Box Hall Plantation
Why it's listed
Box Hall Plantation is a 135-acre estate on the southwestern outskirts of Thomasville, Georgia, built around a two-story brick Georgian Revival house completed in 1930-1931. The grounds hold a guest house, garage, barn, tank house, pond house, two servants' houses, a swimming pool with pool house, and formal gardens with a reflecting pool and fountain. The land was part of an antebellum plantation whose first big house, built in 1857, burned around 1929. Alvah K. Lawrie, a retired Aluminum Company of America executive from New York, then built the present house as a winter home. The New York firm Delano and Aldrich designed the house, guest house and landscape plan, using brick, symmetrical massing, a detailed entrance and paneled interiors. The property was listed for its architecture and for what it shows about Northern investors who turned old plantation tracts into seasonal estates around Thomasville. The period of significance runs from 1930 to Lawrie's death in 1936.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · catalog entry. Generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29).
| Period of significance | 1930-1936 |
|---|---|
| Styles | Georgian Revival |
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Social History |
| Acreage | 135 |
| Boundary source | NPS cultural-resource GIS polygon |
| Full listing page | Box Hall Plantation (property record) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.