Embellished with two-story semi-circular Ionic portico and columns in 1911, this alteration tells a story of the prosperity of the third owner, William Daniel Overbey, president of Danville Lumber & Manufacturing Company still in operation today in the Tobacco Warehouse Historic District. The original Italianate dwelling, designed and constructed by T.B. Fitzgerald in 1881, was initially inhabited by R.W. Lawson, tobacconist. Mr. Fitzgerald was Danville’s most outstanding architect- builder of the period. Mr. Lawson was a partner with Charles M. Sublett in a tobacco manufacturing firm In his 1971 inventory of Danville, Russell Wright, architectural historian, ranked it as one of Danville’s EXCELLENT structures. This home replaced an earlier home on this site, one of the original lots belonging to Capt. James Lanier, Danville’s first mayor, according to land records of 1818.

After Mr. Lawson’s death in 1884, Sallie E. Shepherd, daughter of early Danvillians Captain John Noble and Frances Payne Noble, purchased the dwelling and resided there until 1904. One of her grandsons, W. D. Overbey, spent much of his boyhood in the imposing and elegant home and resided here as the third owner for over half a century. In 1972, the house seemed doomed when just hours before the passage of the city’s Historic District ordinance, a permit was obtained for the demolition of the structure so a gas station could be built on the site. One month later without exercising the demolition permit, the heirs sold the home to Mr. and Mrs. John DeAlba, who relished restoring the property to its original grandeur. Mr. DeAlba came to Danville from York County, Virginia, where his family was engaged for years in the seafood industry with plans to open a branch here. He and his wife, Doris Larkins of Tennessee, were good custodians of an historic home with the experience gained from restoring his ancestral home at Seaford, Virginia. 

In 1977, it became the home of Mr. and Mrs. William T. Fowlkes, Jr., after his service in the CIA. Of course, locals know Martha as the First Lady of Dance which she continues teaching in her studio today. The fabulous parquet floors of the spacious rooms enhance the ambiance of the 13 foot ceilings, detailed moldings and mantels, and unique accessories collected during a life of foreign service. The Fowlkes have provided a new lease on life for the notable portico graced with classical columns and dentil molding; during an entire summer they employed contractors with scaffolding to restore its monumental features. Their dedication has saved an important landmark near the northern entrance to Millionaires Row which attracts hundreds of visitors every year to our city.