{"nrhp_refnum":"97000256","name":"Joy Lee Apartment Building and Annex","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"317 Carolina Beach Ave., N.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Carolina Beach","county":"New Hanover County","state":"NC","lat":34.03738587000004,"lon":-77.89125169599998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1997-04-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Community Planning and Development"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story concrete block duplex apartment building (1945) and a rear four-unit Annex (1948) at 317 North Carolina Beach Avenue, Carolina Beach, North Carolina, designed by owner Grover Lewis and built with William Bordeaux for the main building.","why_significant":"The buildings are argued to be significant for architecture as a distinctive vernacular beach interpretation of Art Moderne and Art Deco design, with Spanish Mission and Prairie-style touches. They are also significant for community development, reflecting the shift to masonry construction in Carolina Beach after the 1940 fire and during wartime shortages. The Annex is included because it is closely tied in time and place to the original building.","narrative":"Two concrete block apartment buildings on Carolina Beach Avenue in Carolina Beach, North Carolina, have housed beach vacationers since the mid-1940s. The two-story 1945 duplex and the 1948 four-unit Annex were designed by owner Grover Lewis, a masonry worker who moved to the area to take a shipyard job. William Bordeaux built the basic main building, and the family made the cement blocks by hand with a block press. Stucco walls, parapet and cantilevered rooflines, molded diamond-shaped plaster lozenges, and decorative concrete balustrades give the buildings an Art Moderne and Art Deco character. Concrete block became the favored material in town after a 1940 fire destroyed the business district, since it resisted fire, wind and wartime material shortages. The buildings were listed for architecture and for their role in the town's post-war resort development. Later changes, including a 1976 pool and new stairs, have not altered their bold, blocky forms.","period_of_significance":"1945;1948","architect_builder":"Lewis, Grover L. - Architect/Builder; Bordeaux, William W. - Builder","architectural_style":"Modern Movement; Art Deco (Art Moderne/Moderne)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Historic and current function is hotel (apartment lodging for beach visitors); the buildings retain a high degree of integrity despite changes from 1954 to 1976.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:50.531962-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/34/7215/47721534/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/97000256.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/97000256/9f362a0b56-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/97000256/9f362a0b56-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Edward Orde","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Joy_Lee_Apartments_Front.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Edward Orde</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:Joy_Lee_Apartments_Front.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47721534","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joy_Lee_Apartment_Building_and_Annex","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19462646"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/new-hanover-county/joy-lee-apartment-building-and-annex-97000256/"}