Carlton Carver said he’d always loved the historic home known as Stanhope which overlooks the Carrollton Square.
When he learned the home was up for sale, he decided to purchase the home and move back home.
Carver grew up in Carrollton. His dad, William Carver, was a Carroll County deputy sheriff and a jailer.
A graduate of Carroll Academy, Carver moved to Madison after college, where he lived for 26 years. For the past five years, he has worked to open a Med DaySpa in Madison, with a historical twist.
“I wanted to open it in an old Victorian or Antebellum-style home and give the look and feel of what the home would have looked like,” he said.
Carver said Madison doesn’t have many old homes, but he found one he through would work. After five years, the home finally went on the market.
Then, COVID hit and shuttered his dream altogether.
However, as fate would have it, Carver’s dream was rerouted back to his hometown of Carrollton.
“I was almost at the bank, ready to sign the papers, and sign my life away and COVID hit,” he said. “My friend Susanna Mullins called me and told me Stanhope was on the market. And I’m like ‘Why are you telling me this? I’m not moving back to Carrollton.’”
Then his pastor’s son, who’s a realtor, tipped him off to a unique opportunity.
“He told me there was a television show looking for people who wanted to move back home and renovate old historic homes,” he said. “And I’m like, ‘That’s weird. Why are you telling me this?’”
But the idea was planted in his brain, and he couldn’t let it go.
Carver said he was lying in bed and thought about the fact that Carrollton doesn’t have a wedding venue or a bed and breakfast. He knew people loved coming to Carrollton to visit because of the historic homes.
“Carrollton has never had a wedding venue, and it’s been a long, long, long time since we’ve had somewhere where guests can come and enjoy the homes and the town,” he said. “And I love adventure. I’m always ready for an adventure, and this was a great adventure. Well, I should say my newest adventure.”
Carver said he auditioned for “In with the Old,” a television show proposed for the Magnolia Network, owned by Chip and Joanna Gaines, six times. Out of 500 people, he was selected, however, because of COVID-19 restrictions and time constraints, he wasn’t able to film the restoration of Stanhope.
“I was chosen out of 1100 people who auditioned. I had to send in several tapes and videos of the renovation. The show is about people who are coming back to their hometown to renovate a historic property,” he said. “They were going to come in and film and then they heard about the home and they wanted to do a documentary on me.”
However, they had to cancel due to the pandemic.
“The numbers spiked and the production crew canceled and they couldn’t do it.”
As with the journey that led him to purchase Stanhope, another opportunity arose.
“Mayor Pam Lee called me and said there was a girl that was looking for a historic home to have a wedding,” Carver said. “She told her that there was a guy that had just moved back and wanted to open a wedding venue and bed and breakfast in town.”
He said she came and saw the home and it was a complete disaster, but she saw his vision and trusted him.
“I moved here the week of Christmas,” he said. “She loved my idea and she wanted to have the wedding here.”
The wedding was set for June 15, and he had six months to tackle many projects before that event. He moved into the home, and restoration efforts began.
Carver’s goal was to bring Stanhope back to what it would’ve looked like in 1847.
“I worked my tail off. It took a lot of work, a lot of work,” he said.
He enlisted the help of his friends Cecil, Luke and Dulcey Womble, Jennifer Mansfield, Hunter Hodges, Durden and Patrick Napier and Wendie Shepherd. And although his documentary with Magnolia Network didn’t pan out, the renovation plans were extensive.
Carver replaced concrete steps with a brick walkway. He said he also restored the original columns on the home, lifting the roof to ensure it was safe and in place.
“We had to do that first because we were scared it was going to fall in on us,” he said.
Inside, Carver removed the carpet on the stairs and restored the hardwood beneath. He also strengthened the home’s foundation by replacing joists under the house.
“A lot of the beams are still the original beams that were used when the home was built,” he said. Surprisingly, a wine cellar was discovered by the previous owners during the installation of an HVAC unit.
“They [the HVAC company] had to go under the house, and that’s when they found the cellar. They asked them ‘Did you know the home had a wine cellar under it?’ When its fall and a whole lot cooler, I’m going to go under and dig it out, and see what I can find,” Carver said.
Designed by prominent architect and master builder, James Clark Harris, the original structure of Stanhope was built in 1847. Carver said Dr. Stanbury added an addition to the home in 1874 to house a kitchen and bathroom. Plumbing was added and encompassed the original outhouse, making it into an indoor bathroom.
Stepping into Stanhope, is like stepping back into the 1800s. Carver has a love of history and that love was at the heart of the restoration. He embraced the home’s past and focused on keeping with the original finishes like a gilt mirror that was in the home since the 1840s and original flooring. He also adding features that look as if they have been a part of the home since its original construction.
On June 15, he hosted his first wedding.
“It was wonderful. It felt natural to me. I’ve always thought I was the perfect host. It was a huge success,” he said.
Carver said he’s still renovating the home but with the wedding behind him, he can relax a little.
“I’m going step-by-step,” he said. “I’m going to bring it back to its original Victorian and Antebellum era. There will be antiques and fine china, just like it was in the 1800s.”
He said upstairs, Dr. Washington Stanbury had a medical office, and he’s going to return the office to the home.
“I want it to be like what I think a medical office would look like then. It’ll be more for a museum instead of a room where people would stay,” he said.
He said that this fall he’s opening up Stanhope for the Carrollton Pilgrimage.
“I don’t think the home has been on display for a while,” he said.
Carver has even had first his guests for the bed and breakfast.
“There was a couple who came from Baton Rouge and a couple who came from North Carolina,” he said.
For his guests, Carver gives golf cart tours of Carrollton, with the narration by Carver himself.
Carver said in the future he may open up Stanhope in the evenings where he will offer a spa day and a hors d'oeuvres tray, but nothing is set in stone yet.
“I had a friend over and I had a day for her and she loved it. I’ve been getting all excited about it. It may be something I offer in the future,” he said.
