"The White House", built in 1735

The White House, also known as the Best House, is possibly the oldest historic home in Greene County. 

Henry Best was born in 1702 in Isle of Wight, Virginia. He made his way to North Carolina and settled in the area now known as Greene County. He built his first home in 1733 near Bull Head. He also built another home, known as the White House, which took 5 years to build and was completed in 1735. This home still stands today.

From the Wayne County Heritage Book, page 149, article #352:

"Henry Best was born 1702 and moved from Isle of Wight, Virginia in 1732 and eventually owned over 2325 acres in eastern North Carolina. He built a house in 1733 near Bullhead in present day Greene County, North Carolina. He started another house which took 5 years to build and the home was referred to as the White House, and still exists today. It is located in the Jerusalem section of Greene County, North Carolina.

The land that Henry Best owned was located north of Nahunta Swamp in present day eastern Wayne County and western Greene County, North Carolina. This land was located in Craven County prior to 1746. In 1746 Johnston County was formed from Craven County."

“The Best Old House”

At one time it was the most pretentious mansion in eastern Carolina, where guests were entertained royally. It is still in a fine state of repair. 

By Mrs. W. B. Murphy

The most interesting old house in Greene County and one of the most interesting in the state is the old Best House, owned by Mr. and Mrs. Z. B. Carlisle, located six miles from Snow Hill—two miles off the Snow Hill-Goldsboro Highway.

It was built by Henry Best I around 1735 by workmen brought from England. Its construction probably covered a period of five or six years—the exquisitely carved mahogany stairway in entrance hall alone requiring six months to build. The original house is 18½x44 feet and contained four rooms, 17½ feet square, separated by halls with kitchen detached in the rear. Small porches ten feet wide supported by four beautifully fluted columns featured the house originally, front and back. But Henry Best III, a grandson of the builder had the whole house lowered 28 inches, because his wife sustained a fall from the high narrow front porch which caused her death. He also added double six-columned porches across entire front and placed the small front porch at the south end of the house. The original blinds were taken off and burned for fuel by tenants who occupied the house a few years ago while Mr. and Mrs. Carlisle were in residence in Snow Hill. 

Of exceptional beauty are the hand-carved mantels, paneling, cornices, doors, and windows. Many of the original panes in windows, brought from England, are still in use but worn so thin they may easily be broken. Brick for the handsome four-tiered chimneys and basement were made in kilns on the plantation. The sills of the house are dressed, beaded and painted. 

The house today is surrounded by magnificent oak trees more than forty inches in diameter which were planted by the present owners, the original oak grove having been destroyed by a tornado in 1886.

Called the “White House”, this house was in colonial days one of the show places of eastern Carolina. Mr. Best kept open house to his friends from England and also to the Colonists within a radius of 100 miles. He was a land owner of princely proportions being said to have owned all the land from Snow Hill to the Wayne County line, and from Contentnea Creek to La Grange – an area covering 14 square miles. 

The unique things of note about this famous old house are many. It was a guest house where Henry Best I entertained his friends, the servants who waited on the guests living in the basement – the real home where Henry Best I lived with his wife and eight children being three miles north. This latter house also is in fine state of preservation and is now owned by Mr. Dick Mewborn. So sturdily was this house built that there was never even a crack in the plaster until the earthquake of August 31, 1886. The place has never been out of the hands of Best descendants. No children have been born in this house during the more than 200 years since it was built, though several have been reared in it. 

The descendants of Henry Best I and the Colonel Alexander McAllister D.A.R. Chapter of Snow Hill in 1926 erected a bronze tablet on marble marker at the grave of this colonial builder on which was inscribed: “Henry Best I, Revolutionary Patriot of Greene County.”

Source: The State, A Weekly Survey of North Carolina, Vol. 7, Issue 48, April 27, 1940, p. 8

The home was renovated again in 1970 and remains in good condition. It is 4,644 square feet with four bedrooms, located off Hamtown Road.