Killett, Marcheston, Farm
The pin is a point inside the NPS boundary polygon, not a surveyed location.
Why it's listed
Built about 1865 by Marcheston Killett, who had moved to Sampson County from South Carolina, this one-story frame farmhouse south of Clinton combines a gable-front porch plan with Greek Revival pilasters and an unusually elaborate Victorian porch and interior. The center-hall, double-pile house has six-over-six windows, a diamond-shaped louvered vent in the front gable, and a front northeast room with heavy pilasters, dentiling and reeded mantel panels. A former one-room log kitchen, moved from a rear field, was incorporated into the rear ell. The farmstead keeps about nineteen contributing structures and sites, including a commissary, a ca. 1915 barn, a log tobacco barn, a crib and a grape arbor, shaded by oaks and a pecan orchard planted in the 1910s. The house is regarded as one of the finest surviving middle-class farmhouses of the period, and the farm is valued as a representative post-Civil War agricultural complex with potential archaeological remains.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the house is a prime example of the locally popular gable-front porch form, given the most elaborate Victorian embellishment in the county while retaining Greek Revival elements. The farm is presented as one of the more complete surviving farmstead complexes in a county where few large farm complexes remain, and the site is judged likely to yield archaeological information about rural Sampson County.
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 86000564, listed March 17, 1986. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | SR 1222 N of US 701, Clinton |
|---|---|
| County | Sampson County |
| Listed | March 17, 1986 |
| Reference number | 86000564 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1850-1900 |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival with Victorian embellishment (gable-front porch form) |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Agriculture, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Vinyl siding covers the weatherboard and a poured cement porch floor replaced the original wood floor; outbuildings include a metal-sided barn and two new metal silos. |
| Acreage | 38.4 |
| Coordinates | 34.94220, -78.33885 (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 86000564.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q19864456
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.