I should mention at the outset that the Lewis Flynn House is no longer standing, but may still be recalled by some of our older citizens. The unoccupied residence burned to the ground in the fall of 1976. This very early house has been included in this series due to its long and interesting history. The last resident, Lewis Baldwin Flynn (1896-1970), acquired the house in 1947 from his mother, Ella Flynn, and lived there with his family until about 1963.
Architectural historians reported that in the early 1900s Ella Flynn remodeled the house in the bungalow style, adding a massive shed dormer and a wide porch with overhanging eaves. The house had four rooms on the first floor with a kitchen wing behind, presumably detached at one time. A resident in the 1870s or ’80s added a heavy bracketed cornice to the front door, and previous owners had remodeled the interior, replacing the woodwork with Greek Revival trim. After the fire, the five standing chimneys gave a more accurate age of the house than the much-altered exterior.
Lewis B. Flynn had a long and varied career. He grew up on his father’s farm, attended high school at Bingham Military Academy in Asheville, North Carolina, and graduated from the University of Virginia, Class of 1915. Back home, he became one of Winchester’s early auto dealers (1916-1920). As the local agent for Hupmobiles, he would travel to Detroit and bring cars back for buyers…