Poland, George, House
Why it's listed
Built in 1956 in Raleigh to a design by George Matsumoto, a faculty member at North Carolina State College's School of Design, this one-story flat-roofed house uses exposed fir I-beams, cantilevered floor and roof planes, and inexpensive materials such as plywood, asbestos panels and cork tile. It was built for George Poland, a professor of Romance languages, and contractor Raymond Frank Walser completed it for $21,140. The house is one of four surviving Raleigh examples of Matsumoto's box-on-basement type. Its Modernist design draws on Mies van der Rohe and the Bauhaus. When the Arrow Drive site lost its views to commercial development, the house was moved to a rural site near Bahama in 2001 and restored using the original drawings. The nomination argues that the new setting keeps the relationship between house and site that Matsumoto intended.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the house is a well-preserved example of Matsumoto's 'box-on-basement' residential type, one of four surviving in the Raleigh area, and that it reflects the mid-twentieth-century Modernist movement and the work of the North Carolina State College School of Design. It also argues that the relocated house retains its design values and physical integrity, and that the Bahama site is similar in topography and setting to the original.
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 04001287, listed December 4, 2004. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 502 John Jones Rd., Bahama |
|---|---|
| County | Durham County |
| Listed | December 4, 2004 |
| Reference number | 04001287 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1956 |
| Architect / builder | Matsumoto, George, Architect; Walser, Raymond Frank, Builder |
| Architectural style | Modern movement: International Style |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Restored after relocation in 2001-2002 and currently occupied as a residence. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 36.13915, -78.89387 (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 04001287.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q19987623
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.