{"nrhp_refnum":"90000742","name":"Neill-Turner-Lester House","other_names":["Five Oaks","Neill--Lester House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"N side of SR 1836, 0.25 mi. NE of jct. with SR 1837","address_restricted":false,"city":"Sherrills Ford","county":"Catawba County","state":"NC","lat":35.64985874900003,"lon":-80.96301352399996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-05-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story frame farmhouse near Sherrills Ford in eastern Catawba County, North Carolina, built around 1820 for William Neill and remodelled around 1889 by Charles Henry Lester.","why_significant":"The house is significant under Criterion B as the residence and office of Charles Henry Lester, regarded as Catawba County's first architect, from about 1877 through his career, which ended about 1927. It is significant under Criterion C as an example of Federal architecture with notable interior detailing, and for Lester's Italianate-inspired remodelling around 1889. It is one of only three surviving dwellings known to have been designed or remodelled by Lester.","narrative":"Set at the end of a long, winding lane near Sherrills Ford, this two-story frame farmhouse began around 1820 as a Federal-style dwelling built by early settler William Neill. It later passed to Fielding Turner, who bought the farm in 1850, and then to his daughter Susan, who married Charles Henry Lester in 1877. Lester, regarded as Catawba County's first architect, remodelled the house around 1889. He added rear rooms, a full-length classical porch and a second-story office over its center bay, giving the exterior an Italianate character. He kept most of the original Federal interior, including paneled wainscot, dentiled and molded cornices, and three elaborate tripartite mantels, some with grained and stippled finishes. The house was listed for its association with Lester, who lived and worked there throughout his career, and for its Federal interior and late nineteenth-century remodelling. It is one of only three surviving dwellings known to have been designed or remodelled by him.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1820; ca. 1877-ca. 1927","architect_builder":"Lester, Charles Henry","architectural_style":"Federal; Italianate","criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"Single dwelling in current use; a modern mobile home on the lot is noncontributing.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:50.230979-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/80/7173/47717380/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/90000742.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47717380","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neill%E2%80%93Turner%E2%80%93Lester_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18154945"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/catawba-county/neill-turner-lester-house-90000742/"}