Love of antiques and family has made a marriage in heaven for Ben and Carolyn Miles in their home at 453 West Main Street. Both widowed in the 1 980s and seeking civic involvement, they met and married to combine a wealth of collectibles in a dwelling erected in 1925. The natural oak door on the broad front porch invites friends and family into a rusticated shingle-style home built originally for Fannie Mandle who joined in the rapidly expanding ‘suburban sprawl’ of the West End just after WWI. Mrs. Mandle moved here from her parents’ historic dwelling, the Robert Ross double house which stands at 225-27 Jefferson Avenue.
When Ben and his late wife, Julia, purchased the dwelling from A. B. Crowell in 1970, they moved from Pittsylvania County with truckloads of furniture and family heirlooms that originated in Miles’ family homes in Milton, North Carolina. Several antiques in the home are attributed to Thomas Day, whose tavern is being restored for a museum dedicated to his craftsmanship. The elaborate pump organ in the front parlor was purchased by Ben’s grandmother for Milton Presbyterian Church, which today still uses pews built by Day, a free black member of the congregation. When the church purchased an electric organ for the sanctuary, the organ was returned to the Miles’ family. The handsome brass chandelier with milk glass globes came from the Hillsville, Virginia Courthouse and was later adapted from gas to electricity. Almost every window on the ground floor is graced with stained glass panels rescued from demolished homes in Danville and environs.
In the formal dining room, a highchair used by Ben’s six siblings is still usable today. A festive addition is the collection of cranberry glasses and punch bowl, which accents the lovely Spode china setting. Sure to be a favorite, the black metal plate warmer from Ben’s family was placed in front of the fireplace to provide warmth before serving meals. The lovely mahogany dining room suite came from the Puryear home near Averett College on West Main.
The family parlor dances with light from the collection of colored glassware in the wide expanse of windows on the east façade of the home. The wicker basket scales was used by Dr. Miles, Ben’s father, in his medical practice occupying the basement of his childhood home on the corner of Holbrook and Gray streets in the Old West End Historic District. The pegged sugar chest and pipe collection, which belonged to Carolyn’s late husband, continue the melding of family heritages. A pine hutch displays antique guns, lanterns, and Dr. Miles’ old leather medical bag. A 1907 bond from Milton, N.C. is framed along with a lamination of a paper authorizing the survey to establish the town in I 797.
The hard rock maple dining set in the kitchen accompanies two oak sideboards along with family glassware, stone crocks, and mugs acquired by the Miles during a visit to England. The downstairs bedroom features a burled walnut bed and two marble top dressing tables. Heart pine flooring enhances the inviting room that proudly displays a family portrait of Carolyn’s family, the Parkers, in front of the Schoolfield Mill in 1908.
The three bedrooms and sleeping porch upstairs feature a maple canopy bed, a carved armoire filled with Carolyn’s doll collection, old quilts, a large blanket chest, and a lifetime of interesting memorabilia. Totally unique in the upstairs bathroom is the double-framed iron washstand which holds two antique china bowls once used by Dr. Miles in his medical practice before the advent of indoor plumbing.