{"nrhp_refnum":"85002415","name":"King, Dr. Franklin, House-Idlewild","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"700 blk. of Bridge St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Eden","county":"Rockingham County","state":"NC","lat":36.49058388800006,"lon":-79.76084538699996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-09-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Commerce","Agriculture","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-and-a-half story frame Victorian residence with a three-story tower, known as Idlewild, on a wooded four-acre lot at the 700 block of Bridge Street in Eden (formerly Leaksville), Rockingham County, North Carolina. It was built in 1875 for Doctor Franklin King.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it the largest and most architecturally significant late Victorian residence still standing in Leaksville, with an eclectic design combining Italianate, Gothic Revival and Queen Anne elements. It is also tied to Franklin King, a wealthy tobacco businessman, bank founder and church and educational leader, and to the growth of Leaksville's tobacco and textile industries.","narrative":"Set deep in a wooded four-acre lot at the edge of Eden's old Leaksville business district, Idlewild is a large frame house completed in 1875. It has two and a half stories, a three-story tower with a steep pyramidal roof, and two forward-projecting gables. Its design mixes Italianate brackets and porch posts, Gothic Revival hoodmolds and trefoil gable boards, and Queen Anne fish-scale shingles. Inside, eight large rooms open off broad center halls, with a distinctive chamfered stair and varied mantels. Doctor Franklin King (1843-1922) built the house and lived there for nearly half a century. He came to Leaksville around 1870, made his fortune buying, selling and manufacturing tobacco, and helped found the Bank of Leaksville in 1889. He was also a Baptist leader and an early trustee of Meredith College. The house stayed in the family until the 1940s and was later restored and rented. Its rear additions and outbuildings have since badly deteriorated, and the house has stood unoccupied.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899, 1900-","architect_builder":"unknown","architectural_style":"Eclectic late Victorian combining Italianate, Gothic Revival, and Queen Anne elements","criteria":["A","B","C","D"],"status_note":"Unoccupied for some time; rear wings and outbuildings are severely deteriorated, and efforts were underway to find a buyer sympathetic to restoration.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:50.398862-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/78/7219/47721978/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/85002415.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85002415/3285b6955b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85002415/3285b6955b-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Idlewild,_Eden.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Idlewild,_Eden.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47721978","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Franklin_King_House-Idlewild","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19864501"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/rockingham-county/king-dr-franklin-house-idlewild-85002415/"}