This house, first known as High Point and originally located at the western edge of Covington, was built for John Pace Carr in the Federal style and is attributed to Collin Rogers. He and his brother Henry built many houses in Georgia in the 1830s, always aided by their enslaved laborers. The home transitioned to its more formal Greek Revival appearance in the 1840s, as was the fashion of the day. The owner, John Pace Carr (1797-1875), was a native of Halifax County, North Carolina. In 1863, Carr sold the house to his daughter Amanda and her husband, Madison Derrell Cody (1824-1875), who was a second cousin of William F. Cody, better known as Buffalo Bill.
After years of decline, High Point was saved and moved to Oxford by Jim Waterson in 1975. Mr. Waterson’s story of the move is nearly as fascinating as the history of the house itself. After numerous hurdles, the home finally reached Oxford. It was placed on the site of Bishop James Osgood Andrew’s home, Chestnut Grove, which was lost to fire in 1910. The Carr-Cody-Waterson House, as some identify it, was given a more lyrical name by Jim Waterson: “High Point at Chestnut Grove”.
