{"nrhp_refnum":"82003495","name":"Belvidere Plantation House","other_names":["Merrick-Nixon House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Off SR 1565","address_restricted":false,"city":"Hampstead","county":"Pender County","state":"NC","lat":34.385236428500036,"lon":-77.64750765325832,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-06-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Belvidere Plantation House (also called the Merrick-Nixon House) is a one-story frame gambrel-roofed plantation house near Hampstead on Topsail Sound in Pender County, North Carolina, probably built in the first decade of the nineteenth century.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is a rare North Carolina example of a gambrel-roof dwelling with weatherboarding on the lower roof slopes. It also has weatherboarded porch extensions of unknown purpose and combines Georgian, Federal and Greek Revival details in a vernacular building. The farmstead dates to a 1728 land grant and may yield information on plantation life and agriculture.","narrative":"Belvidere Plantation House is a modest gambrel-roofed frame dwelling on farmland near Topsail Sound in Pender County, North Carolina. It was probably built in the early 1800s, possibly by George Merrick, on land first granted to Jeremiah Vail, Sr. in 1728. Its lower roof slopes are faced with split weatherboarding, an unusual feature seldom found in the state, and the front porch ends have solid weatherboarded projections whose purpose is unknown. Inside, the hall and parlor combine Federal and Greek Revival woodwork, including paneled wainscoting and a Greek Revival mantel. Ownership passed from Merrick to heirs connected to the Spaight family, then to James Nixon in 1822, and the Nixon family kept the house until the mid-twentieth century. An archaeological survey suggests it may have been moved inland around 1880. The house is listed as an unusual vernacular example in a county with few surviving buildings from this period, and the farmstead may hold further archaeological evidence.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Vernacular, with Georgian, Federal and Greek Revival elements","criteria":["C","D"],"status_note":"Occupied as a private residence; the house is being leased and the surrounding land is still active farmland.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:56.478317-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/8/7217/47721708/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/82003495.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47721708","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belvidere_Plantation_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19600437"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/pender-county/belvidere-plantation-house-82003495/"}