W. J. White House

Georgia-born W. J. (Bud) White arrived in Russellville with his father in 1872 and opened a store. After his father’s death in 1892, W. J. assumed entire control of the Norwood Wholesale Grocery Company, which had branches in Morrilton and Conway. His house is near that of his brother, John W. White, whose residence was built in 1916 at 1509 W. Main. Both houses are designs by builder and carpenter Olaf S. Nelson. W. J.’s two-story brick house features a deep one-story porch that rises from a low rusticated stone wall and, supported by paired wooden columns, curves around each end of the facade. Second-floor windows are spanned by shallow brick arches, and the steeply pitched roof is covered with metal shingles shaped to emulate ceramic tile. The house is an excellent example of an early-twentieth-century design built for a wealthy merchant, as is W. J.’s brother John’s residence. John was a banker and an owner of coal mines south of the Arkansas River Valley. His two-story red brick house is an elaborate version of the popular foursquare form. Some exterior details show influence of the Craftsman style, including the green clay tiles of the pyramidal roof. A deep one-story front porch supported on limestone piers spans the full width of the house.