{"nrhp_refnum":"87001114","name":"Carter-Swain House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"E side SR 2162, N of jct. with SR 2163","address_restricted":false,"city":"Democrat","county":"Buncombe County","state":"NC","lat":35.78998914400006,"lon":-82.49169483199995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1987-07-02","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story log and weatherboarded frame farmhouse, begun ca. 1849 in the Big Ivy community near Democrat, Buncombe County, North Carolina, by John A. Carter, with a four-pen log barn on the nominated 8.714 acres.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it an outstanding example of nineteenth-century western North Carolina vernacular architecture. An early log section was expanded into a central-hallway farmhouse with a two-tiered porch, porch room, cherry paneled ceilings and distinctive mantels. Tradition also holds that it served as a roadside inn on the Asheville to Burnsville route and was the home of postmaster and merchant John A. Carter.","narrative":"Begun around 1849, this farmhouse in the Big Ivy community near Democrat, Buncombe County, started as a fifteen-by-seventeen foot two-story log building of pine and oak. Later owners added a rear shed-kitchen, then a weatherboarded central-hallway section, a rear ell and a two-tiered porch with a porch room and scroll-sawn balusters. Inside are cherry paneled ceilings and mantels with an applied diamond motif. John A. Carter, who built it, was a farmer, postmaster, merchant and Justice of the Peace who owned 950 acres by 1870. Tradition says the house served as an inn for drummers, circuit riders and lawyers traveling between Asheville and Burnsville. Methodist circuit rider John L. Swain married Carter's daughter Harriet, giving the house its second name. A four-pen log barn, later sheathed for curing burley tobacco, also stands on the property. The house was recognized as a representative example of the region's traditional architecture, combining an early log core with a later farmhouse form.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"Western North Carolina vernacular; central-hallway farmhouse with an early log section","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Marked unoccupied and private residence; the form says the owner is restoring it for use as a second home. Alterations are described as slight, and the site is largely unchanged.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:49.091666-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/59/7191/47719159/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/87001114.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87001114/c086be7dd8-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87001114/c086be7dd8-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"rossograph","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carter-Swain_House.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">rossograph</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carter-Swain_House.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47719159","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carter%E2%80%93Swain_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17986286"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/buncombe-county/carter-swain-house-87001114/"}