She has been enjoying it for more than two decades, fully aware of all the memories it contains because of its original construction as a place of learning.
