Nash Road Exte.nison Hount vicinity(Check Ono) CONDITION ESCHIOE Stonewall takes its name from the heavy granite wall which borders the front la\vn along Falls Road extension This

i ' J, 'I I 'I,,'!} lUll fLI) 5TA-' :, Ui::PARTMfNl OF Tli INTEI~IOR

NAT I ON ALP A R I< S E R V I

(Type all entries complete applicable sections)

COlvl/,;10i'J:

S tone.l;vall AN OR HISTORIC:

Road Exte.nison

Hount vicinity

No-c t h Caro 1 ina

CI /\;) S I! I C 1\ T ; 0 H

CAT CGor\y

((.'llOc" Ono)

U Di~lricl Building

o Structure

rJ Object

o Public

Private

o Both

Olle or lIlorc aN

i J /\yicullulnl 0 Government

0 Comlnercia i 0 Industrial

[-~l Educa/lanoi 0 !vii Illary

l] E rdorln i,l/non! 0 Museum

OWNERSHIP

Public Acqui~;jtion:

o In Procoss

Being Considored

o Park

Privata Rosidence

o Roligious

o Scientific

I STATEI

North Cdr-olin;] COUNTY,

Nash FOR NPS USE ONLY

ST ATUS

(K] Occupi od

o Unoccupj ad

o Preservotion

in progress

o Transportali on

o Othor (Specify)

ACC ESSIIJL c TO THE PUDLI

Yos:

Restrictad

Unros tf icred

No

txJ Commonts

z p ..., (f! .( ;:r' ,;

/,

(Check Ono)

CONDITION

ESCHIOE

Stonewall takes its name from the heavy granite wall which borders the front la\vn along Falls Road extension This is composed of huge roughl

blocks of ashlar The house is set a oak grove There is a U-shaped driveway lined with oaks and rows on the eas tern side of the la\V11 and along the wall r'/:

The late Federal house is of brick laid in Flemish bond It is said to have been built about 1830 and, in the fashion of that time, the brick is ted red with very thin white lines ting the mortar joints T118 splayed lintels of the basement and first floor windows are also

ted white The t\I}'O main floors are raised over a full basement \vhich i3 entered from ground level There is a high hip roof with two simple chimneys ris out of each side wall. The five-bay north front, facini'; the roou, features a full Ionic portico This was constructed about 1915

, I

and replaced the inal superimposed pedimented portico which had dcteriotcl ted beyond The house received a new cornice at tT1e saine L ii)lC., Tile centrCll entr.:lnce is compo~:ied 0,;: a typ iC.:ll six-panel Federal door £rantc~cl by fluted IonJ~c pilasters. Above is a semi-circular lunette It is f J:'amec1 by an architrave decorated with ed paterae alternating with. incised triglyphs. The soffLe is paneled aad tILe fan has a delicate patt of leaded lights. At the rear or river front is a two-story wooden addit Eviucnce in the- bricki,vork indicates that originally there was a. portico on this facade as well. Traditionally, this was the front of the house Tll1:c; sccm::; to be correct as the doorw.::ty is than the one on the nor tIl front and more elabor.::ttely treated with a large rectangular leaded transom. Further support for this .vi~w is 'the fact' that th~' stair, ascends from this end of the central h~ll.

On the interior the house has a full north-south hall with two rOUlil:3 Oll side. The hall is divided into two unequal sections by a transverse elliplical arch which is framed by an architraW'e decorated 'with egg and dart moulding and rests of fluted Ionic pilasters The north hall is lOllg relatively narrow, and slightly off-center making the room to the east larger than the one on the west. The south hall contains the stair It is wider than, but not as long as the north hall. On either side rise tW'in elliptical stairs 'l:vhich meet at the second floor level above the al:ch dividing the halls below. This double stair features simple moulded 1";]-;1[;, :;crolled at the newels, .:lnd pl.:lin b.:llusters rectangular in section There II[C delicate fret brackets under each tre.:ld The soffits of the ,'c; taLrG are finished with rectangular panels The rest of the interior woodwork is as fine as the stair. The six-panel doors are framed by simple

and have paneled reveals The overdoors consist of cornices on console brack"ets. The windows are treated in the same way

paneled reveals and window seats Throughout the house there is pedestal dado with flat panels. It is enriched by a beaded astragal bond beneath the chair rail The Adam mantels of the principal rooms are extremely well executed. The most elaborate has coupled Ionic colonettes of a 100(;12 curious order with spiral reeded shafts. The center block features an incised curviliniar foliated design and the pilaster blocks have vases in relief The deep cornice shelf is decorated with a

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NA IIONAL PAI~I( St:r<VICE

"1/\ II

North Carolina

N COUNTY

Nash

7 beaded astragal band The overmantel is framed by fluted pilasters h have the same unusual Ionic capitals on the colonettes below Beneath the usual volutes and egg and dart moulding of the 'capital is a

compound of stylized lotus. There is a modillion cornice enriched by a beaded astragal. It does not break over the pilasters and is carried around the room This same cornice is employed in the

north hall and other rooms

PL:RIOD (CllOeh Ono or /\Jo,'o ilL' Appropriate)

[] Prc·Columbion I [J151h Contury

o 16th Conlury

o 17th Contury

SI-'LCIFIC DATE:(S) (1' Applicn/)/o Dnc1Known)

o 181h :Conlury

1911\ Cenlury

OF SIGNIFICANCE (ChOCK 000 Of' IHore CA8 ApprOPIIDte)

Abor ;ginol 0 Educeli on 0 Polilic(d

o Prohi:s.loric , j, 0 Enginooring 0 Roligion/Phi~ ,.

o His.loric 0 Indus Ir,y, , , I050phy, , \

0 Agr;culluro 0 Invontion 0 Scienco

~ LondscdPo; .~ , "! ,'0, Sculplure ,. Architectura

0 A'rt Architocfure 0 Socia IIHumon-

0 Commorce 0 Literature itarion

0 Communications 0 Milildry 0 Thealer

0 Conservation 0 Music 0 T ransportalion

EMENT OF SiGNIFICANCE

o 20th Contury

0 Urban Planning

0 Othor (Spoc,ily)

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Built on the banks of the Tar River about 1830 by Bennett Bunn, Stonewall was the center of a typical ante-bellum plantation. The bunn family had been long establishe,d, in Nash County before Berlnett Bunn the construction of his mansion ' His earliest ancestor was David Bunn, who came to Edgecombe County, North Carolina, from Nansemond County, ini.J. in 1752. By the time of the Revolution, the Bunn family was a s icant s~gment of the growing planter class in north eastern North Carolina. ]3urn in th~ late eighteenth century, Bennett Bunn became one of the larzes and most prosperous of the group During his early manhood, he began to assemble his lands through purchase and inheritance. dis earliest major !JCCluisition was Quarter Plantation which he inherited from his uncle Dunn in 1809. In 1814 Bennett Bunn inherited land from his father, Benjamin Bunn, on Stoney Creek and the Tar River. On this land Stonewall wus later built During the next fifteen years Bennett Bunn's agr

'II terpr~;3e;:> csnt~nued .tq"gro,,!: B~.'18?0 ~1e Vfa~ ~~e o~ the w~alt~ies~,!,_ .'_ pJLlnters Nash county' Indlcatlve of his great \'ve'alth is the face dIdL

ill' is kl1o\"n to have owned at least one hundred slaves The visible symbol o ellis affluence was StonevJall. It was built on so a scale and with sllch Ll sophistication of design and detail that on,ly a "few of the I'Llntn.tioIl houses of the state could surpass its elegance After Bennett Hunn's death in 1849, Stonewall, 'with one hundred acres was purchased by another rich planter, Richard J Harrison At his death in 1860 t~~ proper was inherited by his nephew, K H. Lewis. The abolition of :; I iIV('ry ilnd Lewis I fj deilth in 1868 brought the plantation to a final Lllrlli.Il)~~-p()LnL.M():IL or LIte (ann land \vllS sold Lo pay Lewis's debts and LlI1d around the house was reduced to thirty acres. Its role as the focal point of a vast plantation was, thus, effectively ended. Lewis's wife 1'('111;) incd at Stonewall until her death in 1916, when the property was ptl rC[I:uiC,d by 1\oc1<.y Mount Mills for fifteen thousand dollars At this ime the house needed many repairs and the present portico and rear extension \V'erc constructed. The house is presently owned ,by Rocky Mount Mills and iL.J tented

If. I·: • " I •• ': ~. "! '. ," ",I

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UNI (tD 5TI\-,-;3.S D P/\j\Tiv'\~Nr U iii lI~lEI'<IOI;; N/\ TIONAL PARK SEF<VICE

(Continuation Sheet)

8. Waterman in his book said, "In the great, brick, Lewis house near Rocky Mount, is a double-curved sta , with detail as ine as that of the Montmorenci stair-way," The superb stair and especially the erudite treatment of the overdoors, window surrounds, and the fine mantels indicate the presenc of a master craftsman whose work is not only of the finest in the state but among the best in the nation. This high standard may also observed outside in the beautiful romantic planting and the stone wall which cannot be the result of pure chance, but are the remains of a s6phisticated landscape design.

I j '\ j 1",1 __ 1 {I I l ,j I!- 11'1 I 1-', /\ IlJr\

NATIONA L PAi\!< S,~f< VI North Carolina

all ontrloll)

The. Univers of North Carolina Press, 1947

John.':>on Guin G. Cbt:l Hill

N~sll Records Nash County Courthouse, Nashville North Carolina (Subgroups Deeds, Wills, Estate Papers, CensuR Reports)

Nash Coun Records North Carolina.

State Department of Archives and His Raleigh, (Subgroups: Deeds, Wills Estate Papers, Census

I~\'I

I'l E

t

29 "

CODE COUNTY:

CODL: COUNTY:

~orth Carolina State :JTFlC T AND f'JUMIJER:

Jones Street

J\:~ the dcs!ena(cd S(ole Linison Officer tor the Nu­

tion;l1 ilisloric Preservation Acl of 1()(i6 (Puulic I,uw

ill)-tlC)::;), I hereby lIo01ll1Ol[t' thi:; properly for inclwlion

ill (Ill' t'intionul l\lfl',ister llnd cnrtifytlwl it hi's been

evnlttnl'cd uccording to th-e crileria find p'rocedures set

forth by tlw Nilt iOllal Park Service, 1'hc recommended

level of significnnce of this nomination is:

National [] Stale [xl Local 0

'l'ilk

Department of Archives

I hercby ccrtify thot this properly is included in the

NlIliollol i\'cl',wt.cr.

, I ~"

Chief, OW eo of ArcheolOGY and Historic Preservation

, , I

Date

NfTEST:

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Stonewall (lewis house; Little Falls PJantation)

ialJs :1ccky

Road Extension Mount vicinity

'~('unty }V[BP of Nash County _'iorth en.rol ina State' Highway Commission

.:)cale: 1"/2 miles J anuClry 1, 1970

minutes 57'

seconcis 26"

T,onf:i t.ud e degrees minutes

77° 48'

- '''''35·50'

S8CC1nas 29"

!'Or. 4'Xl

fNASH 260) \EDGECOM~f 1911 LWILS.ON 19 J ...........

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CEHTERUN£ Of P,1'VXTIC (

ftlGKl Of WAY 1$ HAS<H-

30'00