Alexander-Howell House

Syd was the son of North Carolina Railroad president Sydenham Sr., a longtime state legislator whose Enderly family estate was ultimately developed into Charlotte’s Enderly Park neighborhood. A native Charlottean, the junior Syd returned to his hometown after graduating from the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (today North Carolina State University). In 1899 he married Mary Watson Robertson (1878-1969), nicknamed “Two” as her mother was also named Mary. Following his entry into the textile industry under H. S. Chadwick, known as the father of Charlotte’s cotton mills, Syd became the southern representative for the Massachusetts-based textile machinery manufacturer Crompton & Knowles Loom Works. He quickly became a respected industry leader. Alexander Residence Hall at N.C. State was named for Syd in recognition of his service on the UNC Board of Trustees.

In 1928, the Alexanders retained prominent architect Franklin Gordon (ca. 1870-1930) to design their Eastover home. Gordon came to Charlotte from Atlanta in 1905 to serve as supervising architect for the Selwyn Hotel. Once that project was complete, he remained in Charlotte and established his own architectural firm. A founding member of the North Carolina Architects Association, Gordon designed several notable buildings, including the Carnegie Library at Johnson C. Smith University, Dilworth’s Chalmers Memorial A.R.P. Church, the Earle Draper House on Queens Road, and Charlotte’s former Mercy Hospital. Known for his Tudor Revival and Colonial Revival residences, Gordon also designed a house for Two’s parents (Dr. J. F. and Mary Robertson) on West Hill Street in 1909, which might explain why Gordon was chosen to design the Alexanders’ Colonial Revival home.

Vard was Syd and Two’s only child. Following her father’s sudden death in 1935, Vard – who by that time had graduated from Gunston Hall School in Washington, DC, married Billy Shaw Howell, and given birth to her own two children – moved back into the Alexander-Howell House with her family to care for Two. Vard became a significant figure in Charlotte’s social and philanthropic community. Among her accomplishments were holding national offices for the Junior League in the 1930s, supporting the establishment and long-term feasibility of Charlotte’s Mint Museum of Art, and serving on the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library board of trustees for thirty years. She served on numerous other boards, including those for the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, the Little Theater of Charlotte, the United Community Services, the Presbyterian Foundation, and several children’s homes across North Carolina. Predeceased by Billy in 1949, Vard remained with her mother until Two’s death in 1969. Vard continued to live in the family home until her own death in 1988.