North Carolina's historic port city is graced with a scenic setting on the broad banks of the Cape Fear River, a tradition of English settlement dating back to the early 1700s, the state's largest and most diverse concentration of preserved historic urban architecture, and a steady economic bustle beneath its Charleston- like charm. Wilmington is one of North Carolina's most desirable destinations for business and residential relocation and for historic tourism, and boasts numerous cultural and educational opportunities. To this lengthy list of attributes, it can now add the distinction of having its own City Club, a gracious dining and lodging emporium comfortably ensconced in the de Rosset House, or as it is described in the National Register of Historic Places, "the grandest of all Wilmington's antebellum Italianate dwellings."
Situated at the corner of Second and Dock Streets, high on a terraced hill overlooking the Downtown and the Cape Fear River, the house was built in the early 1840s for Dr. Armand de Rosset, III and his family. A physician turned merchant and entrepreneur, de Rosset headed a shipping company importing wine, oil and other products and served as representative of the Underwriters Agency of New York. The de Rosset House is said to have been originally designed in the Greek Revival style by the nationally known architectural firm of Latrobe, Strickland and Walter.
Typical of homes built for prominent families during this period, the de Rosset House makes a statement by its imposing size as well as its prominent location. Its classic Greek features were embellished with Italianate detailing during the 1870s by the addition of a cupola and a low-peaked cornice with a vented and bracketed frieze, a particularly Wilmingtonian touch. (A 1905 apartment wing appears to have been the last addition.)
The construction of and subsequent additions to the de Rosset House coincide with a remarkable period of growth and development in Wilmington. The decades between the mid-19th and early 20th centuries, roughly 1840 to 1910, saw the port city evolve from a struggling antebellum town to an established commercial center. Though notable as the hometown of several distinguished Revolutionary War generals and statesmen, Wilmington had languished during the early decades of the 19th century. Navigational difficulties and disease discouraged river trade, and surrounding bogs and swamps made road travel problematic. The invention of steampowered ships and navigational improvements to the Cape Fear River brought economic growth. By 1840 Wilmington was North Carolina's largest town. It held this title until the early decades of the 20th century when Charlotte and the cities of the Piedmont grew with the emergence of textile manufacturing.
HISTORIC URBAN
Consistently cited by architectural historians as the most urban of North Carolina's historic cities, Wilmington retains its 19th-century character. Its grid street pattern steps back from the river and today presents a handsome mlange of commercial, institutional, ecclesiastical and residential buildings that are largely restored and well maintained. In the early 1970s, however, Wilmington's historic core was cluttered with neglected and endangered architectural treasures, among them the declining de Rosset House. In 1975 the aging structure, damaged by fire and deterioration, was purchased by the Historic Wilmington Foundation, a grass-roots non- profit organization formed in 1966 by Thomas H. Wright Jr., Kelly W. Jewell Jr., R. V. Asbury Jr. and Wallace Murchison. The Foundation created a revolving fund to support the purchase, stabilization and resale of Wilmington's threatened downtown architecture and made the dignified but down-at-the-heels de Rosset House the organization's headquarters. The Foundation was able to stabilize and adapt the lower floor of the multi-story structure for its offices and meeting rooms and to renovate and lease the 1905 apartment wing. But the task of rehabilitating the almost 12,000-square-foot de Rosset House proved beyond its budget. In 1996, the group offered the house for sale with protective covenants and waited for the right buyer to come along.
Fortunately, Wilmington transplant Tom Scott was perfectly positioned to see the property's potential. Scott's interest in Wilmington dates from the late 1970s when he left a career in higher education, moved to Wilmington, and established a new professional track in real estate brokerage and inn keeping. After starting his own commercial real estate company, Scott acquired commercial buildings adjacent to the de Rosset House and rehabbed them into a hospitality campus featuring spacious guest suites and apartments offering the privacy and convenience favored by business travelers as well as tourists. "Mike Compton, my business partner, and I sat and looked at the de Rosset House for over a year after it went on the market, thinking, 'What is the best use of that historic house?'" says Scott. When they traveled nationally and internationally, both had enjoyed visiting sophisticated city clubs and realized that this would be one way to make one of Wilmington's most significant historic structures available to the entire community. "A city club would make the de Rosset House accessible to the local people not just to our hotel guests," says Scott, "and that seemed a way to give something back to the city."
"Mike and I rehabbed the house according to the Secretary of the Interior's Guidelines," says Scott, "a prerequisite for taking advantage of state and federal tax credits offered for the restoration of historic structures." The process was arduous and expensive because of the building's condition and the need to preserve as much of the original architectural fabric of the house as possible. But in July of 1998, the City Club at de Rosset opened its doors as a private club for members and their guests. The Club features multiple dining rooms, two bars and six luxuriously appointed guest suites. "We didn't really launch a strong marketing campaign," says Scott. "We mailed out some information and spent our time refining our operation."
SKILLED RESTORATION
Entering the tall double doors of the City Club at de Rosset, you see the spacious center hall accommodating the reception and reservation desk and showcasing the dramatic staircase leading to the upper-level guest suites. "The staircase, which had been damaged by fire, was reconstructed for the Historic Wilmington Foundation by Dean Ruedrich, one of the state's most skilled restoration contractors," says Scott. To the left of the entrance, the home's Parlour is a gracious sitting area furnished with fringed draperies, wing chairs covered in wine-colored cut velvet, and faux-painted walls that give the effect of mellow old plaster. A stenciled floral garland adorns the fireplace overmantel and tiered moldings and a portrait rail accent the 13-foot high ceilings. The Parlour opens to the Tidewater Bar, a welcoming room playfully decorated with a stuffed water buffalo head above the mantelpiece and a glossy bar with mirrored shelves that creates an atmosphere worthy of the movie set for Casablanca. Cleverly designed bookcase-like shelves display the Club's impressive wine selection, which has gained the admiration of connoisseurs throughout the state. Scott points out the elaborately painted ceiling border and medallion recreated according to remnants of the originals. The rich colors of wine, green and gold detailed in the ceiling border establish a color theme replayed throughout the de Rosset House.
To the right of the entrance is the City Club's Plantation Dining Room, architecturally the most impressive part in the house. Designed as a double drawing room with matching marble mantels, the room is visually divided by a pair of carved brackets. It is bathed in light from the floor-toceiling windows opening to the Doric columned front porch, and by window walls enclosing the adjacent conservatory or sun porch, creating a more intimate dining space. Scott notes that the Plantation Room dcor was modified to allow for a lighter, more informal look suitable for everyday lunch and dinner service, as well as for the wedding parties and buffet suppers that are popular occasions with the Club's members. "We chose a sage green for the walls and added yellow, gold and red accents in the decorative shutters." A light rose check featured in the upholstered dining chairs allows them to be used interchangeably in all four of the home's principal dining rooms: the Parlour, the Center Hall (which can be used for buffet service), the Salon (a private dining room for 35 located to the rear of the first floor), and the cozy Grill Room, on the home's lower level.
UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS
A visit to the Cupola Room, one of the most popular second-floor guest suites, restates the successful blending of informal elegance and respect for history that creates the comfortable ambience of the City Club. The room originally contained a small crumbling fireplace and precarious wooden access ladders leading to the fourth-story cupola. Scott, who employs a commonsense approach to interior design when possible, replaced the crumbling fireplace niche with an appropriate mantel, added gas logs and commissioned a wrought-iron spiral staircase for the room's entry foyer. The staircase winds gracefully to the cupola where guests may enjoy a 360-degree view of the river and historic Wilmington while sipping a glass of wine or simply stargazing. The Cupola Room's color scheme of pale aqua walls detailed with trompe l'oeil panels with gilt outlines carries into the luxurious bath where gilded nymphs and a satyr provide silent music in an arbor above the jetted tub.
SOUTHERN SEASONAL CUISINE
Since opening, the City Club has been known for fine dining and exceptional service. Pete Baxley, Club Director and Executive Chef, is a graduate of North Carolina State University and the Johnson and Wales Culinary Institute. He joined the City Club before it opened and executed the original concept of selecting recipes and menus reflecting fresh seasonal ingredients and the best of traditional Southern cuisine. Baxley has also spearheaded the development of the Wine Club, a club within the Club that offers members the opportunity to learn about wine in small group settings and larger events. "We host eight tastings throughout the year," says Baxley, "and we do three major events organized around wine. We do a Spring Wine Show and Tasting featuring around 50 light reds and whites, and a Fall Road Show and Tasting of value priced wines suitable for any occasion. One of our most popular events is the Holiday Buffet and Tasting when I do a traditional holiday dinner and focus on festive wines and champagnes for the holiday season." Baxley is instituting a Spirits Program to complement the Wine Club. "The Spirits Program will be geared toward couples," says Scott, "and will be hosted in Percy's, our popular jazz bar located across the street in the Clarendon House. (Percy's, named for Wilmington native Percy Heath, a longtime member of the Modern Jazz Quartet, features memorabilia of Heath's musical career and his military career as one of the famous World War II Tuskegee Airmen.)
The City Club at de Rosset is entering its seventh year of operation with 600 members and has become part of the Triangle Society, a division of Club Corps that hosts a nationwide network of over 250 private clubs. "We get a lot of guests from the Triangle area," says Scott, "and now they can use their membership in clubs like the Carolina Club at UNCChapel Hill and the Cardinal Club and the Capital City Club in Raleigh, to come to the City Club at de Rosset."
So now Wilmington has a new dimension with this beautifully restored and sensibly adapted show place-a charming combination of history and hospitality.