Bray-Paschal House
Also known as: Sheriff Richard Bray Paschal House; Sheriff R.B. Paschal House
Why it's listed
Along Wade Paschal Road south of Siler City, the Bray-Paschal House grew in three stages. A single-pen log house with v-notched corners was built around 1790, probably by a member of the Bray family. Around 1810 it gained a rear shed, a full-width engaged front porch, an upper story, and weatherboard siding, and its interior was divided into a hall and parlor with Federal-period mantels. In 1860 Sheriff Richard Bray Paschal added a two-story Greek Revival frame section at the southwest corner, with a pedimented portico and a monumental stone chimney. Paschal's diaries record the construction, along with a stable, a blacksmith shop and a smokehouse on the farm. The house is valued for illustrating how a rural Piedmont family repeatedly remodeled a modest dwelling as its fortunes and social standing changed.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the house represents three successive vernacular building traditions in rural Piedmont North Carolina: an early log dwelling, a Federal-period remodeling into a hall-parlor plan, and a regional interpretation of Greek Revival style. The log portion is described as the oldest intact documented log dwelling in Chatham County, and the surviving mid-nineteenth-century outbuildings are called rare in the county.
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 11000973, listed December 27, 2011. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 2488 Wade Paschal Rd., Siler City |
|---|---|
| County | Chatham County |
| Listed | December 27, 2011 |
| Reference number | 11000973 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | ca. 1790-1860 |
| Architectural style | Early Republic/Federal; Mid-19th Century Greek Revival; vernacular log dwelling |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | The 1860 Greek Revival addition has a deteriorated wood porch floor and the smokehouse is collapsed and ruinous; the house is described as in use with an intact 1860 addition. |
| Acreage | 6 |
| Coordinates | 35.68311, -79.48780 (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 11000973.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q18169351
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.