{"nrhp_refnum":"84002335","name":"Gwyn, James M., House","other_names":["Springdale"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"NC 276","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cruso","county":"Haywood County","state":"NC","lat":35.44690660400005,"lon":-82.81618206999997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-07-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture","Agriculture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story frame farmhouse called Springdale, built about 1888 by James M. Gwyn on the east side of NC 276 near Cruso, Haywood County, North Carolina. It has four-square massing with Italianate and Eastlake detailing.","why_significant":"The house is unusually substantial and fashionable for a remote part of Haywood County, where folk building traditions still dominated. It is tied to James M. Gwyn, a self-sufficient, scientific farmer who was active in county civic affairs. From 1932 to 1939 it was the center of Columbia University Teachers College's New College Community summer program.","narrative":"Built around 1888 near Cruso in Haywood County, this two-story frame farmhouse known as Springdale combines a boxy four-square plan with Italianate scroll brackets and Eastlake interior details. It rises above a brick foundation, with a wraparound porch, twin corbelled chimneys and a center-hall plan. Such massing and ornament were uncommon in a remote mountain district where vernacular housing prevailed. James M. Gwyn, who built it, farmed here on a self-sufficient, scientific model, bought no commercial feed or fertilizer, and served as postmaster, justice of the peace and county commissioner. The house later became the heart of the New College Community, a summer rural-education camp run from 1933 to 1939 by Columbia University's Teachers College under Dr. Thomas Alexander. Students lived, studied and dined at the property. The house remains largely original, with a few outbuildings, and its farm fields are now a golf course.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899 and 1900- (specific date ca. 1888)","architect_builder":"James M. Gwyn, Builder","architectural_style":"Four-square massing with Italianate and Eastlake details","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Occupied as a private residence and described as well preserved and largely original, with a golf course on the surrounding former farmland.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:51.125651-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/52/7207/47720752/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/84002335.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47720752","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_M._Gwyn_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19462124"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/haywood-county/gwyn-james-m-house-84002335/"}