{"nrhp_refnum":"76001331","name":"Davidson, Benjamin W., House","other_names":["Oak Lawn"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"W of Huntersville on SR 2138","address_restricted":false,"city":"Huntersville","county":"Mecklenburg County","state":"NC","lat":35.39588838900005,"lon":-80.87580323299994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-04-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Oak Lawn, the Benjamin W. Davidson House, is a two-story, five-bay frame plantation house west of Huntersville in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, built around 1820 for planter Benjamin Davidson.","why_significant":"It is one of southern Piedmont Mecklenburg County's notable group of Federal-era dwellings. It is especially significant for its elaborate vernacular woodwork of vigorous, distinctive character. That woodwork is clearly the work of the same carpenter who worked at nearby Holly Bend, a house related by family and stylistic ties.","narrative":"Oak Lawn is a two-story, five-bay frame plantation house on a stone foundation, located west of Huntersville in Mecklenburg County. Built around 1820 for cotton planter Benjamin Davidson, it blends Georgian and Federal features, with Flemish bond end chimneys, a three-part molded door frame and a modified Quaker plan with a center hall. Inside, an open-string stair with a low Georgian-style balustrade and a heavily ornamented parlor chimney piece stand out. The woodwork closely matches that at nearby Holly Bend, a house tied to it by family connections, and appears to be by the same carpenter. Remnants of 1804 \"Captain Cook\" wallpaper survive in an upstairs closet. After Davidson's death in 1829 his widow stayed until 1835, and the property later passed through several owners. Restoration of the long-neglected house began in 1941. A brick well house and a small Greek Revival outbuilding remain behind the house.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Transitional Georgian-Federal style plantation house","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as in good condition, altered, and occupied as a private residence; the cornice, siding, porch and shutters have been replaced, and architectural rescue work began in 1941.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:56.922325-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/52/7212/47721252/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/76001331.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47721252","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_W._Davidson_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19461277"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/mecklenburg-county/davidson-benjamin-w-house-76001331/"}