116 North Person Street
Raleigh, NC, USA

National Register of Historic Places - Marshall-Harris-Richardson House

Statement of Significance:

The Marshall-Harris-Richardson House is a prime example of late Victorian architecture. Its significance lies in part in its variety of decorative detail, representing the essence of the Queen Anne period of Victorian architecture in Raleigh. The interior is an equally outstanding example of the early Colonial Revival style, which was coming into vogue in 1900. The house was built by local businessman Joel Marshall, who lived in the house until his death in 1907. His family occupied the house until 1919 when William Clinton Harris purchased the dwelling. Harris was first a municipal judge and later a county judge whose career spanned the period from 1917 until 1947. He initiated an informal probation system which was formally adopted by the State Legislature in 1937 when a state probation system was formed. The house, formerly located at 607 North Blount Street, was at the north end of Raleigh's elite neighborhood of industrialists, government officials, doctors, lawyers, college professors and business- men. The house was moved in 1985 to 116 North Person Street, six blocks away, where it is now sited just outside the Oakwood Historic District (N.R.), behind the Governor's Mansion (N.R.), on a block of similar turn-of-the-century dwellings. The house remains one of the most intact high Victorian style houses still standing in the city.