Rose Hill CITY OR TOWN
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form! 0·2,00 UNIT ED 5T AT E5 DE PARTMENT Or: TH E INT ERI OR STATE: (Rev, 6 :7'2) NATIONAL PARK S~RVICE IJorth Carolina COUI~TV: NATI N GI Camvell FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY DATE (Type all entries - complete applicable sections) U9S 158 at intersection wtth N C. 150 CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: Second The CODE Caswell CATEGORY ACC ESSI BL E ClWNER5HIP ST ATtiS (Check One) TO THE PUBliC o District Qg Building o Public Public Acquisition: lXl Occupied Yes: Res Iri cted o In Process 0 Unoccupied 0 . 0 Being Considered, 0 Unrestricted o Preservation work in progress CZl No -------.~------------ o Tronsportation o Commer.ts Private Residence o Other (Specify) o Educational o Militory ReligiolJs o Entertoinm>:!nt o Museum Sci>'lntific Nrs. J .. 1~Til1iamson Brown w STREE -,- AND NUIV1.'3 ER: Rose Hill CITY OR TOWN:, l:OU RTHOUSE, RE GISTRY 0 F DEEDS, ETC: Caswell County Courthouse IST~EET AND "'UMBER: t. ___________________________________ CITY OR TOWN: in '7 -\ ::0 11 -< 0 DATE OF SURVEY: o Federal [J State County o Local o 7' AJ t)EPOSITORY FOR SURVEY RECORDS: C Z ~ ~ rn Ic ::0 (/I n1 [s-rREET AN_D__ N_,l_IM __ B_E_R_"_" ______________________________________-. __ o z r Imy OR TOWN, .. I5TA~E' CODE -< (Check One) o Excellent. o Good o Fair o De ted oro ted o Ruins 0 Unexposed CONDITION (Chec/( One) (Check One) []l Altered o Unaltered o Moved CRI Original Site DESCRIBE THE PR~SENT AND ORIGINAL (if known) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE Rose Hill, set at the end of a drive lined with boxwood and cedars, is a Federal period house composed of two sections joined by a breezeway Which is now enclosed The main block, which faces north, is a two-story frame structlrre cOimred with beaded weatherboards, three bays wide and two deep, carrying a gable roof wi th boxed eaves and a dentil cornice. A doub:Le shoulder exterior end chimney occurs at either end. Adjoining. the main block to the west is a secondary structure.. This section is one bay wide and one bay deep and carries a gable roof with boxed eaves A single shoulder exterior end chimney occurs on the west end It qontains a single room, and acce ss is gaine d from the bree zeway. On the eas t side of the mai block is a one -story frame addition, two bays wide and one deep, ~vi th a gable roof, and to the rear is a shed roof porch COVEring two of the three bays 0 Both of these addi tions are comparatively recent. The front entrance, in the center bay of the main block, has a molded archi trave _ Covering the entrance is an open-pediment hood ~ ~vhich appears to be a twentieth century addition. The entrance to the smaller section m has flanking, molded panel pilasters supporting a fanlight tvi th an elegant, m radiating geometric design.. The door itself has six raised panels. Fenes tration is generally consistent, Axhibiting dimuni tion from nine-over-nine sa.sh to nine-over-six sash The ~vindow surrounds are molded and the second story windows have thick molded sills. The interior of the main block follows a hall-and'-parlor plan, ~vith th entrance opening into the main room. Both the main room and parlor have c: been reworked; they haVB molded' archi traves and a flat board baseboard. (") The mantel in the main room is a curious three-part one with swelling pilas tars and frieze. In the parlor is a simple pilastered mantel of mid-nine -f teenth century type G a An enclosed stair ascends from the right front corner of the main room to tJhat is nmv a small hall on the se cond floor. The stain,Tell and the second floor have been retvorked 'Ihe upper floor has had a number of partitions relocated, creating three rooms and a bath out of what appears ini tially to have been two rooms. Early, hand-hewn flat-paneled v>Tainscot occurs in various places., and the large west room contains a simple mantel with a beaded architrave) a single flat panel over the opening.; these are framed by a molded back band beneath a molded shelf. Door types on both floors vary) but a number of early flat-paneled doors remain. The single -room smaller addition is elaborately finished in a late Federal style with much fine detail, strikingly similar to the interiorwor1 at nearby Dongola (circa 1835-1838). The windolJT and door surrounds ha ve a. ~\Tic1e) symmetrically molded architrave bearing corner blocks tvi th a stylized flower motif. The tvainscot consists of a single rmv Q.f flat panels topped by a wide, molded chair rail with alternating gouged fluting and sunburst motifs. The room features a fine three-part marbleized mantel of Adamesque design Flanking, freestanding fluted colonnettes ljvith anthemion motif capi tals support an elaborately tvorke d entablature. The architrave has gougelPTOrk and sunburst patterns identical to that on the chair rail. The ~vide frieze has a central flat panal 1rTi th a classical urn motif -' flanked bY 1 Form lO·300a UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR STATE (July 1969) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE North Carolina -COUNTY CasT!1Tell FOR NPS USE ONLY -.------1 ENTRY NUMBER DATE (Continuation Sheet) (Number all entries) 7. festoons on the frieze; the paneled end blocks have anthemion motifs. The molded cornice shelf is embellished with a row of heavy dentil molding. Particularly interesting is the wallpaper, believed to be original, coptaining a brightly colored bouquet of fruit pattern with floral bands at the top and bottom of the paper. The Woven carpet, bearing a large-scale floral design, is thought to be contemporary ~vi th the wallpaper. At the rear of the house is a steep hip-roof smokehouse, recently covered with German siding, and an adjacent garage of the same material PERIOD (Check One arMora as Appropriate) o Pre-Cr:.lumbian: o 16th Century o 18th Century o 20th Century o 15th Century o 17th Century Q9 19th Century SP E C I FI C D A T E( S) (If Applicable and Known) 1802, ca. 1835 AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE (Check One or More as Appropriate) AboT iginol 0 Educeti on rn Political 0 Urban Planning 0 Prehi storie 0 Engineering 0 Religion/Phi. 0 Other (Specify) 0 Historic 0 I ndus try losophy 0 Agriculture 0 Invention 0 Science Q9 Arch; tecture 0 Landscape 0 Sculpture 0 Art Archi fecture 0 Socia I/Human- 0 Commerce 0 Literature iladan 0 Communicati cns 0 Military 0 Theater 0 Conservotion. 0 Music 0 Tronsportation STATEMENT OF SiGNIFICANCE' Rose Hill was the home of Bedford Brown during his career as one of Caswell County's best known statesmen. It is a handsome early Federal house to vvhich was added an elaborate late Federal parlor; of particular significance is the remarkably c 0m.Ple te sur vi val of marblei zed v-Toodwork, wallpaper, and carpet, all believed to be original. Rose Hill stands prominently on the Yanceyville-Greensboro Road at Brown I s Store, or Locust Hill as the community became knotm. in the 13408 u IJocust Hill has "safeguarded a small amount of Nort~ Carolina history" :-J . since the late eighteenth century when John Brov-m settled here on the headwaters of Country Line Creek in western Caswell County. 1- Rose Hill was probably built in 1802 (as said to be recorded on a chimney brick) by fJethro Brm,m (1776-1829). Jethro livas a prosperous z planter and tavern keeper v-Fhose tavern was the meeting place in the early nine teenth century of a society "constituted for intellectual improvement, II I one of the two such organizations in the county. His son, Bedford, Hho lJa ... educated at the University of North Carolina, entered politics at the age cf t . tljrenty in 1815 t'Then he was elected to the House of Commons from Cas~Tell (..Ii County. In 1817, follovving the Bedford's marriage, Jethro deeded to him I the. "seat lately occupied bi the said Jethro BroTNTI." The plantation, lo cated on Moon's Creek, contained 502 acres and the handsome Federal house Bedford Brown occupied it upon re turning from a wedding t.rip to England and Scotland, financed by his father, with his bride Mary Lumpkin Glenn. Dlrring his political career, which spanned fifty-five years, Bedford Brov-ffi _became one of the best ImOljlTn leaders of the Democratic Party in the South. He served in the North Carolina legislature and distinguished himself in the United States Senate from 1829 to 1840 Follmving a poli tical defeat in 1842, Brov-m and his family sold Rose Hill in 1844 and left North Carolina, liVing for short periods in Hissouri, Virginia, and Maryland.. In 1855 he returned to North Carolina, re-entered political life, and repuTchased Rose Hill, where he remained until his death in 18700 Brown's political leadership ~vas founded on his lifelong devotion to two conflicting principles: those of state rights and allegiance to the Union The greatest battle of his poli tical career 1jvas fought in 1860 and 1861, 1j\Thenhe attempted·:to reconcile the differences behveen North and South Hhile serving in the North Carolina Senate. His moderate, cO!lciliatory approach, however, Has unable to prevent the disruption of the Union. L---__---:The house i.s TImv at-med by members of the BrOli>ffi family<. ___.:..-_~ ___ ~ I j.w I Stokes, survey Ii by Neil Pearson, consultant f Castvell County Records, Caswell County Courthouse -' Yanceyville J North Car Office of the Register of Deeds (Subgroups: Deeds, 1J1Tills) Casv.rell County Records, Division of Archives and History, Raleigh, North I Carolina (Subgroups: Deeds, 1J1Tills).