After 37 years of renting space, Piedmont Opera is getting a place of its own. A generous, anonymous donor has purchased a newly renovated, two-story Queen Anne house in the Holly Avenue Historic District for the company. The house is located just minutes away from the company’s former location on Cherry Street. The 3,000-square-foot home at 636 Holly Avenue will be the Opera’s new headquarters and offers two floors of administrative offices and social gathering space in the heart of vibrant, downtown Winston-Salem.
The new opera house, built in 1906, originally belonged to James Sloan, a bookkeeper for RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company. After falling into a state of disrepair, it was completely renovated in 2010 by West End Investments Company who saved the home from demolition. The new house offers the opera the ability to hold social functions, committee meetings, Opera events, and intimate performances.
Below are the before and after photos of the house. We are very grateful to West End Investments Company for restoring this house for the next generation of opera patrons!