HPC 013002 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

NP5 Fmm 10 -900 -a (Rev.8.86) OMB Appnyvd Na I024 -0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places - Continuation Sheet Holden - Roberts Farm Section number 7 _ Page 1 Orange County, NC GENERAL DESCRIPTION: Encompassing sixty - eight - and seven - tenths acres of fields and woodlands in Eno Township of Orange County, North Carolina and situated approximately three miles east of the town of Hillsborough, the Holden - Roberts Farm, known today as Rolling Acres Farm, contains a rare Reconstruction -period I -house and a largely intact grouping of agricultural outbuildings constructed at various times from 1900 through 1950. Located in the proposed St. Mary's Road Historic District north of State Route 1002 (St. Mary's Road) and approximately one mile east of State Route 1538 (New Sharon Road), the farm takes the shape of an irregular polygon. The west boundary travels in a straight line through woodlands, the north and east boundaries angle along a subdivision road and a fence line, and the jagged south boundary follows fence lines and a farm lane. In the north - central sector, the focal point of the farm is a handsome and well - preserved I -house with modest Greek Revival detailing that was built in 1873 and 1874 for Addison Holden, half - brother of North Carolina's Reconstruction Governor, William Woods Holden. One of a very. few dwellings built during Reconstruction in Orange County, the farmhouse retains many original architectural details, and later -made additions and renovations have been sensitive and careful. To replace a detached kitchen, Addison Holden enclosed the northern two-thirds of a large porch on the east elevation as a kitchen and parlor around 1900. At the same time, he extended a shallow porch from the east elevation of the enclosure and added a small frame structure at the north end. About 1930, George Cain Roberts, who purchased the farm from Holden in 1908, installed wood - composition wall board in the north parlor of the original block, added a one -story frame wing to the north facade, remodeled the kitchen, and installed Craftsman -style piers and posts on the south sector of the east - facing 1873 -1874 porch. No other significant additions or alterations were made until ca. 1970 when the current owners, Drs. Nels and Nancy Anderson, installed a bathroom in a portion of the ca. 1900 porch, replaced a front porch post and rotted decking on all porches, and modernized the wing with sheetrock walls, new bathroom fixtures, and a small kitchenette. Eight outbuildings also contribute to the historic character of the farm. Addison Holden constructed a granary southeast of the farmhouse ca. 1900. Cain Roberts erected three frame chicken houses ca. 1910; two are northwest and one is northeast of the farmhouse. In addition, Roberts added a brick shed - roofed garden house ca. 1915 north of the farmhouse, and an equipment shed ca. 1930 south of the farmhouse along the lane. After Roberts's death, his widow, Carrie, leased the farm to Jerome "Bud" Garrard who, with his sons "Vic" and "Julian," constructed two pole barns ca. 1950 south of the farmhouse near the lane. Six additional outbuildings reflect agricultural uses but are noncontributing. A frame chicken house northwest of the farmhouse, and a small frame building near the eastern boundary of the