Shelton House
Why it's listed
Set on a knoll about a quarter mile from downtown Waynesville, this two-story frame farmhouse was built between about 1876 and 1880 for Stephen J. Shelton, a Confederate lieutenant, six-year sheriff of Haywood County, farmer and Methodist Sunday School superintendent. Its most striking feature is a full-width, two-tier engaged porch with chamfered posts, along with bracketed eaves, paneled ceilings and original mantels inside. The rear wing was raised to two stories around 1900. Shelton's son William T., who spent twenty-six years working at Indian schools in North Carolina, New Mexico and Arizona, lived here after 1918 and added a garage apartment and a dahlia greenhouse. A large early twentieth century barn, a creamery and sheds remain on the grounds. The house was listed as a well-preserved example of a western North Carolina farmhouse type, and its tree-shaded farmstead setting preserves a view of the town's rural beginnings. It is now being developed as a handicrafts museum.
Significance in brief: The house is presented as an important, well-preserved and unusually well-crafted example of a western North Carolina dwelling type: the two-story, one-room-deep farmhouse with a full-width, two-tier engaged porch. Its undisturbed pastoral setting recalls Waynesville's rural origins. It is also tied to Stephen J. Shelton, a Confederate officer, sheriff and community figure, and his son William T. Shelton.
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 79001722, listed January 31, 1979. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 307 Shelton St., Waynesville |
|---|---|
| County | Haywood County |
| Listed | January 31, 1979 |
| Reference number | 79001722 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Altered slightly; owned by the Museum of North Carolina Handicrafts, Inc., which is developing the property as a museum. The greenhouse is in ruins. |
| Acreage | 8.5 |
| Coordinates | 35.48498, -82.98565 (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 79001722.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q25203127
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.