Davenport House
Why it's listed
Built around 1815 as a one-and-a-half story, heavy timber frame house with a rear shed room and an engaged porch under a broken-pitch roof, the Davenport House near Creswell is a coastal cottage, a house type common in eastern North Carolina. Its frame is joined with mortise, tenon and pins, and it rests on trapezoidal cypress blocks. The main room and shed room retain exposed joists and studs and original wood floors, with a single fireplace in the main room. The house was occupied by the Davenport family for well over a century, and Harriet Ann Davenport was its last resident, dying in 1975. After a restoration completed in 1999, it became a museum. It is regarded as a rare survivor of a house type that was once common in Washington County, where three similar houses stood within a mile but have since been demolished. The house is valued for its largely unaltered plan, roof form and interior, which show how modest rural households were built in the early nineteenth century.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the house is a distinct and rare survivor of the early nineteenth-century one-room house with rear shed room and engaged porch, a form known in North Carolina as a coastal cottage. It is said to retain its intact floor plan, roof form, interior dividing wall, front and rear doors, and wood block foundation, with exposed joists and studs that are unusual for the type. Its significance is rated local.
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 07000932, listed September 5, 2007. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | VA 1143 (Mount Tabor Rd. and VA 1146 (Mount Tabor Road-Backwoods, Creswell |
|---|---|
| County | Washington County |
| Listed | September 5, 2007 |
| Reference number | 07000932 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | ca. 1815 |
| Architectural style | Coastal cottage (one-room house with rear shed room and engaged porch) |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Restored between 1995 and 1999 by the Historical Society of Washington County and opened to the public as a museum. |
| Acreage | 0.5 |
| Coordinates | 35.86776, -76.44976 (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 07000932.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q20709299
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.