Gate, Orton, Brunswick County, North Carolina

Orton (Brunswick County, N.C.)

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Item information

Repository:: Preservation North Carolina
Collection:: Preservation North Carolina Historic Architecture Slide Collection, 1965-2005 (PNC slides) held by Preservation North Carolina
Note field:: Not all materials from the physical collection may have been scanned. Images may have been enhanced for web access.
Rights:: Reproduction and use of this material requires permission from Preservation North Carolina. For general information see the Preservation North Carolina website (http://www.presnc.org).
RightsStatements.org:: In Copyright
For more information:
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0
Funding:: Digitization of this image was partially supported with federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funds made possible through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and administered by the State Library of North Carolina, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources.

Architect:: Murchison, Kenneth M. more info on Murchison, Kenneth M.
Landscape architect:: Sturtevant, Robert Swann more info on Sturtevant, Robert Swann, landscape architect

Provenance note:: The brick house of Roger Moore, first owner, is believed to be the core of the present structure. The house was owned by Benjamin Smith (Governor of North Carolina) in the early nineteenth century, and by Dr. Frederick Jones Hill in 1826.
Architectural note:: The Doric porticoes added by Dr. Hill in the mid-nineteenth century are rare for domestic structures in North Carolina, and the house is considered an icon of Old South architecture.
Historical note:: Orton is the only surviving plantation along the Lower Cape Fear River, and initially produced naval stores and rice. The house was renovated as a hunting retreat by Kenneth Murchison Sr. after the Civil War. The Colonial Revival wings were added after Murchison's death during a later renovation by his daughter, Loula Murchison Sprunt, her husband, James Sprunt (civic leader and historian), and his son Kenneth M. Murchison Jr. (architect). The rice fields have been transformed into a bird refuge and the grounds include gardens designed by Robert Swann Sturtevant. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Location:: Brunswick County (N.C.)
Subjects:: Historic buildings
Houses
National Register of Historic Places
Plantation houses