Two-and-a-half-story frame Queen Anne-influenced house with a Tudor Revival remodeling that includes a brick-veneered first-story, corners, and ell; and a stuccoed and half-timbered second-story. The house's asymmetrical form and some Queen Anne features, such as a three-story polygonal comer tower, projecting front wing, wraparound porch, cornice with gable end returns, and 16-light square sash in the uppermost tower room, attest to its original appearance. The house's roofs, including the hexagonal tower roof, are clad with standing-seam-metal; windows have narrow 1/1 double-hung wood sash, and entryways feature single-leaf paneled Wood and glass doors topped by transoms. The one-story, hip-roofed, wraparound porch incorporates wood post supports. A brick retaining wall extends across the front of the property.
Merchant James H. Bell and his wife Ruth Lee McCue Bell are thought to have built the house about the time they moved to Waynesboro in 1900, probably in 1901 when Ruth deeded the site. In 1918 the house was acquired by Myrtle Jones, who added a tennis court and who probably remodeled the house, perhaps as a result of a fire. The Tudor Revival remodeling is similar in execution to the tudorized house of contractor Harry Brocks at 368 Chestnut; presumably Brooks remodeled both houses. The remodeling occurred in 1935 according to Bailey. (Unlikely because it was owned by the bank that year, unless it was remodeled to make it attractive to a purchaser, which is doubtful.) A more likely alternative is that it occurred sometime during or shortly after Myrtle Jones' ownership, according to Curtis Bowman. (Bowman, Waynesboro Days of Yore, vol. 2 pp. 115-116)
Tennis court. 1920s.
Regulation-size paved court, now fenced with modem chain-link.
Garage/shed. 1960s.
One-story, shed-roofed building on a concrete-block foundation with salvaged 6/6 double-hung wood sash, accessed from the rear alley.
National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form 2/4/02