The Cox-Morton House (Home Hill) was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. Portions of the content of this web page were adapted from a copy of the original nomination document. [‡]
The Cox-Morton House (Home Hill, 640 Holley Road) is significant in the history of Charleston's architectural development. Frank Cox, for whom the house was built in 1902, was the secretary of the Republic Coal Company, the West Virginia Collierry Company and the Carbon Coal Company. He was known in West Virginia as the "Great Wildcatter." His daughter, Alice Boyd Cox, married D. Holmes Morton of Morton Coal Company. Today [1984] the Morton's grandson and the Cox's great-grandson Bill Drennen resides in the house with his family.
Home Hill is a notable example of Charleston's American Foursquare architecture and is the earliest of its type in South Hills. A ballustraded terrace wraps around two sides of the house. The Doric portico, added in the 1920s, lends a Colonial Revival air to the structure. The hipped platform roof has deep, overhanging eaves, a gabled front dormer and shed dormers on the sides.
Andrew Calderwood, builder of the house, was well-respected in Charleston for his fine construction of the old West Virginia State House, the Roman Catholic Church and the Ruffner Hotel.
The house sits on a 2-acre lot.
‡ Alice Carter, Cox-Morton House, Kanawha County, WV, nomination document, 1983, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, Washington, D.C.
Nearby Neighborhoods
Street Names
Holley Road