Smith, Frank and Mary, House
Why it's listed
Built around 1880 on land given to Mary Smith by her parents, this two-story house in southwestern Wake County was home to Frank and Mary Smith until Frank's death in 1921. It is a three-bay, single-pile, center-hall I-house with a triple-A roof, weatherboard siding, quatrefoil gable vents, deep gable returns, molded cornices and bracketed porch posts. Rear wings give the first floor a double-pile plan, and inside are eleven-foot ceilings, wide pine floors, wainscoting, Victorian mantels and a long staircase rising from the wide hall. The Smiths' farm lay near Myatt's Mill, an area settled by Mary's family. After later owners, the house stood empty and vandalized by mid-century, then was bought in 1958 and restored from 1973. Changes include replaced windows, a new kitchen and added bathrooms. The house was listed for its architecture as an intact, notably well-finished example of a common local house type. A relocated tobacco barn and smokehouse on the property are noncontributing.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the house is an intact, stylishly finished example of the triple-A-roofed I-house, a form that was very popular in late nineteenth-century Wake County. It is distinguished by rear wings that create a double-pile first-floor plan, unusually tall ceilings, a long single-run stair, and mill-sawn Victorian finishes. It is described as one of the oldest surviving I-houses in the 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 03000931, listed September 11, 2003. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 2935 John Adams Rd., Willow Spring |
|---|---|
| County | Wake County |
| Listed | September 11, 2003 |
| Reference number | 03000931 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | Ca. 1880 |
| Architectural style | Other: I-House |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Restored by the current owners beginning in 1973; the house stood empty and vandalized by the mid-twentieth century before that. Described as a single dwelling in current use. |
| Acreage | 16 |
| Coordinates | 35.57537, -78.68504 (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 03000931.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q1444513
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.