Durden, Albert Neal, House
Also known as: Durden-Brinson-Brewer House
Why it's listed
Set on the old Swainsboro Road about three miles west of Twin City in Emanuel County, Georgia, this farmhouse sits on 162 acres of a once larger plantation. It combines two houses: a small hall-parlor house from the 1850s, now the kitchen and dining room, and a two-story plantation-plain house built about 1870 for Albert Neal and Eliza Brinson Durden. Local builder Henry Murray constructed the main house of heart pine sawn on the farm and decorated it with distinctive sawn-wood details, including fleur-de-lis porch frieze patterns, tree-trunk porch posts, ornate door and window hoods, and cut-out mantels. A wooden picket fence with an arched gateway encloses an informally planted yard. The Durdens also ran mills, a store, and a post office nearby, and the house still holds many of their belongings. It was listed for its architecture and landscape architecture, as an intact pair of house types, the work of a local builder, and a rare surviving fenced rural yard.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the house is a very intact example of two vernacular house types, the hall-parlor and the plantation-plain, joined by a covered walkway. It highlights the builder Henry Murray's sawn-wood decoration, which reinterprets Italianate features. The landscaped yard with its historic picket fence is described as a rare surviving example of a once common rural landscape.
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) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 90000561, listed April 20, 1990. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Co. Rd. 360, Twin City |
|---|---|
| County | Emanuel County |
| Listed | April 20, 1990 |
| Reference number | 90000561 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1850s, c.1870 |
| Architect / builder | Murray, Henry |
| Architectural style | Other: hall-parlor type; Other: plantation-plain type |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Community Planning and Development, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Still used as a single dwelling and farm; lived in continuously by the descendants of Albert and Eliza Durden. |
| Acreage | 162 |
| Coordinates | 32.57444, -82.22378 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 90000561.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q30622108
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.