The following is largely adapted from an article written by Missy Izard Schenck. Additional commentary from the Thompsons is indicated by italics.

Elaine Thompson loves Christmas. It was her mother’s favorite holiday and a decorating feast every year for her family.  “Everything on our home was decorated. If you didn’t move quick enough, she’d put a bow on you,” Elaine says with a laugh. 

It is a tradition Elaine happily carries on at Dunroy, the historic home she and her husband, Michael, own in Flat Rock. 

Elaine’s birthday is November 2nd and as her children, Hunter (29) and Sallie Kate (18) have gotten older she has had a very specific birthday gift request for them.  “They don’t have to give me a birthday present. They have to give me one day to get all the Christmas decorations out of storage and to help me get started.”  Decorating starts that first week of November and Elaine has everything up by Thanksgiving  when the extended family comes together and kicks off the season with a Thanksgiving meal served on the family’s Christmas china.  The decorations remain in place through the 12 days of Christmas ending on January 6th.

The process of ornamenting Dunroy is a top to bottom holiday makeover of their home with multiple trees adorning the interior and exterior of the house and mantles and banisters trimmed with swags, stockings, and a variety of decorations.

The decorations feature two large Christmas trees inside, another tree on the porch, and three smaller trees. There are five mantels that are fully decorated with different themes and are Elaine’s “favorite places to decorate.”  

For his part, Michael Thompson appreciates Dunroy for its charms throughout the year. “I love history and the beauty of the old southern charm. The sense of time and place and space really speaks to me,” he explains.  He also enjoys the fact that first-time visitors often catch their breath a little bit when they walk through the home’s front entrance. “I’m sure it was built to impress,” he says with a smile.

Dunroy’s history dates back to 19th-century rice planter David Rogerson Williams II and his wife, Kate, of Camden, South Carolina. Kate’s sister, Mary Boykin Chesnut, was the author of Diary from Dixie, an account of life as the wife of a member of Jefferson Davis’s cabinet during the War Between the States. In her account, Mrs. Chesnut made several references to visits with her sister in Flat Rock.

After spending a summer in Flat Rock at the Farmer’s Hotel, Williams purchased 97.5 acres in 1852 from Charles Baring, who was forced to liquidate his deceased wife’s Mountain Lodge holdings. Located just southwest of Mud Creek Baptist Church on a portion of land that was once Trenholm Road and before that The High Road, Dunroy is situated on Rutledge Drive. Williams engaged Henry “Squire” Farmer, the owner of the Farmer’s Hotel (Woodfield Inn and now Mansouri Mansion) to build his family’s two-story summer home. 

Dunroy, sitting on a hillock, reflects the influence of Tudor houses in England with wooden edging under the gables called verge boards or bargeboards. This gingerbread style trimming was used on many of the “Carpenter Gothic” American houses and cut with a scroll saw. Gothic influence is also displayed in the steep roofs over the gables and former windows. Lattice frames segmental arches of the front porch. 

The house was sold in 1875 to Louise Rutledge of S.C. Upon Mrs. Rutledge’s death in 1911, her daughter, Anne Louise “Loulie” Heyward, inherited the Flat Rock property. Both Mrs. Rutledge and her daughter were descendants of a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Ambersley was the name that appeared on Mrs. Heyward’s stationery heading and the first known name applied to the property. When her husband died in 1923, Mrs. Heyward sold the cottage and moved to a smaller place on Greenville Highway.

William Dalton McAdoo was the new buyer and a real estate impresario who made a name for himself in St. Petersburg, Florida, and Greensboro, North Carolina. His local residence was Chanteloupe; Dunroy was simply one of his investments. The stock market crash of 1929 left the McAdoos considerably overextended and a 1930 transaction transferred the property to Harriott L. King, the wife of Maj. General Campbell King, for “one dollar and other valuable consideration.” The Kings’ granddaughter remembers being told that the “other valuable consideration” was a “suitcase full of money” and that “any other form of payment would have been confiscated by the IRS.” 

Gen. King retired in 1933 and moved back to Flat Rock where he had been born. It was King who came up with the name Dunroy for the property:  Dunroy from the Gaelic “dun” signifying a hill fortress or, more loosely, a castle; and “roy” meaning “king.” Thus, the combination became “castle of king.”

General King died in 1953 and his wife a year later. Their son, Duncan Ingraham Campbell King, who became known by his initials as “Dick” moved into the family home. Dick fully renovated Dunroy as a year-round residence and lived there with his family up to his final illness in 1987. He opened his medical practice in Hendersonville where he served the community as a family doctor and an accomplished civic leader for more than 50 years. 

The estate was sold for development and Lucy and David Crawford bought the historic house comprising one acre and lived in a camping trailer in the yard as they renovated the structure. David salvaged beadboard, trim and other valuable pieces from the outer buildings and incorporated them in their renovation. They meticulously worked on the project for five years and documented the progression with photos. 

Michael credits the Crawfords for preserving an important part of Flat Rock’s history. “David and Lucy did tremendous work and they really did save it. David was a carpenter by trade and he’s very, very talented. “

Lucy Crawford and Michael Thompson grew up in Hendersonville and attended grade school together. One day Lucy invited Michael to come see Dunroy’s transformation. A beautiful old camellia tree was in full bloom by the house as Michael approached it. He was so taken with the blossoms on the bush that it made an impact on Lucy. When he entered Dunroy, Michael knew in that moment he wanted to own it one day. There was something special about the house — it spoke to him. He told Lucy that if she and David ever decided to sell Dunroy to let him know. Not long after this visit Michael arrived at his office one day to find a single camellia on his desk with a note saying, “Michael, call me.” 

Michael knew immediately that he wanted to buy Dunroy. Elaine was a bit more circumspect about the demands of purchasing and continuing to renovate an older home. “Michael is a dreamer. And I’m a pragmatist,” says Elaine. “So we had a lot of discussion about buying Dunroy because there was still a lot to be done to the house. But I like history as Michael does and it is a beautiful home.  I can’t say I ran to the decision to buy Dunroy, but I got there eventually.”

Moving day for the Thompsons was December 29, 2004. 

Michael and Elaine continued the renovation of the property including a small cottage, the ice house and the garage. Most people inherit a few things with an old house, but little did Michael and Elaine know that Susannah, the housekeeper, and Shady the cat would be sticking around. The first project Michael and Elaine tackled was the renovation of the cottage behind Dunroy, so Susannah would have a place to live. Shady moved with the Crawfords to their new home on Maybank Drive just down from Dunroy but kept running away to the old home place. After a while, the Crawfords told the Thompsons to just keep Shady, a blue-gray mix, who has now spent most of his life on Dunroy’s front porch. 

One of the key characteristics that drew Michael and Elaine to the house was its warm, welcoming feeling — an important feature for a family who enjoys entertaining.

When Elaine and I are long gone, both our kids will be able to say, “Boy, mom and dad really did know how to throw a great party,” says Michael.   “We throw lots of parties at Dunroy because the house was built to entertain.  It really comes to life when it’s filled with people.”

Michael and Elaine met as First Years at Campbell Law School. They dated for seven years (“We wanted to be sure,” laughs Michael) and they have been married for 32 years. Michael is is a principal with The Van Winkle Law Firm, where he focuses his practice on commercial and residential real estate transactions. He also is an owner, along with his mother and brother, of Piggy’s and Harry’s restaurant which was started by his parents over 40 years ago. Elaine teaches courses in Criminal Justice, Business Law, and Political Science at Blue Ridge Community College. 

Today, the tradition of extensive and exuberant Christmas decorating is being passed on to the next generation of Thompsons. Their son, Hunter, is 29 and has come to really appreciate his family’s tradition.  “It is an effort to put all that up, but at the same time I do understand and appreciate that my parents do it because it adds so much holiday season and it really wouldn’t be Christmas without all the decorations.”

Daughter Sallie Kate, age 18, can see herself continuing the tradition one day. “I think when I get older I will definitely continue the traditions because it is so fun and I would love to have people over like my parents.  It wouldn’t be Christmas without the decorations. I love it.”

Elaine and Michael Thompson are givers. They give thanks, love, gratitude, joy and themselves to one another. It is evident in their love of Christmas and the variety of trees full of memories and meaningful ornaments in each room of their house. It is evident in their festive celebrations like Christmas dinner on Thanksgiving Day because both sides of the family can be there and everyone loves the Christmas china. It is evident in their welcoming hospitality and kindness to their community and friends. 

These attributes also personify the spirit of Dunroy where 100 years of traditions have gone and new ones have taken their place. It is a place where Christmas will continue and will be at the heart of a spot the Thompsons call their “happy place.”

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Read the full text of Missy Schenck’s article here.

Information for this article was obtained by referencing the published works of Blanche and Kenneth Marsh, Lenoir Ray, Sadie Smathers Patton and Frank FitzSimons. Addition resources include Southern Antiques and Interiors (Summer 1972), Carologue, A Publication of the South Carolina Historical Society (Autumn 2001) and The National Register of Historic Places. 

Missy Craver Izard Schenck was born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina. She resides in Flat Rock, North Carolina with her husband, Sandy Schenck, where their family runs a summer camp. Missy currently serves as the president of Historic Flat Rock, Inc., a position once held by her father-in-law, Alex Schenck, the first president of the organization and a founding trustee.