Ruffin-hill House

07.24.2016 (G. Kueber)

From the National Register nomination:

One of the most ornate and best-preserved eclectic late nineteenth century houses in Hillsborough, this I-house has ornate Italianate- and Eastlake-style millwork including segmental-arched two-over-two wood-sash windows with peaked surrounds, bracketed eaves, decoratively-sawn round vents in the gables, and chamfered porch posts with elaborate brackets. The house is three bays wide and single-pile with a two-story gabled ell at the left rear (northwest). On the façade, the central bay under the gable project slightly. It has plain weatherboards, a slate roof, two interior brick chimneys, and a steeply-pitched dormer on the façade. There are two-over-two wood-sash windows throughout, with full-height, paired two-light doors on the first-floor façade. The central entrance, a double-leaf one-light-over-one-panel door, has a peaked surround and is sheltered by a near-full-width, hip-roofed porch that follows the contour of the façade and is supported by chamfered posts with sawn brackets. Double-leaf entrances in each gable end are sheltered by steeply-pitched, shed-roofed porches supported by chamfered posts with diagonal braces and turned balustrades. There is a series of one- and two-story additions to the right (east) of the rear ell and a one-story, shed-roofed wing at the rear (north) of the ell. Thomas Ruffin, Jr. and his wife, Mary built this house around 1877-1878 near the site of the Priestly Mangum House, which had burned. The entire tract of land consisted of 47-1/2 acres and was occupied for many years by their daughter, Mary Ruffin Hill and her husband Thomas Hill. In 1914, it was conveyed to A.S. Mitchell, who subdivided the land. In 1965, the house and 2.96 acres were conveyed to Col. and Mrs. Jacob Moon.