{"nrhp_refnum":"82003427","name":"Hermitage, The","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"N of Merry Hill","address_restricted":false,"city":"Merry Hill","county":"Bertie County","state":"NC","lat":36.08677035100004,"lon":-76.73304443899997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-06-08","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A plantation house near Merry Hill in Bertie County, North Carolina, a few hundred yards from the Chowan River. It began as a late eighteenth-century Georgian coastal cottage and was enlarged with a Federal period addition and Greek Revival changes.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house shows how a dwelling was expanded over time to suit changing owners, with intact Georgian, Federal and Greek Revival woodwork. It is tied to the antebellum plantation and the Chowan River fishery, and to Dr. Alexander Wood Mebane and Augustus Holley. It may also yield archeological information about plantation household life.","narrative":"Near Merry Hill in Bertie County, North Carolina, a farmhouse a few hundred yards from the Chowan River grew in stages from a late eighteenth-century story-and-a-half Georgian coastal cottage. That cottage now forms the rear wing. A two-and-a-half story Federal period addition was attached at a right angle, and Greek Revival woodwork was added to the east rooms. The interior keeps its original flooring, plaster, raised-panel doors and woodwork from each period, along with a handsomely detailed staircase that is rare for the county. The property once included a wharf and a fishery that operated into the 1930s. Owners included Dr. Alexander Wood Mebane, a state legislator from Bertie County, and Augustus Holley, one of the county's wealthiest landowners. The house was listed for its link to the antebellum plantation, its owners, its architecture, and its potential to yield archeological information. A smokehouse and a two-room Greek Revival structure remain nearby.","period_of_significance":"1700-1799, 1800-1899","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Georgian, Federal and Greek Revival vernacular architecture; Georgian coastal cottage","criteria":["A","B","C","D"],"status_note":"Listed as unoccupied, with present use given as storage; condition checked as good and altered.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:56.643189-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/43/7190/47719043/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/82003427.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47719043","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hermitage_(Merry_Hill,_North_Carolina)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18151661"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/bertie-county/hermitage-the-82003427/"}