A Brief History of Walnut Lane Inn

Title

A Brief History of Walnut Lane Inn

Description

Built in 1902 by Mr. A. B. Groce, Walnut Lane Inn was originally a cotton plantation resting on 2,900 acres of mainly cotton, sheep and cattle. In 1924 Mr. Groce sold 750 acres to Pacific Mills to build a bleaching and finishing plant (Springs Textile Industries). Mr. Groce owned a large general store, was the founder of Tyger Electric Company (which provided electricity to many of the surrounding homes), and owned about 50 tenant houses. Stories are told that the "keeper" of the electric plant would flash the lights at 9:55pm alerting everyone that the electricity would go off at 10:00pm. The power plant was later sold to Enoree Electric. The house, with almost 7000sq. ft., contains 15 rooms, 6 of which are guest rooms. It also has 8 ½ baths, a full attic, and a ¾ basement. The home rests on 6 acres of land and is the highest point between Greenville and Spartanburg. Until recent years, it was the largest home in Spartanburg County.
While the estate stayed in the family until 1995, it went through a period of transition in the late 1930's. Mr. Groce's two daughters inherited the house after his death in 1939 and since neither one was willing to sell to the other, they split the house so as to "accommodate each other". A grand staircase was removed and a wall was built to divide the house. Smaller staircases were installed on each side of the wall to access the second floor, the attic and the basement. Two bathrooms were added upstairs and the downstairs ceilings were lowered from 12ft to l0ft. The entire roof of the front porch was removed and replaced, with the barrel ceiling you see today. Screen was added to the remaining side porches, but was recently removed.
In 1995 the granddaughter of Mr. Groce, Mrs. Mary Ella Hammond Machen and her husband Dr. Ted Machen decided to sell the house and move to a retirement community in Greenville. The new owners bought the home with plans of a Bed and Breakfast; and after several months of renovation, Walnut Lane Bed and Breakfast opened in the spring of 1997. With the new owners health failing and our decision to leave the corporate world, we bought the home in June of 2000 and changed the name to Walnut Lane Inn. We have redecorated and refurnished much of the home with the intentions of taking it back to its original décor and splendor.