{"nrhp_refnum":"08000538","name":"Faison, Nathaniel W., House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"822 South Jefferson","address_restricted":false,"city":"La Grange","county":"Fayette County","state":"TX","lat":29.899172183000076,"lon":-96.87273820299998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2010-03-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-section wood-frame house at 822 South Jefferson Street in La Grange, Fayette County, Texas, built in stages from before 1860 (possibly 1848) to 1884 and joined by a rear U-shaped porch and courtyard.","why_significant":"It is nominated under Criterion C as a good example of vernacular domestic architecture reflecting different periods of 19th-century Texas settlement, with Greek Revival and Eastlake details. It is nominated under Criterion A in Social History for its three ownership periods: Nathaniel W. Faison, the Peter Faison family, and Louisiana Brown, a freedwoman who owned it in the 1870s and whose sole ownership is described as rare if not unique in Texas.","narrative":"Three separate wood-frame volumes, linked by a rear U-shaped porch and courtyard, make up this house at 822 South Jefferson Street in La Grange. The oldest section may date to 1848, a second wing was contracted in 1855 by mechanic's lien, and the front section was finished in 1884. Greek Revival details, including a triple-fascia frieze, dentil cornice and open pediments, mix with Eastlake-inspired jigsawn brackets on a 45-foot front porch. The house is also tied to three periods of ownership. Nathaniel W. Faison, a military hero and landowner, deeded it in 1870 to Louisiana Brown, a freedwoman who had worked as his housekeeper. She sold it in 1872 to his brother Peter Faison, whose family lived there for decades and left furnishings that still convey Gilded Age life. The form calls Brown's sole ownership a rare, possibly unique Texas example. The Garden Club of La Grange bought the house in 1961, and it now serves as a museum.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"J.C. Alford (Section A, 1855); P.F. Doyle, contractor and builder (Section C, 1884)","architectural_style":"Mixed (vernacular with Greek Revival and Eastlake elements)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Operated as a museum and maintained by the Garden Club of La Grange since it bought the house in 1961; the form says it retains a high degree of integrity.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:23.077793-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/50/9719/40971950/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/08000538.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40971950","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110002668"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/fayette-county/faison-nathaniel-w-house-08000538/"}