Agenda 02-03-2026; 8-i - National Register Recommendation for Moorefields

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42 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service/National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No.1024-0018 Moorefields (Additional Documentation) Orange County, N.C. Name of Property County and State of small yeoman farms" that "with very rare exceptions...were built without much emphasis on formal architectural fashion but were rather simple, utilitarian structures devoid of pretension."115 Early construction(both domestic and agricultural) in the Piedmont frontier in the mid-to late 18th century largely derived from forms familiar to Anglo-Americans in the Chesapeake region of Virginia and Maryland. These settlers preferred hewn wood-frame construction because the material was plentiful and the techniques did not require artisanal skill or many laborers to accomplish. Both the forms and practice of wood-frame construction followed these settlers from the coastal regions into the interior. Wood-frame construction was most often exemplified by simple one- or two-room, one-story, log structures.116 In fact, "among the farm buildings of the Piedmont and mountain counties, log construction dominated at every economic level from the late 18th century through the mid-19th century."117 However, the Piedmont in the late colonial period did have a few examples of well-designed wood-frame and brick buildings among its wealthier citizens. The refined examples of Early Republic buildings were often the houses of planters and merchants, one- or two-story "frame dwellings with gable or gambrel roofs, neatly finished with brick chimneys, weatherboard walls, and simple paneling," which could concisely describe the house at Moorefields.118 Hillsborough, in particular, is a locus of conservatively-design but well-built buildings from the late 18th century onwards because the town attracted several regional artisans who created "relatively unpretentious architecture with only occasional gestures at grandeur or fashion."119 The Nash-Hooper House on West Tryon Street in Hillsborough is one such example, dating to 1772. Rising two stories atop a raised basement, the oak-frame structure with weatherboard siding is capped in a side gable roof by two brick end chimneys. Its original rectangular form is three bays wide; an addition was added to the rear in 1819, giving the house its present L-shaped plan. The entrance lies in center bay of the symmetrical fagade, flanked by sash windows. The first story is covered by a full-width, one-story wooden porch with a hipped roof that is thought to date to the late 19th century. Until 1908, the kitchen was a detached frame building immediately east of the house. Despite its center-hall plan, the Nash-Hooper House shares similarities with Moorefields, particularly in its materials and structure. Alfred Moore would have been familiar with the house, as it had been built by his brother-in-law, Francis Nash. Presumably Moore also knew is later owner, William Hooper, who was a lawyer, a politician, and a Wilmingtonian until moving to Hillsborough permanently in 1782, where he remained until his death in 1790.120 Heartsease [OR0009], constructed circa 1786 on Lot 62 in Hillsborough, is another such "unpretentious"house.121 Likely built by Sterling Harris,who purchased the lot in 1786,the oldest part of the additive building is the one-and-a-half-story central block. With a hall-parlor plan, Heartease had only two rooms on the main level plus the attic. Originally, the entrance was likely centered in the fagade's three bays, creating a symmetrical appearance, but the entry was later relocated to the easternmost bay. This off-centered entrance is not the only similarity Heartsease shares with Moorefields:both are three bays wide;have molded weatherboards, except for the area under the porch, in which the wide sheathing is flush;122 and were built upon brick piers.123 Section 8 page 40