WILLIAM CLAYTON MAYS JR., AIA (1929-2017)

Mays grew up in Fair Play SC and received a BS in Architecture from nearby Clemson University in 1950. Although he and future partner Robert Parks both attended Clemson, they were in different classes and did not meet until after graduating, when Mays joined Parks to work at Six Associates in Asheville NC from 1950 to 1953. Mays and Parks both worked for Harold Woodward & Associates in Spartanburg SC from 1953 to 1956, where Mays served as a designer, primarily working in public school projects.

In 1956, Mays and Parks both moved to High Point NC where Parks had family friends who offered to help them start an architectural firm. At the time there were only about three firms in High Point, and the development of the I-85 corridor directly adjacent to the city created a demand for more architects in the area. Mays and Parks, Associates operated there from 1956 to 1981, when Parks retired. He passed away in 1993. Although the firm did not overall have a residential focus, they designed several modernist homes in the early years of their practice, mostly in High Point.

Mays joined the AIA in 1957 and was instrumental in the formation of the Piedmont Section of the North Carolina AIA. He was a sole proprietor from 1981 to 1986 before working for Smithey & Boynton, a Roanoke VA firm with a High Point office, from 1986 to 1992. His last completed project with Smithey & Boynton was the Neal F. Austin Public Library in High Point. He retired in 2000 and lived in High Point.

1957 - The Sloan D. and Geneva F. Gibson House, 412 Emerywood Drive, High Point NC. Commissioned in 1956. Designed by Robert G. Parks of Mays and Parks, according to Clayton Mays. Built by Brown Fouts of Thomasville NC. It was among the earliest residential projects in High Point to be fully temperature conditioned by electric heat pump. Sold in 1994 by the Gibson estate to Linda McEwen Smith. Sold in 2001 to Boyd K. and Randall A. Honeycutt. Sold in 2014 to David John Ebbetts and Palmer Linwood Smith Jr. Sold in 2020 to Emily M. and Louis J. Fisher IV.

1957 - The Alfred A. and Willie Lee Oliver Jr. House, 3214 Forsyth Drive, Greensboro NC. Located in the Sedgefield section of town. Commissioned in 1956. Built by Harry Hill. Transferred in 1969 to Willie Oliver. Sold in 2008 to Thomas and Cotten Moring. Destroyed and replaced, bottom photo.

1958 - The Judge Byron Haworth House, 902 Fairway Drive, High Point NC. Commissioned in 1957. Sold in 1982 to his brother and sister-in-law, John and Martha Haworth. Sold in 2008 to Paula Walker. Rented for several years. Sold in 2016 to Everest Media of Elk Grove Village IL.

1958 - The John and Louise Bivins House, 1509 Crestlin Drive, High Point NC. Commissioned in 1956. Built by J. R. Graham & Son of High Point. Sold in 1967 to Moses and Elsie Samet. Sold in 1973 to Donald Douglas Gilstrap. Deeded in 1976 to Donald Douglas and Billie Gilstrap. Sold in 1991 to Donald Douglas Gilstrap Jr. Sold in 2012 to Robert Todd Welsh.

1958 - The Sarah G. and S. E. Sanders House, 362 Town Mountain Road, Asheville NC. Designed by Mays and Parks. Commissioned in 1957. Featured in Southern Architect, May 1959. Sold in 1967 to Anne J. and Archibald K. Stewart. Mays notes "some time around now the house was been greatly expanded and extensively remodeled, year and architect not known." Sold in 1976 to Patricia G. and John P. Davies Jr. Sold by her heirs in 2000 to Katherine L. Freilich. Sold in 2007 to Sue B. and Dwight H. Emanuelson. Sold in 2013 to Patricia A. Rhea and Kathryn R. Freyfogle. Sold in 2017 to Heather G. Edgley and Calvin M. Bard.

1958 - The Gerald B. and Euna Cope House, 933 West Whitmire Drive, Melbourne FL. Designed for Mays' sister, Euna. Commissioned in 1958. Black and white photos provided by Wayne Cope.

1960 - The Ruth P. Ellis House, 605 Hillcrest Drive, High Point NC. Commissioned in 1958. Mays described it as "a very interesting house on a small difficult triangular shaped lot." Sold in 1964 to S. H. Tomlinson Jr. Sold in 1979 to Louise Rodes Schoch. Sold again in 1979 to Kenneth M. Krantz Jr. Deeded in 1998 to heirs. Sold in 2002 to Patrick C. Coble. Sold in 2004 to Barbara Ann Garrison. Sold in 2013 to Samantha C. Price.

1961 - The Taylor M. and Evelyn W. Simpson House, 1506 Davidson Court, High Point NC. Commissioned in 1959. Built by contractor C. A. Brown of High Point. Deeded in 1974 to Evelyn W. Simpson. Sold in 1977 to Katherine M. (Kitty) and Joseph R. (Ray) Montgomery Jr. Sold in 2017 to Amy Greeson and Margaret Reynolds. Sold in 2023 to the Shepherd Revocable Living Trust.

1961 - The Harry B. and Frances H. Mays House, 145 Doctors Road, Fair Play SC. Commissioned in 1959. Still owned by the Mays family. Photos by Sally Shader Wurther.

1962 - The Irving and Lora M. Silver House, 1316 Robinhood Road, High Point NC. Commissioned in 1960. Sold in 1973 to Alice K. and Donald L. Mergler. Sold in 1976 to Susan B. and R. G. Culp III. Sold in 1984 to Sharyn M. and Roy W. Andrews Jr. Sold in 1987 to Sally F. and William R. McKenzie Jr. Foreclosed in 2002. Sold in 2004 to Donna A. Lewis and Leslie Page Gill.

Sources include: Sally Warther; Clayton Mays.