Taylor-Utley House
Why it's listed
Built around 1848 at 916 Hay Street in Fayetteville, this two-and-one-half story frame house sits in what was once the village of Belmont, a small settlement in Haymount about a mile west of town. Belmont grew up beside the United States Arsenal on land Captain James A. J. Bradford divided into lots. Merchant William Taylor bought the lot in 1847 and built the house, but financial trouble forced a sale in 1858 to Joseph Utley, a forwarding and commission merchant who served as a church deacon and on a 1862 Committee of Safety. The house shows vernacular Greek Revival features: a side-hall plan, shed porch, sidelights and transom at the entrance, heavy gable returns, and post-and-lintel mantels. A two-story west wing added in 1932, along with later porch and kitchen changes, respected the original style. It represents the homes merchants built on Fayetteville's developing edges before the Civil War.
Significance in brief: The nomination presents the house as a typical example of vernacular Greek Revival architecture of the 1840s in Belmont and outlying Fayetteville. It is also tied to the westward development stimulated by the U.S. Arsenal. Its first two owners, William Taylor and Joseph Utley, were merchants in the town's inland port and trading economy.
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 83001872, listed July 7, 1983. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 916 Hay St., Fayetteville |
|---|---|
| County | Cumberland County |
| Listed | July 7, 1983 |
| Reference number | 83001872 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | c. 1848 |
| Architect / builder | unknown |
| Architectural style | Vernacular Greek Revival |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Private residence, occupied. The form notes twentieth-century modernizations including a 1932 west wing and a modern interior kitchen. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 35.05644, -78.89598 (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 83001872.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q18217477
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.