{"nrhp_refnum":"73001340","name":"Korner's Folly","other_names":["See Also:South Main Street Historic District"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Kernersville","county":"Forsyth County","state":"NC","lat":36.114580680000074,"lon":-80.06477027499994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-03-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Art","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Korner's Folly is a large, eccentric two-and-one-half-story brick house near the main street of Kernersville, Forsyth County, North Carolina. Jule Korner began building it in 1878 and it was christened in 1880.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it one of North Carolina's few spectacularly eccentric buildings and a unique monument to one man's imagination. Its plain exterior hides twenty-two rooms on seven levels with exuberant ornament, including a ballroom and an attic theater. It is also tied to Jule Korner, an artist and decorator who created the Bull Durham advertising campaign.","narrative":"Korner's Folly is a severe brick house on the main street of Kernersville, North Carolina, built by Jule Korner, who began work in 1878 and held a party for its christening on Easter Monday, 1880. Korner, an artist, sign painter and decorator, made oversized special brick and planned a studio, reception rooms, carriage house and stable, but eventually made it his home. Outside, recessed panels, corbels and tall chimneys mark a high cross-gable roof. Inside are twenty-two rooms at seven levels, twenty-two differently designed mantels, painted ceilings, a second-floor ballroom and an attic theater with its original stage equipment. Korner also ran the Bull Durham advertising campaign under the name Reubin Rink. After his death in 1924 the house was used as a funeral home and antique shop and suffered neglect. Citizens bought it in 1970 to preserve it, and the interior remains largely intact.","period_of_significance":"19th Century; specific date 1880","architect_builder":"Jule Korner (designer and builder, per the narrative)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Purchased in 1970 by a citizens' group to preserve it; exterior repairs done to prevent decay; interior damaged by neglect but essentially intact. Condition marked fair; use as a museum.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:57.867973-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/83/7201/47720183/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/73001340.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001340/49c3391d96-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001340/49c3391d96-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Pubdog","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Korner%27s_Folly_Kernersville_NC_Jan_2015.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Pubdog</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Korner%27s_Folly_Kernersville_NC_Jan_2015.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47720183","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korner%27s_Folly","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18559391"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/forsyth-county/korners-folly-73001340/"}