Holliday-Dorsey-Fife House
Why it's listed
Dr. John Stiles Holliday built a two-story Plantation Plain-type house on a Fayetteville town lot in 1847, then around 1855 more than doubled its size and remodeled it in the Greek Revival style. The weatherboard house has a full-width porch with six Doric columns, plain corner pilasters, wide eaves with brackets, and a central-hall Georgian floor plan. Later changes include 1940 bathrooms, closets, and a 1970 enclosure of the rear porch, but the 1855 plan and many features remain. Holliday practiced medicine in the northeast room on the first floor, as most Georgia physicians of the period did at home, while also running mills, stores and a farm. His career illustrates changes in medical education and the mixed occupations of antebellum doctors. The property is recognized for its architecture and for this medical history. Most outbuildings and town lots are gone, and the house now operates as a museum.
Significance in brief: The house is argued to be an excellent example of Greek Revival architecture in Georgia, with a six-column Doric portico, symmetrical form and Italianate-style brackets, and also of a Georgian-plan house. It is also significant for health and medicine because Holliday, a local physician, practiced in a first-floor office in the home, reflecting antebellum medical practice and education.
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 08000263, listed April 10, 2008. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 140 Lanier Ave., Fayetteville |
|---|---|
| County | Fayette County |
| Listed | April 10, 2008 |
| Reference number | 08000263 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1847-1865 |
| Architectural style | Mid-19th Century: Greek Revival |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Health/Medicine |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Currently operated as a museum with exhibits on the house, Fayetteville, "Doc" Holliday, Gone With the Wind and southern memorabilia; the historic landscape and outbuildings are largely gone. |
| Acreage | 0.7 |
| Coordinates | 33.44669, -84.46846 (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 08000263.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q29093983
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.