Davis Family House
Also known as: Davis--Forbes House
Why it's listed
Built about 1880 on a hillside clearing above the Pigeon River in upper Haywood County, this one-story-with-loft frame house has a two-room plan, weatherboard walls and original Italianate-style door and window surrounds. Joseph S. Davis and his wife Laura Rhea Davis raised nine children here, and their son Joseph Yoder Davis, a farmer and Baptist minister, lived in the house until his death in 1949. In 1925-1926 a shed addition across the rear replaced a detached log kitchen and provided an indoor kitchen and dining room. The interior of the original block is largely intact, including the bedroom's pine floor, flush-sheathed walls and molded surrounds. The house is regarded as a rare survivor of a rural house type that was common among middling farm families in the late nineteenth century and transitional between log dwellings and later two-story frame houses. Most of its contemporaries have been lost to abandonment or demolition.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the house is an intact example of a once-common rural mountain house type that was rapidly disappearing in Haywood County. It is said to preserve the two-room plan and form of earlier log dwellings, and its interior finish is largely original. It is regarded as a rare survivor of this transitional house form.
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 96001527, listed December 27, 1996. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | N side of NC 1355, .8 mi. NW of Ferguson Br. over the Pigeon River, Crabtree |
|---|---|
| County | Haywood County |
| Listed | December 27, 1996 |
| Reference number | 96001527 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | Ca. 1880 |
| Architect / builder | Robert F. Arrington (carpenter); Dexter Rabun Rathbone (carpenter), for the 1925-1926 addition |
| Architectural style | Italianate-style trim on a vernacular two-room frame house |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | The house was rented from 1955 to 1967 and is undergoing restoration by its current owner, as stated in the document. |
| Acreage | 8 |
| Coordinates | 35.62275, -82.97363 (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 96001527.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q19461280
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.