Morris, Green, Farm

Built around 1870, the farmhouse anchors a tract of roughly 200 acres of cropland and woodland in southern Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. The weatherboarded house is a central-hall I-house, three bays wide and two deep, with two one-story rear additions dating shortly after the main block. Its hip roof, standing-seam tin covering, and second-story portico with Italianate curvilinear brackets and sawnwork show a blend of vernacular Greek Revival and Italianate details. Interior features include fluted door and window surrounds, sidelights and transoms at the entry, and wide pine boards on the walls. The farm was purchased in 1874 by Green Columbus Morris, who by 1880 farmed 175 acres of tilled land and had a substantial stock of livestock and crops. The property passed to his heirs after his death in 1891 and was rented for cotton into the 1960s. Its farmland remains one of the largest surviving agricultural tracts in this part of the county, despite nearby suburban growth.