{"nrhp_refnum":"89001897","name":"Lawrence, Frank, House","other_names":["60-3"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"VA 612, 0.5 mi. E of VA 614","address_restricted":false,"city":"Basham","county":"Montgomery County","state":"VA","lat":37.05235713800005,"lon":-80.31790362899994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-11-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story frame foursquare house on the south side of VA Route 612 near Basham in southern Montgomery County, Virginia, built around 1918 from a Sears and Roebuck mail-order plan by Frank Lawrence of Christiansburg.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is an important, well-preserved example of the popularity of mail-order houses in the early to mid-twentieth century. It was the only catalog house positively identified in the 1986 Montgomery County Reconnaissance Survey. It retains most of its original features.","narrative":"Near Basham in southern Montgomery County, this two-story frame house was built around 1918 by Frank Lawrence of Christiansburg from a Sears and Roebuck catalog plan, identified as plan C215 in 1917 and priced at $1,561. Many components, including the poplar weatherboarding, arrived by railroad. The foursquare house has a wraparound porch with Doric columns, a pyramidal roof covered in its original pressed metal shingles, two projecting gabled bays, stained glass windows, and a foundation of poured concrete scored to resemble ashlar masonry. Inside, a paneled stair and an oak parlor mantel survive. The house was originally lit with carbide gas. The plan is reversed from the catalog version, and the colonnaded hall opening and built-in bookcases were omitted. It was the only catalog house positively identified in the county's 1986 reconnaissance survey, and it is valued locally as a well-preserved example of the mail-order housing trend. It remains a single-family home.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1918","architect_builder":"Unknown (built by Frank Lawrence from a Sears and Roebuck plan)","architectural_style":"Other: early 20th-century mail order house","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Currently used as a single dwelling; described as very well preserved and retaining most of its original features.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:00.034797-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/64/6787/41678764/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/89001897.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001897/90839bea17-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001897/90839bea17-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Skye Marthaler","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Frank_Lawrence_House.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Skye Marthaler</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Frank_Lawrence_House.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41678764","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Lawrence_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14712339"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/montgomery-county/lawrence-frank-house-89001897/"}