Durham Homeplace
Why it's listed
Set on about two acres in rural Oconee County, this farmstead centers on a log house built around 1830 by Etheral Sorrel and bought in 1832 by Dr. Lindsey Durham, a noted herbal doctor who lived elsewhere. The one-and-one-half-story hall-parlor house has hand-hewn, half-dovetail-notched logs, stone chimneys and a full-width porch. Around 1900 to 1910, Paul Walker Durham, a carpenter and builder, added rear rooms, a central hall, a kitchen ell and a front room, turning it into a Georgian-plan cottage. A corn crib, a cook's quarters and a smokehouse survive as contributing outbuildings, while a manufactured home is noncontributing. The property was listed for architecture because the early log section remains intact and distinct from the later additions, illustrating how Georgia houses grew from plain settlement-era dwellings into larger, more fashionable homes. Farming ended in the 1950s, and fields have since reverted to woodland.
Significance in brief: The main house is significant under Criterion C in architecture as an outstanding example of an early 19th-century log hall-parlor house later transformed into a Georgian-plan house. Few log houses survive in Georgia, and the house shows the common pattern of small early dwellings being enlarged into more fashionable homes as families grew and gained wealth.
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 00000194, listed March 15, 2000. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 1561 Watson Springs Rd., Watkinsville |
|---|---|
| County | Oconee County |
| Listed | March 15, 2000 |
| Reference number | 00000194 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | c.1830 - 1910 |
| Architectural style | Other: hall-parlor house (later Georgian cottage plan) |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | The house stood vacant from 1966 to 1976, then was rehabilitated. The property is now overgrown with kudzu and bamboo, and a manufactured home serves as the primary residence. |
| Acreage | 2 |
| Coordinates | 33.75509, -83.33297 (NPS GIS) |
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.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 00000194.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.