Milford, also known as the Relfe-Grice-Sawyer House, is the oldest two-story brick home located near Camden, Camden County,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Its 1746 construction date is carved on a brick on the interior face of the north chimney & was confirmed by

dendrochronology Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, the study of climate and atmos ...

test in the 1990s. The formal two-story brick gabled structure, two bays deep and three bays wide, has interior end chimneys terminating in molded caps. The

brickwork Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called '' courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks may be differentiated from blocks by s ...

is of

Flemish bond Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and Mortar (masonry), mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called ''Course (architecture), courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks ...

with glazed headers, featuring three-course stringers of Flemish bond between the first and second stories and at the base of the gables. The use of one-to-three common bond in the brick of the south gable represents the earliest known example of this type of bonding in North Carolina. The north gable probably corresponds, but the entire north side is now concealed by

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

. Tumbling of the brick occurs along the rakes of the south gable. Tumbled bricks are usually placed at right angles to the gable slope, and the vertical placement of these bricks is, according to Thomas Waterman in ''The Early Architecture of North Carolina'', found in only one other structure, the Wallop house in

Accomack County, Virginia Accomack County is a United States county located in the eastern edge of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Together, Accomack and Northampton counties make up the Eastern Shore of Virginia, which in turn is part of the Delmarva Peninsula, bordered ...

. The west facade formerly functioned as the principal front, but the main entrance is located now in the central bay of the east facade. The doorway as well as the windows of the first story are ornamented only by flat arches serving as lintels. The windows of the second story, set quite close to the

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

, are completely plain. The

lintel A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented structural item. In the case of w ...

s are formed of

rowlocks A rowlock , sometimes spur (due to the similarity in shape and size), oarlock (USA) or gate, is a brace that attaches an oar to a boat. When a boat is rowed, the rowlock acts as a fulcrum for the oar. On ordinary rowing craft, the rowlocks ar ...

which originally surmounted the south gable windows are still visible, although the windows are now much smaller. The great plaster cove cornices, believed by Waterman to be unique in

colonial architecture Colonial architecture is an architectural style from a mother country that has been incorporated into the buildings of settlements or colonies in distant locations. Colonists frequently built settlements that synthesized the architecture of their ...

south of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, further enhance the monumentality of the house. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1972.

References

External links

* Historic American Buildings Survey in North Carolina Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina Colonial architecture in North Carolina Houses completed in 1746 Houses in Camden County, North Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Camden County, North Carolina {{CamdenCountyNC-NRHP-stub