Lawrence Haughton The Haughton-McIver House, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was built circa 1842 as part of the Haughton plantation as a hotel for travelers on the Cameron and Gulf Plank Road in Gulf, NC. Lawrence J. Haughton, a planter born in 1818 to John and Mary Ryan, was one of the founders of the Gulf and Graham Plank Road, the first plank road in NC, built as an effort to open parts of NC to travelers so farmers and manufacturers could reach distant markets with their products. See the Plank Road and Hotel for Travelers below.  L.J. Haughton also purchased the nearby Egypt Mines which provided coal to the Confederacy during the war.  Married three times, he lost his first son, Lt. John L. Haughton,  in September 1862. The Egypt Mine, 1862 Haughton-McIver House 1892 The house is an unusual two-story, center hall, clapboard vernacular Greek Revival architecture remodeled in 1890 with an elaborate Queen Anne, double-tier porch and columns. The original hotel was an imposing structure with a low-hip roof, square proportions and a sedate five-bay facade defined by large six-over-six sash windows, symmetrically molded corner boards, and a central entry composed of elegant paneled double-leaf doors enframed by transom and sidelights. The Queen Anne porch, designed by a Greensboro architect, is dominated by pedimented gables like slender grouped columns, heavy molded brackets, and various wooden shingles. The virtually intact interior is distinguished by a complementary combination of Greek Revival and Queen Anne woodwork, including a variety of notable period mantels.

John M. McIver The residence was purchased at auction in 1871 by John M. McIver, one of Chatham County’s respected civic and church leaders, businessman and educator. McIver graduated the University of North Carolina in 1862 and then served in the Confederate Army (5th North Carolina Calvary, Company A) until the end of the Battle between the States. John McIver operated one of the largest general stores in Chatham County, established Gulf Mills, the first modern roller mill in the county and helped establish the Gulf Presbyterian Church in 1882, a charming Gothic Revival church which is still functioning. McIver and other family members are buried in the church cemetary. McIver, father of six children, married three times, twice widowed. Upon his death in 1923, his widow, Lois McIver, occupied the house until their son John M. McIver, Jr. began occupancy in 1928. The home remained a McIver residence for over 100 years. McIver, Jr., was Chatham County’s accountant and tax supervisor. After his death in 1978, the residence was inherited by his children, who used it occasionally for family gatherings. The residence was listed by the NC Historical Society and National Registry of Historic Places and purchased in1994 to undergo extensive renovation. The Haughton-McIver House 1994

NOTICE:  We are searching for descendents of John Haughton (7/20/1775-11/26/1849) and Mary Ryan Hooker (12/22/1791-1/15/1865) so we may properly write the history of this family in our Tourist Phamplet.  If you are a descendent and would like to contribute to this effort, please email Reba at rebacurtis@earthlink.net.

Saving the Historical Structure

In 1985, the McIver heirs sought protection to preserve the residence as a historical  structure with protective covenants and sold the residence in August 1994 to business partners, Wayne Kirts and Robert Brady from California, who worked diligently with the family to restore it as much as possible to its original appearance using their descriptions and photos as guidelines.  Kirts/Brady intended to display the property as a Bed and Breakfast.  Their dreams were shortened by the untimely death of one of the partners.  The young Bradford Pears they planted in the front of the house now overpower the yard in glorious bloom.,

The partially restored residence was then purchased by Bob and Judy MacPhail in 1999 who resumed the planned interior renovations.  The MacPhail's focused on landscaping with a plan to use the property primarily for outdoor, tented functions.  The home, beautifully landscaped, took on an elegancy mixed with historic ambiance.  While the MacPhail’s planned their dream wedding destination, they had not begun operations in earnest, using the house as their primary residence, and retired in 2005.  

In 2005, Ray Dombkiewicz and wife Reba Curtis purchased the Haughton-McIver House in hopes to fulfill both dreams and began renovations to prepare the residence as a Bed and Breakfast, Wedding/Special Events House and Business Meeting Location, naming the business BelleHavre.  BelleHavre is French for beautiful haven.  The old kitchen located in a separte cottage was restored as a living area. The home is rich with history and grandeur of the times, maintained with its original designs and incorporates antiques, civil war relics and antebellum decors.  


A special thank you to Luke Cranford for his dedicated, hard-working and insightful skills in building and expanding our gardens and continuing the landscaping efforts at BelleHavre.

The Plank Road and Hotel for Travelers

Few homes in the mid-1800's in North Carolina could accommodate an overnight guest, and travel was difficult and expensive.  There was little opportunity to visit among farm families.  The roads were always in bad condition, and in rainy or winter weather, they became impassable.  A traveling Englishman once described, "if hunger or fatigue compelled, a little Indian corn for your horse, and a blanket on the hearth, with your saddle for a pillow, to represent a bed, were the most you could obtain. As to edibles, whether you called for breakfast, dinner, or supper, the reply was one egg and bacon...No sooner were you seated than the house dog would arrange himself beside you." Then various companies in North Carolina began to construct plank roads in an effort to improve transportation.  One such road, the Graham and Gulf Plank Road, was laid out from Snow Camp in Almance County to the village of Gulf in Chatham County, where it intersected another plank road which ran from Salem to Fayetteville.  L. Haughton was instrumental in extending the Plank Road.  Construction was a long and laborious job which took several years.  The road bed was first graded similar to modern highways, light timbers were then placed lengthwise of the road bed on each side of the grading, over which planks from the nearest sawmills were laid crosswise, two inches in thickness and of varying width.  Some of the roads of this period were called "washboard roads" because the rounded and bark-covered side of poles formed a jolting surface over which a wagon could travel.  Mile posts marked every mile along the route and toll stations were erected every seven miles.  A traveler would purchase a ticket, costing two and one-half cents to five cents per mile, depending upon how many horses were hitched to a wagon and whether or not the wagon was loaded.  At the nearest station to the end of the journey, the traveler surrendered the tickets. The old Plank Road met a very real need during this time by affording a good, solid surface over which heavy loads of flour, pork, tobacco and other products could be hauled to market.  Nevertheless, with the collapse of the South's economy during the War Between the States, the Plank Road could not pay expenses, and was never repaired. Lawrence Haughton was also one of the largest and richest plantation owners of Chatham County in Gulf.  He furthered his business and marketing of goods by building the Haughton-McIver House as a hotel for travelers using the Plank Road.  The hotel stood as an imposing and elegant structure of grandeur, unmatched in the area.  The hotel, now private, is listed by the Historic Preservation Society and protected to maintain it's architectural structure.  The entrance foyer is floored with marble, lit by an antique chandelier hanging from its 11-foot ceiling which leads to a carved staircase.  All the rooms are dressed with fireplaces, seven of the nine, are encased with the original mantels and many of the doors and hardware are original.   The home is now shared as a unique Bed and Breakfast and is easily accessed off Highway 421.