{"nrhp_refnum":"82003463","name":"Gray-Brownlow-Wilcox House","other_names":["La Vallee"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"S of Brinkleyville on NC 58","address_restricted":false,"city":"Brinkleyville","county":"Halifax County","state":"NC","lat":36.25944581650006,"lon":-77.85948059975672,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-08-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Agriculture","Education","Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Federal temple-form plantation house with a school room outbuilding and landscaped grounds, known as La Vallee, about one mile south of Brinkleyville in Halifax County, North Carolina. It was built around 1820 by the Reverend Joseph J. Gray.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as a pure, restrained example of Federal temple-form architecture, resembling and perhaps predating the planters' houses Elgin, Dalkeith and Oakland. Its elliptical arches, woodwork and mantels are noted, as are its mid-nineteenth century grounds, including raised beds and the state's largest white ash. It is also tied to the planter economy, a female academy (1833-1851) and the Brownlow and Willcox families.","narrative":"Set on a knoll at the end of a long drive south of Brinkleyville, this house was built around 1820 by the Reverend Joseph J. Gray. It is a Federal temple-form dwelling, three bays wide, two rooms deep and two and a half stories tall, with a pedimented portico and a transverse front hall. Two elliptical arches with diamond-patterned soffits are its most notable interior features. In 1833 Tippoo S. Brownlow bought the property and ran a female academy called La Vallee there until about 1850, moving a simple Federal building behind the house to serve as a school room. Thomas Willcox, a Baptist minister turned farmer, bought it in 1853, and his descendants lived there into the 1970s. The grounds keep early plantings, including crape myrtles, cedars, raised circular and heart-shaped beds, and the largest white ash in North Carolina. The property is valued for its intact design and its links to planter-class agriculture, education and religion.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Unknown (built by the Reverend Joseph J. Gray, per the history section)","architectural_style":"Federal, temple-form with transverse front hall","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Described as in excellent condition, restored sympathetically, continuously inhabited and carefully maintained; occupied as a private residence.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:55.947998-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/60/7206/47720660/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/82003463.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47720660","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray-Brownlow-Wilcox_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18711575"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/halifax-county/gray-brownlow-wilcox-house-82003463/"}