A building that has been a cornerstone of Winston-Salem’s Industry Hill has received new life, quickly becoming headquarters for all things entertainment. 

Robert Hall, owned and operated by the husband and wife duo Will and Christy Spencer, is all about honoring the past and focusing on building the future. 

Located at 874 N. Liberty St., the building has been around since the early 1900s and has served as a doctor’s office, cafe, and one of the largest sign shops in the area, Coe & Hartman Signs. Most recently the building was home to Bob’s Machine and Metal Fabricator, a shop owned by Bob McCormick. 

The Spencers decided to refurbish a Robert Hall Sign found in the basement that belonged to a chain of clothing stores that went out of business 50 years ago and adopt the name as an homage to their late friend, Bob. 

“Bob ran his machine shop out of that building for many, many years. He passed away in 2005. And when he passed away, he made sure that my husband and I could purchase the building,” said Christy. “He was a really good man. It’s the perfect name.”

For years the duo used it as storage for their primary business, JKS Incorporated. Both Christy and Will are long-time business owners within the city’s downtown area. In 2018, Will decided to jump into the brewing industry with Radar Brewing, and the couple began to think about what else downtown Winston-Salem could use.  

“The area where we are, Industry Hill, is up and growing and Will has had a business there in that neighborhood since 1983,” she said. “We are tried and true downtown believers and investors.” 

After mulling over the possibilities, the couple decided to make part of the Robert Hall building into an Air BNB called the Huntley House while dedicating the rest of the building to entertainment space. The Huntley House connects to space at Robert Hall. 

“So when we have private events, like weddings or big corporate events, people can stay on site and use that space for guests.” 

Determined to give the building a new life, the Spencers set out to transform Robert Hall into a place where people could gather and enjoy themselves while staying true to the building’s character and adding some unique characteristics themselves. 

Broken into several spaces to be a multifunctional space, Robert Hall can accommodate everything from parties to weddings and corporate needs. 

Capone’s Bar can be found on the second floor of Robert Hall and gives the area a 1920s fee with brass entry doors, a tin ceiling, natural lighting, rich naval blue walls, and salvaged knotty pine paneling set the mood for the authentic 1920s mahogany bar — said to have come from one of Al Capone’s hangouts in Bellemont, Michigan. The area is completed with a restored 1914 antique brass cash register, Capone paraphernalia, a metal “vault” door, and plenty of seating options. 

“My husband is a collector of all things,” Christy said laughing. “He bought the bar sight unseen, off of eBay, and sent our guys to Michigan to pick it up. It was in pieces and he had a picture of what it was supposed to look like put together. They went to this place that was kind of shady. 

The story was that the bar came out of an Al Capone bar up near Detroit, Michigan. We don’t know if that’s 100% true, but it’s our story and we’re sticking to it. So we thought, what a fun name for upstairs? Capone.” 

The first floor called The Vault, has been restored to its original, industrial look with gray block walls, brick columns, and an exposed sawmill plank wood truss ceiling giving you the feel of being in a secret space. 

“Because the downstairs is kind of darker, moodier, and in line with Capone’s, we thought of it as The Vault, where he would have kept his money,” Christy explained.

The Vault is connected to a 700-square-foot fully equipped commissary kitchen, perfect for caterers and pop-up restaurant innovators. As owners of the Winston Series Cup Museum, the couple is no stranger to throwing unique parties and the kitchen allows them a permanent space to do just that. One way is by hosting Robert Hall’s Secret Supper Society dinners. 

“I was telling my friend, Lisa, that I had visions of having these big dinner parties with crazy decorations. She said you need to do a supper club.” 

Members join the Secret Supper Society as a premium or regular yearly paid membership that grants them access to themed-supper parties. 

“The supper club was invented to bring back that lingering for a night of entertainment. Great food, great company. You dress for it and you have an experience,” Christy said. 

The club has 170 members within its first year. 

“It’s really a way to bring people together and have a fun party,” Christy said. “I love to throw a party and Robert Hall has allowed me this beautiful space to have parties. It gives me an avenue to do something I love, which is create spaces, and bring people together.”

Robert Hall’s outdoor patio space, called The Garden has two outdoor fireplaces, ample seating, and a manicured landscape. It is here that you’ll discover a wishing well that was discovered during renovations. 

“We really wanted to keep it. You will find this gorgeous metal grate over the top of it that says The Garden. The space is really cool at night. It lights up. It’s really pretty,” said Christy.

No stranger to teamwork, the couple each played a part in the renovations. She said that while her primary job has nothing to do with interior design, her passion is design and creating spaces and esthetics where people will enjoy themselves. Her husband, Will is more hands-on with the renovations when it comes to the woodwork, plumbing, and electrical. 

“Will did so much of that himself. We’re a good team. We’ve done a lot of projects together. I do the design and the decorating,” Christy said. “We take our gifts and merge them.”

The five-room AirBnB attached to Robert Hall honors the family and their ties to the area. The Huntley House is named in honor of Benjamin Franklin Huntley, Sr., the namesake of one of the biggest furniture companies in the South in the first half of the 20th century, and great-grandfather to one of the owners of The Huntley House and Robert Hall. The five rooms are named for different members of the Huntley family, reflecting the interestingly diverse influences of our history and community. 

“I love the name Huntley. It’s always been one of their family names, and we named it that in honor of Mr. Huntley,” Christy said. 

The rooms each have their own personality and are curated with family heirlooms and treasures. Each item was curated from Will’s mother, Ann, who sadly passed away during the pandemic. She was 92 years old. Christy said that they were very close so she wanted to honor her memory. 

“We ended up with a house full of her furniture and memories. She was an only child and had lived in the same house for more than 60 years. I built out the Huntley house in memory and honor of my mother-in-law,” Christy said. “She meant that much to me. So each room is named after a family member, and I just took all of our family photos and the pieces she loved and basically decorated the whole place. I would pick and say that I’d take her over my husband any day of the week. Most people don’t feel that way about their mother-in-law but mine was very special. We were like two peas in a pod. She had such a huge impact on my life, and I’m so grateful, so grateful for her.”

The first-floor Fulton room welcomes individual guests to an elegantly simple ADA-compliant bedroom featuring a single bed and an accessible bathroom. The Lanier Room features a queen bed, ensuite, a sitting room with a coffee maker, a mini fridge, a microwave, and a view of downtown. The Stoddard Room features a British Colonial-style king bed. Upstairs is The Lewis Room, with one double bed the room is complete with stunning wall coverings and a European-style ensuite. The Kathleen Room, also upstairs, is one of the largest bedrooms in the boutique-style hotel. It offers a king bed and a European ensuite.

Being from Winston-Salem, the couple hopes the area will help to continue the transformation of downtown. 

“We think Winston’s special. One of the things that downtown Winston has lacked is multiple unique options for events. There’s nothing wrong with the convention center or these hotels, but they’re not intimate, and they don’t really speak to Winston-Salem. It just offers another level of entertainment.”

For more on Robert Hall, visit roberthallwsnc.com.  

 

Chanel Davis is the current editor of YES! Weekly and graduated from N.C. A&T S.U. in 2011 with a degree in Journalism and Mass Communications. She’s worked at daily and weekly newspapers in the Triad region.