Leslie-Taylor House
Also known as: Maple Lawn
Why it's listed
Built around 1879 in Vass for physician James Addison Leslie, the Leslie-Taylor House is a three-story, double-pile frame house with a clipped-side-gable roof and corbelled chimneys. Its exterior combines Italianate and Gothic Revival features, including three steep Gothic gables with sawn bargeboards, a rooftop balcony with a sawnwork balustrade, bracketed door hoods, and a nearly full-width first-floor porch. The interior keeps elaborate public rooms with carved newel posts, paneled walls, and Gothic-influenced mantels. A seven-sided smokehouse and a Gothic-influenced carriage house of the same date stand on the roughly eleven-acre parcel. The house is regarded as one of the fullest examples of Victorian Eclecticism in Moore County, and the Late Victorian Gothic style is considered rare in the county. The original family has held the property since its construction, and most later additions are at the rear.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the house is one of the fullest examples of Victorian Eclecticism in Moore County, combining steeply pitched gables, decorated bargeboards, bay windows, brackets and sawnwork detail in a single composition. It describes the Late Victorian Gothic style as rare in the county and says the house and its contemporary outbuildings retain a high degree of integrity.
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 07001407, listed January 17, 2008. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 270 Carthage Rd., Vass |
|---|---|
| County | Moore County |
| Listed | January 17, 2008 |
| Reference number | 07001407 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | Ca. 1879 |
| Architectural style | Victorian Eclecticism (Late Victorian Gothic / Victorian Eclectic), with Italianate and Gothic Revival features |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | The house remains in the possession of the Leslie-Taylor family descendants and the original rear additions date from the 1950s and later. |
| Acreage | 11.7 |
| Coordinates | 35.25739, -79.29621 (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 07001407.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q19875086
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.