Hampton-Ellis Farm
Also known as: William Beanis Hampton Farm; Jonah Ellis Farm
Why it's listed
A one-story, triple-A-roofed frame farmhouse on Pat Tilley Road near Bahama, north of Durham, was built around 1900 by William Beanis Hampton and enlarged around 1922 after Jonah Buren Ellis bought the farm. The house has a center-hall plan, a decorative front gable, a rear kitchen ell, and two-over-two wood sash windows, and it keeps much of its original interior, including painted doors and mantels. Around it stand fourteen frame and log outbuildings, among them four log tobacco barns with stone foundations, an ordering house, a stripping house, a packhouse, a feed house, a smokehouse, and a tenant house. Together they show how a small Piedmont tobacco farm worked from curing through market. The farm is regarded as one of the largest intact outbuilding complexes in Durham County. The site is also tied to the Flat River mill history and to the later creation of Lake Michie.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the house retains a high level of architectural integrity and that the farm has one of the largest collections of extant outbuildings in Durham County. The tobacco barns, ordering house, stripping house and packhouse are presented as representative of early twentieth-century independent Piedmont tobacco farms.
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 11000955, listed December 22, 2011. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 3305 Pat Tilley Rd., Bahama |
|---|---|
| County | Durham County |
| Listed | December 22, 2011 |
| Reference number | 11000955 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | c. 1900-c. 1922 |
| Architectural style | Other: Triple-A House |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | The house has been vacant since the death of George Ellis in 2008, according to the document. |
| Acreage | 11.5 |
| Coordinates | 36.17430, -79.10462 (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.
Noted as vacant in the nomination. Nomination documents can be decades old; current status may differ. If you are considering buying an empty listed property, read the due-diligence checklist.
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 11000955.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q19462157
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.