Mary Black grew up in this house which is now the check–in and entry lobby for guests at the Inn at USC.

Mary Murray Tompkins Black has proved Thomas Wolfe wrong several times since the Inn at USC opened in early September. Now renovated to receive and register the inn’s guests, the house Black knew as home during two memorable periods of her life is again a hub of hospitality.

Most recently, Black was back to walk the smooth oak floors she ran across barefooted as a child when the University Neighborhood Association held its regular meeting there. Numerous former residents were invited to join those who now live at addresses throughout tree–lined University Hill.

Mrs. Mary Murray Tompkins Black For the first time, most guests, former and current residents of the area, were getting to see the final result of the long–anticipated re–opening of the home that continues to be called the Black House. Black lived in the home, designed by William Augustus Edwards and built in 1911 by John Jefferson Cain, as a child.

“When we moved there from Wateree Avenue, mother made sure we kept up with our old friends by letting us invite them over to spend the day,” recalled Black. Her married years were spent in the Shandon area, but after her mother died, she and her family returned to the Pendleton Street home.

“We enjoyed living there as children. It was a great neighborhood to grow up in. We realized when we came back as adults what a great house it was, and we thoroughly appreciated it, and found it very comfortable to live there.”

For Black, who worked with the Richland County Public Library for more than 30 years, the home’s convenience and proximity to work and uptown shopping added to her appreciation of its location.

She and her family lived there until USC forced the sale of the prime real estate with an eye toward tearing it down for parking space. But for years the house sat empty, waiting for whatever fate was in store.

“It finally got so sad looking. The bushes were all grown up, and it was deteriorating so much, that I eventually reached the point I hoped they would go on and tear it down,” said Black.

Preservationists and university neighborhood advocates gave a collective sigh of relief when the compromise reached amounted to a stay of execution for the house.

Now, lovingly restored, the home provides guests a welcoming pass–through into modern, luxurious sleeping quarters. There are 31 suites and 117 rooms.

Among the first overnight guests registering to stay in the luxurious Mary Black suite was the namesake’s great nephew Drew Tompkins Hampton, who brought his bride, Suzanne Jill Smith, there for their wedding night.

“I was thrilled they decided to do that, to say the least,” Black said. Although a few family members knew the couple planned to check into the new inn following their wedding, Hampton was careful not to let his groomsmen know they had not yet left for their honeymoon trip.

Before her great nephew’s wedding, Black had been invited back a couple of times to see how the restoration was coming along. She was also an honored guest during an open house hosted by inn officials.

At the University Neighborhood Association’s meeting there last week, Black saw the effect achieved by the addition of touches and placement of designer–chosen furnishings. “They’ve done a beautiful job! I am so pleased.”

Some of the guests at that neighborhood meeting had not darkened the door of the mid–1600 block dwelling since attending a house–closing cocktail party in 1974. “I saw people tonight that were neighbors years ago,” Black said. “Sarah Belser and Josey Brown were playmates; sisters Madge Major and Sarah McCrory were part of the growing up years. Willadene and her late husband Alva lived on Gibbes Court.”.

Guests at the neighborhood meeting were asked to write on their nametags the street and address where they had lived. Candy Waites was able to list four different addresses at which she and her family had lived during her formative years in the neighborhood. Alvin Strasburger recalled his childhood there. Charles Hiott now lives in the restored home that had been his mother’s years ago.

The inn’s manager, Ron Glancy, gave tours to those interested in seeing the entire property. As the groups clustered together in hallways, former and current neighbors compared notes on the university neighborhood, then and now.