Faison offers homes for the holidays

Despite the rainy and windy weather on Sunday, Dec. 10, the Faison Improvement Group (FIG) brightened the Christmas season with its Holiday Home Tour. The tour took visitors through four homes in Faison, as well as the historic Faison Presbyterian Church.

“Each of these structures has unique features and stories that tie together rooms, families, and in the case of the Faison Presbyterian Church, the whole town of Faison,” said Andrew Taylor, president of FIG.

The tour started off in the church, with local historian Ann Taylor sharing many fun facts about the house of worship’s past, dating back to the 1700s.

“It all began in the 1730s,” Taylor explained to one group on the tour. “They began to go to church together in the homes. And they went to churches in the homes for 30 years, and they decided that was pretty hard. … They decided they’d like to build a church.”

In 1793, the settlers in the Faison area decided they would organize a church, joining Presbyterians, Baptists, Episcopalians, and others. “On Sundays, they would always worship together,” Taylor said. “It was really a community kind of thing, and I think it gave Faison a wonderful start.”

The “Union Church” operated for more than 90 years, but the congregation had gotten so big that they decided to split in to four groups. A church was built, and in May 1875, lightning struck the church. “This church began to burn,” Taylor said. “And every able-bodied person in Faison came, they formed bucket brigades from that house to that house to that house. They tried in vain to save the church. My grandmother told her that her grandmother told her that it just went ‘whoosh!’ And it destroyed that church.”

The present church was built in 1913. A stained glass window behind the pulpit honors James Menzies Sprunt, who is part of the reason the church still stands today, Taylor said.

“He preached at three different churches in this area, and he was the register of deeds in Kenansville,” she explained. “He was asked to go to many churches, more influential churches, and he never would leave Duplin County.”

Though the churches still formed four different congregations, Taylor said the churches in Faison still join together regularly. “We have projects we do that help other people,” she said.

Another large stained glass window in the church honors Isham R. Faison, who gave the land on which the church was built.

Just down West Main Street from the church is the home of Lissa and Michael Stempek, which was constructed in 1883. The Greek Revival and Italianate style home is imposing with its double porches, and was renovated by the Stempeks in 2020-2023. Interestingly enough, the home took three years to construct and three years to renovate.

Almost 100 years newer, Kim and Jason Lee’s house on Friendship Church Road was built in 1998. It has three bedrooms, a wraparound porch, and a back screened porch. “We chose this house because we were drawn to the wraparound porch and the country feel,” the Lees shared in a program for the home tour.

The other two houses on the tour were both on Bill Clifton Road, owned by neighbors Carla and John Anderson, and Jean and Doug Anderson. The houses are newer, built in 2019, and boast a beautiful country setting.

“I have loved this place so much,” said Jean Anderson. “No regrets. Best thing we have ever done.”