Lawrence, Dr. Elmo N., House
Why it's listed
Set on a landscaped 2.6-acre tract off Lake Wheeler Road in Raleigh, this one-and-a-half story bungalow was built around 1922 for Dr. Elmo N. Lawrence, a long-time dentist and orthodontist. Its walls are 12½-by-5-inch tooled-face hollow concrete blocks covered with cement stucco from the start, under a side-gabled asphalt roof with shed dormers and triangular knee braces. A concrete block garage, later extended with a stone caretaker's apartment in the early 1940s, stands nearby. Inside, the plan centers on a parlor with a projecting fireplace, with the stair at the core of the house in the manner of Gustav Stickley's Greek cross plan. Plaster walls, original doors, windows and hardware survive. Later changes include a sunroom around 1960, a kitchen expansion, a 1990s chimney and a 2002 utility room. The house is significant as a rare Raleigh example of a handmade concrete block Craftsman house, likely made from blocks cast on site. Only one other comparable pre-1930 house survives in the city.
Significance in brief: The house is locally significant under Criterion C in Architecture as an intact, rare surviving Craftsman bungalow of hollow-core, tooled-face concrete block covered in stucco at construction. Block dwellings in the Craftsman style are rare in Raleigh, where only one other example from the period was identified. Its open plan follows Gustav Stickley's Greek cross plan promoted in Craftsman magazine.
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 05000320, listed April 20, 2005. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 2121 Lake Wheeler Rd., Raleigh |
|---|---|
| County | Wake County |
| Listed | April 20, 2005 |
| Reference number | 05000320 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | Ca. 1922 |
| Architectural style | Bungalow/Craftsman |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Still used as a single dwelling with a secondary structure; the interior and exterior remain largely intact despite additions from around 1960, the 1990s and 2002. |
| Acreage | 2.6 |
| Coordinates | 35.75278, -78.66768 (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 05000320.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q24041077
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.