Cook, William, House
Why it's listed
Near Mebane in Alamance County, this farm centers on two houses set at a right angle and joined by hip-roofed porches. The older is a one-room log house of about 1840 with a habitable loft reached by an enclosed corner stair. Around 1903 William Cook, a farmer and carpenter, added a two-story, three-bay frame I-house beside it. Family tradition holds that it served as sleeping quarters for his twelve children, while he and his wife used the log house for cooking, dining and sleeping. Clapboards, corner boards and a new brick chimney on the original stone base unified the two buildings. Four early outbuildings survive: a log barn, a log storage shed, a log wood shed and a frame corncrib. A small brick rear addition was built in the early 1980s. The property was listed as a good local example of single-pen log construction, and for the unusual expansion of a log house with a frame I-house. It remains a working farm with a long history of Cook family ownership.
Significance in brief: The property is significant under Criterion C as an example of Alamance County's single-pen log house with habitable loft. Pairing a log house with a frame I-house at a right angle, linked by joined porches, is described as an unusual and notable pattern of log building expansion.
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 93001194, listed November 22, 1993. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | NC 2131 W side at jct. with NC 2132, Mebane |
|---|---|
| County | Alamance County |
| Listed | November 22, 1993 |
| Reference number | 93001194 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | c. 1840; c. 1903 |
| Architect / builder | Cook, William, builder |
| Architectural style | Other: log, single pen |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Described as a well-maintained working farm; the log house serves as the family kitchen and dining room and the I-house holds the sitting room and bedrooms. |
| Acreage | 1.5 |
| Coordinates | 36.03314, -79.28402 (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 93001194.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q17515317
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.