Old Building on High Point Rd

[jbanner]

There is an old abandoned building on High Point road as you are going into the Jamestown area. It comes up on the right and sits back away from the road. This place looks like an old school or college of some sort but I am not sure what exactly it was. Does anyone know what this place is?

[otherstream]

There is an old abandoned building on High Point road as you are going into the Jamestown area. It comes up on the right and sits back away from the road. This place looks like an old school or college of some sort but I am not sure what exactly it was. Does anyone know what this place is?

Are you perhaps talking about the old Pilot Life Insurance campus? It's on the north side of High Point Road between Greensboro and Jamestown.

[DigitalSky]

yes I've always wondered what that place is too (I call it the Haunted Mansion hehe)... there are still old signs that say "Jefferson Pilot" they may have been removed now though... but the place looks dead and abandoned. It would be so cool to make that into a haunted house for halloween or something...

It's right across the Sedgefield neighborhood too... And if you want a good spook drive through that woodsy neighborhood on a foggy night... it's got some nice gothic tudor style houses inside.. and that country club looks scary at night too!

I really do love the old Water Tower in sedgefield as well. Anyone else?

More info on Sedgefield: http://www.sedgefieldcc.org/index.cfm?ID=69

[cityboi]

otherstream is correct. Its the old Pilot Life campus. The building was actually used as a scence in a movie. I cant remember which one.

[nowensone]

Anyone know what is going on with it? The grounds (when mowed and kept up) along with these incredible buildings are far too nice and historical to let sit abandoned like this. I love this property, wish it was being used. Could easily be a school campus, converted to residences as some French palaces and castles have been, etc.

[ezcheese]

that's interesting. i had wondered about that campus as well. it looks pretty big. i thought it was a school or something too.

[nowensone]

^ I believe it was at one point a campus, before JP converted it, I'll have to dig up some info later.

[jasoniman24]

Does Lincoln Financial own that building now?

[Jerseyman4]

Does Lincoln Financial own that building now?

If they did, there would be a WBTV High Point bureau office then

[DigitalSky]

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&...mp;t=k&om=1

Aerial View

[otherstream]

^ I believe it was at one point a campus, before JP converted it, I'll have to dig up some info later.

Actually, I'm almost 100% certain Pilot Life built it themselves.

Per Jim Schlosser at the N&R:

"The best of America's early landscape architects did work here. Harvard trained John Nolen of Cambridge, Mass., designed Irving Park in 1911. Robert Cridland of Philadelphia expanded Irving Park, created the grounds of the Pilot Life Insurance campus headquarters at Sedgefield, the original playing field at War Memorial Stadium and the courtyard at Country Club Apartments."

http://blog.news-record.com/staff/architec...5/08/index.html

[nowensone]

^ OK, sounds good, other than the design itself seems odd for an insurance company, I was not able to find much on it, other than what several older individuals have told me about it from what they remember, which is of course not accurate until verified. One had talked about the campus I mentioned, that would only make sense, given the ownership, if they had vacated it at some point and leased out.

[ezcheese]

i wonder what kind of shape the buildings are in at this point. it would make a great conversion to living space or a mixed development.

[DigitalSky]

i wonder what kind of shape the buildings are in at this point. it would make a great conversion to living space or a mixed development.

Could you imagine those becomming nice condos or something? and then adding a retail village around it and a hotel... kind of like dee dee's project.

[jasoniman24]

If they did, there would be a WBTV High Point bureau office then

The L.F. ownership was a rumor I heard.

[ezcheese]

Could you imagine those becomming nice condos or something? and then adding a retail village around it and a hotel... kind of like dee dee's project.

one would hope it wouldn't turn out like deedee's............... HOLE!

[ncbrian]

We are doing a lot of talking about a building that most of us have never seen. I did a Google lookup and could not find any images of this place. Does anyone has pictures of this place either current or in its past?

[ezcheese]

cantnot posted a link to an overhead view from google maps. i don't know of any street level pics out there. if i was still taking classes at gtcc, i would offer to swing by and take some pics, but i don't have the time to do it any time soon.

[nowensone]

I've said in a couple of other posts on UP that I would upload pics, which I have not done yet, this weekend I will make a real effort to do so, as well as drive over to the JP campus and take pics of it. It is chained off, so don't think you can get in via your car, but it is not too far of a walk if parking across the street in Sedgefield, besides, want to take the kids, they can run around on the lawns.

[ezcheese]

I'm sure a lot of people would love to see some pics of the campus. That would be great if you can get over there and snap a few.

[jasoniman24]

I drove past there today and noticed some kind of construction going on. Maybe a restoration?

[ILoveCallingNCHome]

My mother worked out there before she married my dad. She rememberes taking a bus (if not mistaken provided by them for their employees that lived in town) from downtown out to this place to work.

Some of you might know of the nativity scene that Greensboro College puts out every December for the Christmas season. That nativity used to be owned by JP, and sat out on this sedgefield campus for their business. As a child, we used to ride out there once a year and drive through it. Greensboro College doesnt use all the pieces that were out at the JP sedgefield Campus. At some point it was given to Greensboro College. It was always fun to ride all the way out there to see.

http://www.greensboroconnects.com/document...ge_Nativity.pdf

http://www.greensboroconnects.com/GC_Navity.pdf

[ezcheese]

did anybody ever get any pictures up close of the campus yet?

[ezcheese]

well, i got a little impatient in waiting for someone else to get pics of the campus, so i decided to go out this morning and get my own pics!

here's part of the future 840 beltway

and onto the campus

as i walked up to the front of the main building, i noticed a couple of trucks and then i saw a couple of guys by the trucks. i decided to avoid the front of the campus for the remainder of my visit.

this place would make a KILLER high end villaige type mixed use development. it's so sad that this place is just sitting vacant.

hope ya enjoyed the pix!

[Beany]

Those are great pics. Thanks for getting those. I have always thought that was a neat place. I do hope one day it can be put to a good use.