Bernhardt, George Matthias, House
Why it's listed
Set in a grove of oak trees on a 323-acre tract in Rowan County, North Carolina, the George Matthias Bernhardt House is a Greek Revival plantation house erected in the 1850s. Its weatherboarded exterior is embellished with molded door and window surrounds, cornerblocks and projecting molded eaves, and its interior retains handsome finish, including fluted and channeled mantels and heart pine floors. The house is two stories in its main block, with a one-story rear ell, and its T-shaped plan is the earliest known use of that form in the county, predating its later popularity by nearly thirty years. A freestanding plantation office of weatherboarded frame with Greek Revival trim, the only known surviving antebellum plantation office in the county, stands among the outbuildings. Bernhardt, a planter who was born in 1820 and died in 1885, served as a Justice of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions and one term in the General Assembly. The house is regarded as a specific product of the wealth of the antebellum planter class in Rowan County.
Significance in brief: The house is described as an unusually well-preserved Greek Revival plantation house with a complete and well-crafted architectural program for the county. Its T-shaped plan is the earliest known use of that plan in the county and the only antebellum example there, and the freestanding antebellum plantation office is the only known surviving one in the county. The nomination also ties the house to the Bernhardt family's prominence and to the emerging affluence of the antebellum planter class.
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 82001303, listed November 26, 1982. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | S of Rockwell on SR 2361, Rockwell |
|---|---|
| County | Rowan County |
| Listed | November 26, 1982 |
| Reference number | 82001303 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1850-1899 |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Agriculture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Maintained and preserved by the family; the family occupied the house only intermittently after Bernhardt's death in 1885. |
| Acreage | 323 |
| Coordinates | 35.50682, -80.42808 (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 82001303.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q19866769
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.