Alston-DeGraffenried Plantation


Alston-DeGraffenried Plantation or Alston-DeGraffenried House is a historic property located in Chatham County, North Carolina, near Pittsboro, North Carolina. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and includes a plantation house built between about 1810 and 1825, and its surrounding agricultural fields. The property was first listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and the listed area was increased in 1993. The house and the surrounding land are identified as a national historic district.
The district encompasses seven contributing buildings, two contributing sites, and one contributing structure. They include the main house, kitchen, pig boiling pit, four-seat privy, smokehouse, two-seat privy, corn crib, small barn, well shelter, and the surrounding landscape. The main house is a two-story, five bay, Georgian/ Federal style dwelling. It sits on a raised brick basement and has a tall hipped roof. It has a full-width Victorian porch and a number of one-story rear additions.
The house was built for Delia Alston by her father, Joseph John "Chatham Jack" Alston, at the time of Delia's marriage to John Baker DeGraffenried. It was one of six homes that Alston, one of the largest landowners and slaveowners in the area, built for his children. He also built nearby Aspen Hall.
The house was actually built by Joseph John Alston for his eldest son, John Jones Alston, who married Adaline Williams. It later passed to their daughter, Delia, upon the death of Adaline in 1885. Note that Delia was not the daughter of Chatham Jack as stated above; she was his granddaughter. Delia married John Baker DeGraffenriedt. The house and plantation became known as the "DeGraffenriedt" house, but it should be known as the "John Jones and Adaline Williams Alston" house.