Circa 1922 Stately Brick Home at the Gateway to Historic West Square, Salisbury NC ~ FOR SALE!

Update May 13, 2026:  Fresh new price to reflect today's market:  $549,000

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The McCanless-Busby-Thompson House, circa 1922, stands at the gateway to the desirable West Square Historic District, just blocks from vibrant downtown Salisbury. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this stunning all-brick 3,545 square-foot residence, on a 1/2 acre lot, blends Arts & Crafts, Mission, Mediterranean Revival, and Colonial Revival architectural influences, highlighted by elaborate decorative brickwork, ceramic tile roof, and a voluminous showcase - open-air, wrap-around, quarry-tiled veranda. This stately home is one of the West Square's jewels!

Welcome to 128 W. Thomas Street in Salisbury, North Carolina!

Approaching this expansive, 2-story house from the front walkway, the striking brick pattern along the front facade will surely catch your eye.

But upon your arrival at the top of the entry stairs ~ the vast front veranda with its terracotta quarry-tile flooring will stop you in your tracks. 

A welcoming and elegant outdoor entertaining space, large, open, uncovered verandas such as this were a defining feature of 1920s architecture, particularly in Mediterranean Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival styles, which were designed to promote indoor-outdoor living. These spaces often served as extensions of the living area. The veranda sweeps and ells around the house to the left, where it becomes a more secluded covered porch.

A unique Arts & Crafts entry vestibule welcomes you beneath large rafter tails under a Palladian eyebrow-arched roofline, through a beveled-glass, arched door flanked by eight-paned beveled sidelights. A curved drive through a covered porte-cochere echoes a bygone era of elegance. Earth-toned brick, green trim, and the original green ceramic tile roof create a tranquil, period-correct exterior.

Inside, the foyer opens to a jaw-dropping, elegant entertaining parlor with soaring coffered ceilings, gleaming oak herringbone parquet floors, 8-over-1 windows, and high wainscoting. The grand, curved staircase, modeled after the Hambley-Wallace Mansion on nearby Fulton Street, is a sweeping focal point.  As you take the stairs upward, be sure to turn around at the upper landing for the bird-eye view of the sweeping parlor and its massive original fireplace, featuring original Rookwood tile surround and the impressively deep mantelpiece. Even the staircase landings have the herringbone-patterned wood flooring.  You'll note beautiful period-correct light fixtures here and throughout the home.  

Two pairs of beveled glass French doors flank the formal parlor, leading to a handsome sunroom on the right and to an informal parlor, often referred to as the 'gentlemen's parlor' in days of yore, or den to the left.

The sunroom features TEN 6-over-6 windows and neutral-colored tile flooring.

The smaller parlor offers handsome oak flooring, more 8-over-1 windows, and handsome architectural wainscoting. Another grand fireplace is here, with fluted columns at the mantel and surround. 

A bygone touch (often seen in grand vintage homes like the Biltmore in Asheville) is the center-floor outlet ~ so that you can plug in lamps near your fireplace seating without trailing cords across the floor to the wall outlets!  This room accesses the covered portion of the wrap-around veranda and the porte-cochere via another set of handsome multi-paned French Doors.

Pocket doors in the parlor lead to a bright and spacious formal dining room with high architectural wainscoting topped with a plate rail. Natural light streams through large, 10-over-1 windows. More period-correct light fixtures finish this beautiful room.  A large cased passageway opens graciously into the gleaming NEW kitchen. 

The kitchen features solid-surface countertops, a gorgeous hammered copper sink, and a pot filler over the gas stove, along with ample pantry and storage space.  A center island provides more workspace and a pleasant seating area or breakfast bar.  The upper glass-front cabinets above the stove are lit from within.

Off the kitchen to the rear is a cozy breakfast nook or garden room that leads downward to a backyard doorway, and further downward to the basement. Exposed brick walls along the back entry and basement staircase add a handsome rustic touch.

Off the kitchen, towards the interior, is a small hall bedecked with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. Here, the first-floor full bathroom is tucked privately away. Three full bathrooms, one on the main floor and two more upstairs, showcase new subway tile, gorgeous basket-weave tile flooring, and sparkling walk-in showers. One bath has a tub.

As you climb the sweeping staircase, you reach a large mezzanine landing that overlooks the front parlor.  Even this space includes deep architectural moldings and trim.

From there, the staircase turns to arrive at a large upper hall from which the home's four large bedrooms and the laundry room are accessed. One of the front bedrooms, used by the current owner as an office, includes the home's 3 fireplaces.  The upstairs baths are arranged as Jack-and-Jill pass-throughs between the bedrooms.  Each bathroom features beautiful custom tile floors, including a basket-weave in one, hexagonal tiles with a creative inlaid border in another.  The bathrooms offer a beautifully tiled walk-in shower in one, and a traditional bathtub in the other.

The McCanless-Busby-Thompson House lay vacant for a period of time, damaged by Hurricane Hugo in 1989.  Colloquially known as the 'Hidden House'.

In 2017, Realtor Greg Rapp worked with a potential buyer to save the house from demolition. The home underwent a permitted restoration and renovation from 2017–2022, including a new electrical system, new plumbing, new HVAC systems, and carefully sourced period light fixtures. The new bathrooms and kitchen were added during this phase.

Additional features include a full unfinished basement, the original green ceramic tile roof, repaired where needed with extra tiles stored on site, and a garden shed in the rear yard.

The professionally landscaped yard is planted with zoysia grass - a warm-weather turf that turns golden during its winter dormancy and starts to green up again in mid-April for the hot summer months. (The photos showing green turf lawn have been digitally enhanced to show their appearance from April to November.)

128 W. Thomas Street is located at the gateway to one of Salisbury's more prominent historic districts, just blocks from the vibrant city center and downtown amenities. Salisbury, North Carolina is located equidistant, approximately an hour drive, between the metro areas of Charlotte, Winston-Salem, and Greensboro, with a 2-hour drive to the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Asheville area, and a 4-hour drive to Atlantic Ocean beaches.  The McCanless-Busby-Thompson House is located in the West Square Historic District and, therefore, is under the purview of the City of Salisbury Historic Preservation Commission for exterior changes. 128 W. Thomas Street also has a Historic Salisbury Foundation Deeded Preservation Agreement in place to preserve this historic home for future generations.

Are you ready to be the next steward of this fantastic circa 1922 home? Call Greg Rapp with Salisbury Real Estate for your private showing, then pack your bags . . . because The McCanless-Busby-Thompson House is calling you home!

128 W. Thomas Street
Salisbury, North Carolina 28144
MLS#4355129
$575,000

$549,000

Greg Rapp 
Salisbury Real Estate LLC 
704 213 6846 Mobile 
GregRappRealtor@gmail.com 
www.realestatesalisbury.net 

An 1890s Victorian Cottage in Salisbury NC ~ FOR SALE ~ Salisbury Real Estate LLC

Looking for that sweet Victorian storybook cottage of your dreams? Look no further. Greg Rapp with Salisbury Real Estate LLC offers this terrific blend of old world charm and new world comfort in a sweet single-story circa 1890s farmhouse Victorian in the heart of Salisbury, North Carolina.

Get all the details below, but when pictures are not enough to convince you of the complete charm of this spectacular, move-in-ready Victorian cottage in the West Square Historic District, then it's time to give Realtor® Greg Rapp a call: 704.213.6846. Let Greg tell you the advantages of purchasing this historic home at 308 W. Monroe Street in Salisbury, and the rest, as they say, will be history!

308 West Monroe Street, a 1890-1910 folk Victorian Queen Anne cottage with 1,313 square feet, two bedrooms, and 2.5 baths, is nestled between three circa 1897 sister houses in the heart of the prestigious West Square Historic District in Salisbury, North Carolina. Two large pin oaks and a front border of evergreen shrubs frame the property. The majestic trees offer wide swaths of shade, cooling the home in summer and creating the most enjoyable front-porch experiences.

Handsome brick steps lead up to a cottage-style front porch, a prize-winner with spindle friezes, trefoil brackets, and turned elements figuring prominently in its ornamentation, adding to the romance of this Victorian cottage. 

You'll find more Victorian architectural details in the decorative dentil molding that trims the home's bay windows. 

Stepping inside, the knock-out feature in the spacious front parlor is the tray ceiling framed by impressive deep crown molding and trim. This feature adds a whole new dimension to the room, adding depth and visual interest, and completely adding a sense of Victorian grandeur to the home. 

A faux fireplace (the original fireplace was likely on an adjacent wall between the living and dining rooms) is framed by two large windows in the parlor's bay feature.  An outlet above the deep mantel piece is genius for mounting a television or twin lamps with minimal electrical cord anti-aesthetics!

Gleaming original wood floors take you through to the dining room, another spacious room with deep crown moldings and trim. A double array of 2-over-2 windows here streams natural daylight. 

Enter the farmhouse-style kitchen from the dining room . . . and you are sure to be impressed with the cabinet space and the expanse of counter work area.  The work island/breakfast bar here is a movable feature. 

Step through lacy gingerbread door brackets to a completely charming screened porch off the kitchen, a new (2021) addition, and a wonderful place for taking in bug-free fresh air and the sweet gravel patio space and gardens in the fenced-in rear yard. 

While the porch addition is newer, careful attention was paid to have the architectural details mimic the Victorian character of 308 W. Monroe Street.  The brackets, dentil molding, and inner beadboard are perfectly congruous with the original home aesthetic.

A mudroom just off the kitchen leads to a half bath, where the laundry room is cleverly hidden. 

A small hallway leads to the home's two bedrooms, separated by a full bathroom with tongue-and-groove beadboard walls, painted a vivid azure blue! The beadboard walls here, in the kitchen, and in the two bedrooms, are a stunning statement to the home's 1897 vintage beginnings.

The Owner's Bedroom Suite offers a walk-in closet and has its own private full bathroom with a walk-in shower. The second bedroom offers a handsome boxed bay window. 

A quaint elevated outbuilding, mimicking a garage, is perfect for a workshop, artist's studio, a "She-Shed", "Man-Cave", or more! 

French doors open to a space that could be opened up to act as a cabana for the tiny, gated, and enclosed garden yard. The possibilities for its creative use are wide open! 

The current owner installed a gated area mid-driveway to divide the driveway into either secure parking or additional patio space in front of this delightful outbuilding.

In the center of the Historic West Square and only blocks from the Rowan County Library and Downtown center, which is bustling with plenty of activity, 308 W. Monroe Street is a stone's throw from Salisbury's many and varied restaurants (Seafood, Italian, American Bistro, Thai, and Vietnamese, to name a few!), community theaters, shops and brewery options!  The fabulous Bell Tower Green park, a centerpiece of downtown Salisbury, is mere blocks away.

Located in a Historic District overlay, this sweet home is eligible for City of Salisbury Historic Preservation Grants for exterior improvements. City of Salisbury Historic Preservation Commission oversees changes to exterior components per Historic Design Standards that must be approved through a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) process. 

Realtor® Greg Rapp is the area's expert in historic property real estate and can find your dream 'old house'. Salisbury, North Carolina is noted for its preservation culture and a tremendous stock of historic homes . . . something for every budget! 

 These older homes are built with quality construction and materials that just do not exist in today's new construction. Partner with Greg Rapp and find your dream historic house! It's as easy as dialing 704.213.6846!




308 West Monroe Street
Salisbury NC 28144
CMLS#4264965
$285,000

Greg Rapp 
Salisbury Real Estate LLC 
704 213 6846 Mobile 
GregRappRealtor@gmail.com 
www.realestatesalisbury.net