{"nrhp_refnum":"01001110","name":"Watson, T. Max, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"297 E. Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Forest City","county":"Rutherford County","state":"NC","lat":35.33282800000006,"lon":-81.85905181999993,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2001-10-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story white brick Georgian Revival house at 297 East Main Street in Forest City, Rutherford County, North Carolina, completed in 1939 and designed by architect Leah Range Roberts, with a landscaped 2.41-acre lot and a later shed.","why_significant":"The house is presented as an excellent example of Georgian Revival architecture from the second phase of Colonial Revival in North Carolina. It is the only Georgian Revival house in Forest City and one of a small group of Colonial Revival residences in Rutherford County. It is also the only known design by Roberts, an unusual female architect of the period.","narrative":"Completed in 1939 on East Main Street in Forest City, this two-story white brick residence reflects the Georgian Revival style. Architect and interior designer Leah Range Roberts of Charlotte planned it for T. Max Watson, a hosiery mill manager and state highway commissioner, and Herman-Sipes Construction built it. The house has a symmetrical five-bay front, a central projecting bay with an Ionic portico and Palladian window, a red clay tile roof, and a center-passage plan with a curved staircase. A front-gabled garage wing and a freer, asymmetrical rear elevation add modern touches. The grounds follow a landscape plan by Charlotte landscape architect Clarence M. Leemon, with box hedges and a formal rear lawn. The house is the only Georgian Revival example in Forest City and one of few Colonial Revival houses in Rutherford County. It is also the only known design by Roberts, a rare female architect of her era, whose wider body of work remains little documented.","period_of_significance":"1939","architect_builder":"Roberts, Leah Range (architect); Herman-Sipes Construction (contractor)","architectural_style":"Georgian Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Largely unchanged since 1939 apart from enclosed porches in the 1950s; the landscape plan is described as intact and the shed as in good condition. Still used as a single dwelling.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:53.357747-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/64/7221/47722164/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/01001110.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01001110/4285d78c23-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01001110/4285d78c23-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Upstateherd","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:T._Max_Watson_House,_Forest_City,_NC.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Upstateherd</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:T._Max_Watson_House,_Forest_City,_NC.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"05001450","name":"East Main Street Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/north-carolina/east-main-street-historic-district-05001450/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47722164","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._Max_Watson_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q20679858"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/rutherford-county/watson-t-max-house-01001110/"}