White House Gardens Moves to Denver, NC

This article was reported on and written by Doug Coats with Queen CIty News. Click here to read the original article.

A local home and garden business is moving across Lake Norman to Denver to make way for a future apartment complex.

Owners of White House Gardens announced Thursday that they will relocate from their location on West Catawba Avenue in Cornelius to partner with The Red Barn Marketplace on N.C. 16. White House operated in Cornelius for nearly 30 years, but sold their property in 2021.

White House is known for its outdoor décor, including water fountains, statuary, furniture, planters and pottery, perhaps its most famous piece being a bigfoot lawn sculpture. Its relocation is taking place over a couple months.

Owner Chris Smiley anticipates the original store to remain open through April while his team gets acclimated to their new Denver storefront.

“The new Denver location will give us a more retail friendly setting,” Smiley said in a statement. “We’ll be bringing in new lines and different products that will add to the impressive selection of outdoor décor we’ve always carried. The displays will also be a little more condensed and organized than we’ve seen.”

The property at the corner of West Catawba and HM Junker Drive will eventually be home to nearly 200 apartments from developer Jake Palillo. The development was passed in June 2021 following last-minute changes approved by a town board that was almost completed voted out a few months later.

Lake Norman Powersports, formerly behind White House, already moved across town to make way for the development.

Construction for the widening of West Catawba between Jetton Road and N.C. 73 is slated to begin in August, according to the N.C. Department of Transportation​

The Red Barn, an interior décor and design store, is at 1612 N.C. 16, near Rescue Squad Park.