With preservation in their bloodlines, Dr. Starr and his wife, Kelly, found their way to River City to join the Neurology Clinic of Dr. Jeff Crittenden and family who are busy finishing the restoration of the Paxton House at 815 Main Street for the Spring - 1997 Garden Tour. The William H. Lipscomb home at 854 Main Street had been rescued recently from years as a medical office by local attorney, Brian Turpin, and family, who needed more bedrooms with the birth of their third child, and decided to sell about the time of the Starrs’ arrival. 

As a result of an 1 883 chancery suit presided over by Harry Wooding, Special Commissioner, this eighty-foot lot was sold by R. W. Hobson for $4,350 to devoted brothers and business partners, James E. and W.H. Lipscomb, to be divided and shared for the construction of their mirror image homes in 1885. The existing driveway divided the lot between the long facing porches of each dwelling. When James died in 1902, his property was sold to his wealthy neighbor to the south, James Gabriel Penn, and second wife, Sallie. This twin dwelling was demolished and the brick reused to build the carriage house and servant quarters on tour today at 862 Main Street. 

The Lipscomb brothers operated a successful grocery and general merchandise business at the bottom of Main Street near its intersection with Bridge. In such a prime location near the Riverside Cotton Mills and the tobacco warehouses, the Lipscombs surely profited handsomely from the burgeoning local economy. Migrating from Pittsylvania County with his parents, William— one of twelve children — served in the Confederate Army’s Danville Grays, Company B, 18th Virginia Regiment. He married Mary Augusta North, who died in 1938. The home was left to their daughter, Ethel, who married Willis Tredway Gravely. While residing there, Mr. Gravely operated the firm of Gravely Brothers, an insurance, real estate, and banking concern. With his brother, W. Tredway, he co-founded Union Mutual Building and Loan Association, later known as First Federal. His obituary related that he was a member of the Danville Philosopher’s Club when spirited discussions emanated from the late Alonza Traylor, Arthur Taylor, and Harry Ficklen. 

In the 1950s, their son, Fenton North Gravely, and family moved back to his childhood home to be with his mother, making the fourth generation of the same family in a span of over seventy-seven years to occupy the home. In 1962, the property was sold to Dr. and Mrs. M. Howell Watson who resided upstairs over the office of his ophthalmology practice. When the Turpins arrived on the scene, the now-spacious kitchen was created from small rooms with lowered ceilings into a state-of-the-art culinary delight, especially with the addition of the French doors and a deck. Of special note in the formal parlor, the egg and dart crown molding enhances the decorative style.