Andy Griffith Widow to Demolish Actor's House

Cindi Griffith, widow of Andy Griffith, was granted permission to bring down the house where her late husband lived for many years in North Carolina.

The news ruffled some feathers among the late actor friends, who had hopes of seeing the residence becoming something equivalent to Elvis’ Graceland estate.

According to Dare County records, Cindi received the permission on Monday. The records confirmed that the permit is to demolish a smaller house along the Roanoke Sound that Griffith bought in the 1950s, not the larger house that he and Cindi built nearby several years ago.

Tony Award-winning costume designer William Ivey Long, whose parents were friends with Griffith and his first wife, Barbara, said Griffith told him in 2007 that he wanted to preserve the older home as a museum.

“The two discussed the possibility when Long had an exhibit of his costumes at the Cameron Art Museum in Wilmington,” Long said.

During a phone interview from his studio in New York City, Long said, "We compared notes. I had to fit mine into an existing museum. I told him, if you're doing yours, you can make it however you want it."

Griffith, gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's film A Face in the Crowd(1957) before he became better known for his television roles, passed away last July. He starred as the manipulative Lonesome Rhodes in the movie "A Face in the Crowd." One of his last roles was as a cranky diner owner in the movie "Waitress."

According to SFGate, it was Griffith wish that the museum included items from his TV shows, along with memorabilia from his music career, Long said. They didn't discuss whether it would compete with the Andy Griffith Museum in Griffith's hometown of Mount Airy, Long said.

Ira David Wood III, a long time friend of Andy Griffith, expressed his shock. "I always assumed the property would be eventually preserved and opened to the public," Wood said.

"I imagine Cindi has her reasons, and I don't pretend to know what they are," Wood said. "It's a beautiful bit of property with a lot of memories attached to it. I just hope they're not moving too fast."