The Morehead Inn, known to Charlotteans as "the old Coddington House," was built in 1917 by Charles Cambell and Marjorie Lyons Coddington, from plans drawn by Charlotte architect Williams Peeps, originally of London, England. Located on the corner of East Morehead Street and Berkeley Avenue, formerly Coddington Avenue, it is one of the few stately homes remaining in the Dilworth Section of Morehead Street.
C.C. Coddington was granted exclusive rights to the distributorship if Buick Automobiles for the Carolinas in 1907. As he drove to Charlotte form New Jersey in the first Buick south of the Mason - Dixon Line, he stopped at a local Drug store in Greensboro, N.C where he saw Marjorie Lyon. He put his new business on hold until he could meet her. They were married in 1908.
The Coddingtons moved to Charlotte in 1908 where Mr. Coddington's business prospered. In 1917, they built their home on East Morehead Street, at that time Charlotte's first streetcar suburb. Mr. Coddington became increasingly wealthy and was actively involved in the organization of the Charlotte Motor Speedway, the raising of the thoroughbred horses on his coastal estate, the creation of radio station WBT (which stood for "Watch Buicks Travel") and the state boxing commission. He was also elected president of the National Association of Automobile Dealers.
Mrs. Coddington drowned in 1925 at the age of 40, leaving three young sons. Subsequently, Mr Coddington sold the Morehead Street house and purchased the Duke Mansion in Myers Park. He died in 1928, falling from his Yacht in the Pamlico Sound.
The house was a private residence until 1980 and became a Country Inn in 1984. It was granted Historic Property status by the Mecklenburg Historic Properties Commission in 1985. Much of the house remains as it was in 1917, and many of the shrubs and trees are of a maturity indicating early Twentieth Century. To this day, the Inn not only accommodates overnight guests but also caters to private parties, business meetings, weddings and receptions as it continues its tradition of Southern Hospitality.