Mills House and Smokehouse
Why it's listed
Brookfield, southwest of Griffin in Spalding County, Georgia, is a mid-1870s country house with a concrete smokehouse. Thomas Mills, Sr., a retired Savannah cotton shipper, built it as a summer retreat away from the heat and yellow fever epidemics of the coast. The house is a cube-shaped, two-story frame building under a low hipped roof, with a bracketed front porch, broad eaves with scrolled brackets and corner medallions, and a central hall with four rooms on each floor. The interior has been heavily remodeled, so the exterior and basic room layout carry the historic value. The smokehouse, about fourteen by twenty feet, has walls of poured concrete made from rubble stone, lime and clay, a method rare in Georgia at the time. The nomination ties the property to the Mills family's wartime investments in British funds, which left them prosperous when many Georgia families lost their fortunes. It also notes the house is a visible landmark on a rise.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the property is significant in architecture, commerce and local history. The house is a relatively rare, simple vernacular example of Italianate domestic architecture in Georgia. The smokehouse has poured-in-place concrete walls that were extremely unusual for the state at that time. The property also reflects the prosperity of a Savannah family whose British investments preserved their wealth during the Civil War.
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 80004308, listed January 20, 1980. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | S of Griffin at 1590 Carver Rd., Griffin |
|---|---|
| County | Spalding County |
| Listed | January 20, 1980 |
| Reference number | 80004308 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1800-1899 (specific date ca. 1875) |
| Architectural style | Italianate (simple, vernacular) |
| Areas of significance | Commerce, Architecture, Social History |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Form lists the property as occupied, in good condition and altered; the main house was restored and is used as a residence, with a catering service operating from an outbuilding. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 33.20943, -84.29530 (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 80004308.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q55316106
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.