Jarvis House
Also known as: Jarvis,Ira,House
Why it's listed
Set on a grassy slope on the west side of the Blue Ridge in Alleghany County, this 1.17-acre farm property holds three historic buildings that trace local building practice across about sixty years. The oldest is a small log house of hand-hewn oak and chestnut with half-dovetail joints, built before 1850 and thought to be the original Jarvis farmhouse. Ira Jarvis built the two-story weatherboarded house in the 1880s. It is a tri-gable I-house with a hall and parlor plan around a central chimney, with scalloped sawnwork on the center gable and an early 1940s remodeling that enclosed part of the back porch for a kitchen. A twelve-by-twelve-foot stone cellar from about 1910 stored fruit, vegetables and canned goods. The property was recognized for architecture at the local level because early log and later frame dwellings survive side by side, a pairing the county has few examples of, and because the cellar is a well-kept example of a vanishing outbuilding type.
Significance in brief: The property is significant locally under Criterion C for architecture. The log house is one of a small group of surviving antebellum log buildings in the county, and the Ira Jarvis House is a rare local tri-gable I-house with a hall and parlor plan. The log house and frame house together show the shift from early to later building practice, and the stone cellar is a well-preserved example of a once-common food storage outbuilding.
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 91001506, listed October 16, 1991. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | N end NC 1439, N of jct. with NC 18, Sparta |
|---|---|
| County | Alleghany County |
| Listed | October 16, 1991 |
| Reference number | 91001506 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | ca. 1850; 1880s; ca. 1910 |
| Architect / builder | Jarvis, Ira |
| Architectural style | Other: tri-gable I-house |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Listed as in use; historic and current function is domestic single dwelling with a secondary structure. The log house and frame house are described as in good or excellent condition. |
| Acreage | 1.2 |
| Coordinates | 36.55948, -81.01165 (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 91001506.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q17560642
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.