Smith, William Rankin and Elizabeth Wharton, House
Why it's listed
A one-story side-gable house on Brightwood Church Road in eastern Guilford County was built circa 1846 as a hall-parlor dwelling, according to local tradition, for William Rankin Smith and his wife Elizabeth Wharton Smith. The Smiths added a room and a full-width engaged porch around 1854, and a two-room rear wing was added circa 1885 by D. P. Foust, the next owner. The house was moved six-tenths of a mile north of its original Hillsborough Road setting in June 2005 to save it from demolition during redevelopment of the tract. It is regarded as a substantially intact example of a form more common in eastern North Carolina, and an uncommon one in the Piedmont. The interior retains Greek Revival doors and a post-and-lintel mantel, along with a vernacular Federal mantel. Its builder's family was tied to Bethel Presbyterian Church and to the Smith and Rankin farms of the area.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the house is a locally significant example of mid-nineteenth-century vernacular architecture in the Piedmont, combining a hall-parlor plan with an engaged porch of a type more common in eastern North Carolina. It is described as an increasingly rare small residence of this kind, and as a good example of the houses built by the county's middling farmers. The move is treated as qualifying under the rule for properties removed from their original location because the architectural value is the primary basis for listing.
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 07000091, listed February 27, 2007. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 437 Brightwood Church Rd., NC 2758, 0.62 mi. N of US 70, Whitsett |
|---|---|
| County | Guilford County |
| Listed | February 27, 2007 |
| Reference number | 07000091 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | circa 1846-circa 1885 |
| Architectural style | Mid-19th Century/Greek Revival; Coastal Cottage |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Moved in June 2005 to a new site on Brightwood Church Road; the 1945 additions and exterior stucco were removed during the move. |
| Acreage | 2 |
| Coordinates | 36.07912, -79.58064 (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 07000091.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q24436234
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.