{"nrhp_refnum":"08001366","name":"Mill Farm Inn","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"701 Harmon Field Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Tryon","county":"Polk County","state":"NC","lat":35.22464163700005,"lon":-82.24074139299995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2009-01-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Entertainment/Recreation"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story Colonial Revival stone inn on Harmon Field Road near Tryon in Polk County, North Carolina, designed by Chicago architect Russell S. Walcott and completed in 1939.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the inn is a rare surviving example of a building designed expressly as tourist accommodation in Tryon, reflecting the town's role as a resort for literary and artistic visitors. It also argues the inn is an intact Colonial Revival design by Walcott, a Chicago architect who retired to Tryon.","narrative":"Completed in 1939 to a design by Chicago architect Russell S. Walcott, Mill Farm Inn is a two-story Colonial Revival building of local blue granite on Harmon Field Road near Tryon. It was built for Frances Williams, a former boarding house operator who had lived in France, and it replaced an earlier farmhouse on the site. Williams opened the inn to guests in July 1939, offering meals and requiring stays of at least a month, and she advertised in the New York Times Book Review. The building is regarded as an intact example of Walcott's Colonial Revival work, shaped by his later move toward a more modern aesthetic. Its significance also lies in its role as a purpose-designed inn in a town where most tourist lodging was converted residences. The inn has continued to operate, with its period of significance running from 1939 to 1958.","period_of_significance":"1939-1958","architect_builder":"Walcott, Russell S. (architect)","architectural_style":"Colonial Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Remains in operation as an inn.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:42.314184-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/52/7218/47721852/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/08001366.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/08001366/64327fceb8-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/08001366/64327fceb8-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Bigskybill","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mill_Farm_Inn.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Bigskybill</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:Mill_Farm_Inn.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47721852","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mill_Farm_Inn","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19987103"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/polk-county/mill-farm-inn-08001366/"}