{"nrhp_refnum":"74001338","name":"Mason, John A., House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"SW of Durham off NC 751","address_restricted":false,"city":"Farrington","county":"Chatham County","state":"NC","lat":35.82536341500003,"lon":-78.99362293299998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1974-10-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story Greek Revival farmhouse on a roughly nine-acre nominated tract at the end of S.R. 1728, southwest of Durham near Farrington in Chatham County, North Carolina. It was probably built around 1850 by planter John A. Mason.","why_significant":"The house is described as a typical, well-preserved Greek Revival farmhouse set apart from ordinary vernacular examples by consistent and interesting detail, including the porch and corner posts, incised corner blocks and an unusual stair. Mason was an upper middle class planter of local prominence, and the man and his house are presented as representative of an educated, stable element important to the state's social, economic and architectural history.","narrative":"Near Farrington in Chatham County, North Carolina, stands a two-story Greek Revival farmhouse built by planter John A. Mason, probably around 1850. The main block is three bays wide and two deep over a low brick foundation, with brick end chimneys and a hip-roof porch that appears original. Flat-paneled corner posts act as pilasters, and window and door frames carry corner blocks with a delicate incised Maltese cross. Inside, a center-hall plan, simple mantels and a striking stair newel built from faceted tear-drop forms stand out. Mason inherited land on New Hope and Morgan Creeks in 1835 and expanded it to over a thousand acres, producing wheat, corn and swine with twenty enslaved people. After his death in 1858 the property passed through his family until it was heavily mortgaged and sold in the twentieth century. It later became part of the Army Corps of Engineers' New Hope Dam Project.","period_of_significance":"19th Century","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Greek Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as good condition and altered, on its original site. Owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as part of the New Hope Dam Project, which the state said would decide whether the house was eliminated or preserved.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:58.511569-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/41/7195/47719541/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/74001338.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47719541","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_A._Mason_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18154158"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/chatham-county/mason-john-a-house-74001338/"}