Phillips-Sims House
Why it's listed
Built about 1833 on a high knoll near Hogansville, this one-and-a-half-story weatherboarded farmhouse follows a vernacular double-pen plan, with two front doorways opening into two front rooms. It has a fieldstone foundation, granite end chimneys, a heavy timber frame with hand-hewn sills, and hand-planed heart-pine boards inside. A kitchen/dining annex with a massive granite walk-in fireplace is joined to the main house by a breezeway. William D. Phillips, a cotton planter, bought the land lot in 1833 after the area was opened to settlement by lottery in 1827, moving here from a nearby log house that is also listed. William G. Sims bought the property in 1855 and expanded the plantation to 1,130 acres. Today ten or so acres remain, including outbuildings, mature shade trees and an early mileage marker. The house was recognized for its architecture, its link to Georgia's final western settlement and its role as a plantation farmhouse.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues it is a good intact example of the vernacular farmhouse of Georgia's Piedmont frontier, with a double-pen plan, heavy timber frame and hand-planed boards. It is tied to the settlement of land opened in 1827 and to a plantation of over a thousand acres managed from the house for more than fifty years. Its hilltop siting near a creek is cited as typical of an ante-bellum plantation house, and trees mark the county line.
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 86000791, listed April 17, 1986. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | GA 54, Hogansville |
|---|---|
| County | Troup County |
| Listed | April 17, 1986 |
| Reference number | 86000791 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1800-1899 |
| Architect / builder | Unknown |
| Architectural style | Vernacular double-pen |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Agriculture, Exploration/Settlement, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Occupied as a private residence; the form says it has been continually lived in since 1833, with changes limited mainly to 1960s alterations. |
| Acreage | 9.2 |
| Coordinates | 33.15972, -84.86371 (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 86000791.
- 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.