Buck, David M., House
Why it's listed
Built around 1904 at the foot of Bald Mountain in Yancey County, North Carolina, this two-story, center-hall frame house is set on sawn wood piers beneath a steeply pitched asphalt roof, with a wraparound porch on turned columns. Its interior is finished largely in pre-blight chestnut and curly maple, much of it reportedly cut on the property. David M. Buck, a lumberman who timbered the nearby Bald Mountain Boundary tract after acquiring it in 1906, built the house, and it remains the principal surviving reflection of that career. Buck later served four terms in the state General Assembly between 1909 and 1939 and about eight years on the North Carolina Park Commission. The property includes a stone spring house and an apple house, both built for keeping food, along with mortared stone walls and a family cemetery. The house had been unoccupied for many years before the nomination, and some doors and mantels had been removed.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the house is one of the largest rural residences of its period in Yancey County and retains much of its original interior, including unpainted pre-blight chestnut. It also holds local significance in industry because of Buck's role in the timbering of the Bald Mountain Boundary and his later service in the General Assembly and on the North Carolina Park Commission. The spring house and apple house are presented as surviving evidence of rural self-sufficiency.
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 01000420, listed April 25, 2001. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | NC 1395, 1.1 mi. SW of jct with NC 1401, Bald Mountain |
|---|---|
| County | Yancey County |
| Listed | April 25, 2001 |
| Reference number | 01000420 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | ca. 1904-1939 |
| Architectural style | Colonial Revival |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Industry |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Vacant for over three decades before the nomination, with some interior losses including stolen doors and mantels; described as in need of restoration. |
| Acreage | 11.4 |
| Coordinates | 35.96344, -82.47346 (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.
Noted as vacant in the nomination. Nomination documents can be decades old; current status may differ. If you are considering buying an empty listed property, read the due-diligence checklist.
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 01000420.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q20708610
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.