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veranda was covered, and a portico and 4 Doric columns were added. A rear 2-story ell was built around 1865. The L-shaped rear porch was added shortly after the ell and was later screened in the 1950s. The overall floor plan from 1865 maintains its historic integrity and therefore “the evo- lution of the house is still evident.” In the 1960s, double columns were replaced by long square American Federal-style columns, the upper porch was replaced by a balcony, the frame floor and steps of the original south front entrance were replaced with brick, and the 1865-1930 kitchen’s chimney was rebuilt. There are two historic outbuildings; the smoke house and the corncrib which date from the mid-nineteenth century. In addition to the buildings, the historic landscape and setting have been preserved including an impressive allee of boxwoods that lead to the house and are believed to have been planted in before the Civil War. Oakforest is sited on approximately seven acres which are a residual parcel of the original 200- acre tract deeded to John Smith by his father, Benjamin in 1803. John Smith is responsible for building the house in the Federal style and for enlarging it in the Greek Revival style. Smith died in 1843 and Oakforest passed to his daughter Elizabeth and her husband, W.D. Jones. The house has remained in the family throughout its history. In 1981 Speed and Barbara Massenburg became the sixth generation to live in the house and seventh to live on the land. Barbara and her children continue to care for the house since Speed’s passing in 2011. The house was designated as a local historic landmark in 2008. The house is also individually listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Purefoy-Chappell House, circa 1838 The Purefoy-Chappell House was desig- nated a local historic landmark and listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2008. The house consists of 4 major sections; a circa 1838 one-and-a-half sto- ry side-gable main block with a rear shed wing; a circa 1895 two-story, side-gable addition built onto the south gable end of the original house; a two-room side- gable kitchen/dining building that dates to 1838, and 1895 addition. A one-story
hyphen connects the kitchen/dining building to the 1895 addition and contains the 1974 “mod- ern” kitchen. That is a complicated explanation for a wonderful house. The house has a stone foundation. Most of the exterior is covered by weatherboards while the kitchen/dining building has board-and-batten siding. The original house faced the road that ran north from Raleigh in Forestville and had three rooms. The large main room had three large nine-over-nine windows, one facing south and two flanking the front door that faced west and opened onto a roofed porch. Two smaller windows, six-over- six, flanked the fireplace with plain mantel on the north side of the room. Many of the original
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