Best, Benjamin W., House
Why it's listed
Built around 1850 as a two-story, three-bay frame house in the Greek Revival style, the Benjamin W. Best House stood in the Bull Head Township community of Lindell in western Greene County, North Carolina, before its move in 1998. Benjamin Williams Best, a planter, built it near Beals Branch, a tributary of Nahunta Creek, after marrying Susan Louisa Exum in 1841. The house has a low hip roof, a center hall plan, nine-over-nine and nine-over-six sash windows, and original heart-pine floors and Greek Revival mantels. Its two-part architraves with backband moldings and tiny corner blocks are regarded as a distinctive local variation on the style. The house is considered one of the few surviving examples of its type in northwestern Greene County, and it is described as the most intact example of that architrave treatment. It was moved about ten miles to a site of similar topography.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the house is one of very few surviving frame two-story Greek Revival dwellings built in northwestern Greene County in the quarter century before the Civil War. Its two-part architrave surrounds with backband moldings and tiny corner blocks are presented as a vernacular local interpretation of the style, and the house is described as the most intact example of that treatment. The nomination also argues the move preserved integrity because the new site is topographically compatible and close 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 05000349, listed February 3, 2006. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 2193 Mewborn Church Rd., Jason |
|---|---|
| County | Greene County |
| Listed | February 3, 2006 |
| Reference number | 05000349 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | Circa 1850 |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Neglected and vacant for decades before 1998; moved in April 1998 to its current location and restored, with the original front portico and entrance restored in 2002. |
| Acreage | 3 |
| Coordinates | 35.41181, -77.76163 (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 05000349.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q19460511
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.