{"nrhp_refnum":"86000410","name":"Ottinger, Henry, House","other_names":["The Willows"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"391 Boys Home Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Hot Springs","county":"Madison County","state":"NC","lat":35.91135675450005,"lon":-82.85320124893718,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-03-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Prehistoric","Agriculture","Transportation","Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story vernacular Greek Revival brick farmhouse, known as The Willows, on the French Broad River floodplain about one and a half to two miles from Hot Springs in Madison County, North Carolina. It was probably built in the late 1850s, with the form giving ca. 1855 as the specific date.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is a rare antebellum brick house in the mountains, and no other antebellum brick structures are known to survive in Madison County. It is also tied to river transportation through Henry Ottinger's ferry and to Presbyterian missionary education, since the farm served as a campus of Dorland Institute. Archaeological deposits on the site add to its significance.","narrative":"Built probably in the late 1850s on the floodplain of the French Broad River near Hot Springs, this two-story brick farmhouse is a vernacular Greek Revival dwelling with a pedimented two-level portico, hipped roof, paired chimneys and brick partitions a foot thick. Inside, post-and-lintel mantels and a distinctive vernacular newel survive. Henry Ottinger, a farmer who reportedly ran a ferry across the river, lived here until his death in 1891. In 1902 the Presbyterian Church bought the 300-acre farm as a boys' campus for the Dorland Institute, known as the Willows, where students worked the land. A rear dormitory wing added around 1910 was removed in the 1930s, and the farm returned to private use. The house is considered unusually large and stylish for its time and place, and no other antebellum brick buildings are known in Madison County. Surface finds on the bottomland also point to long prehistoric use of the site.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Vernacular Greek Revival","criteria":["A","C","D"],"status_note":"Occupied private residence and working farm; the form lists condition as good, altered and partly deteriorated. The large rear addition was torn down in the 1930s.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:48.998268-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/46/7211/47721146/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/86000410.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47721146","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ottinger_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19987432"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/madison-county/ottinger-henry-house-86000410/"}