Brookland

Two-story timber frame house with weatherboarding and cut stone chimneys, set in the fields of Granville County near Grassy Creek, North Carolina. Its Georgian and Federal finish is far more refined than its traditional hall-parlor plan, with Federal mantels carved with incised reeds and stars, three-part surrounds, raised six-panel doors, and a scalloped wainscot fringe found in no other known local dwelling. Charles L. and Elizabeth Read began the plantation in 1817, when Charles and his brother Howell bought 1,030 acres. The 1830 census lists Charles as owner of 53 slaves. Several outbuildings predate the Civil War, including a former kitchen with a Flemish bond chimney, which is unique among county outbuildings. The property is also significant for its bright leaf tobacco era barns, striphouse and stable, built in the early twentieth century. Together they document a traditional tobacco farm that operated from the late nineteenth century into the 1950s.