Landers-Cain House, 915 Pleasant Hill Road, Lawrenceville

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS GA,68-LAWVI,2-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The Landers-Cain House is a representative example of an "I" house type with Greek Revival style architectural elements. The exact date of construction has not been determined, but archival and deed research places it between and In the land lot in which the house was located was drawn by Humphrey D. Landers, who moved there between and Construction details are consistent with these dates. Many of the early settlers to the Georgia Piedmont, after the cession of these lands by the Creek and Cherokee, migrated from North and South Carolina. The house is located at the intersection of Beaver Ruin Creek and Pleasant Hill Road, one of the earliest crossroads in Gwinnett County and an important location in the county's history.

Eli Landers, the son of the builder of the house, was a Confederate soldier whose letters have recently been published. The Cain family, who also lived in the house for several generations, also were important founders of the area; many Cain family members are interred nearby at Sweetwater Creek cemetery. Landers-Cain House (Pound House) HABS No. GA-2304 (Page 2) Part I. Physical Description The Landers-Cain House is a vernacular "I" type with elements of the Greek Revival style. The rectangular plan consists of two rooms over two rooms divided by a central hall. Originally, the kitchen, or cook house, was separated from the main house by an open breezeway. Construction is heavy timber frame with hewn beams and circular sawn sleepers. Partially visible clapboard siding covers the exterior.

The side gabled roof is constructed without a ridge beam. Stone piers support the original part of the house, and the two gable end chimneys are also stone. A small brick cookstove type chimney protrudes above the interior roof slope of the rear ell. This ell has a gabled end and a recessed/ shed roofed wraparound porch. Exterior: Stylistic details are few. They include a Greek Revival style transom and sidelights around the front door. This six panel door is in the "cross and open Bible" configuration. Also known as the "Christian" door, this type of paneled door is found in both vernacular and high style houses of this period from Georgia through the Carolinas, Virginia, and Maryland. Several interior doors are also of this type.

Boxed eave/cornice returns on both gable ends are the only other decorative features of this simple but well-proportioned house. The front fenestration is symmetrical, with larger windows on the first floor and smaller windows on the second floor. All of the windows in the house, both replacement and original, are 6 pane over 6 pane double hung windows. Each stone chimney has a large double hung 6 pane over 6 pane window on either side on both the first and second floors. There is only one window on the back of the house, on the second floor. Whether a second window had never existed or had existed and been removed could not be determined. The roof of the rear ell intersects the back wall of the house close to the logical location of a second window.

Interior: The original interior floor plan consists of two downstairs rooms, each measuring approximately 15 x 17 feet; they are separated by a central hallway measuring 9 x 17 feet. The second floor plan duplicates the first, with the exception of a low ceiling. The original doors on the first floor are 6 panel cross and open Bible types. Most of the original hardware is gone, except for one rim lock on a door in the east downstairs room. Second floor doors are simple board and batten construction without locking mechanisms. Only one mantel remains in the house; it has been altered. All fireplaces have been blocked or covered over. At one time, there was a freestanding wood burning stove in the cook house. Most of the downstairs walls have some type of wall covering or paneling.

Original circular sawn wide pine paneling is visible inside the added closet in the east room. The floor of this same closet reveals 6 inch wide pine flooring. The sou th room floor is covered in 3 inch wide pine, and the flooring in the former breezeway is 5 inch pine. The second floor sleeping rooms and hall have wide pine boards. The ceiling construction is board and batten. Finally, the turned balustrade is a simple Victorian style. Landers-Cain House (Pound House) HABS No. GA-2304 (Page 3) Interior Changes and Additions: Changes made between and the present include the addition of a room on the south side adjacent to the breezeway and kitchen. Also, the breezeway has been enclosed, and portions of the central hall and back porch were enclosed for a bathroom.

Closets were added to the east downstairs room by partitioning the room and enclosing more of the back porch adjacent to the bathroom addition. All of the first floor wide pine board walls and ceilings have been covered with a variety of wall coverings. An enclosed "tight winder" staircase, which was entered from the central hall, has been reconfigured so that access to this staircase is from the west room. One-half of a pair of single paneled doors typical of early "I" houses has been used to patch the exterior rear wall at the bottom of the stairs. This suggests that the front door may have consisted of two of these single paneled doors rather than the existing one door. Single windows in the front downstairs rooms have been replaced with paired double hung windows with sash weights.

Only one mantel and fireplace remains downstairs, and it has been considerably altered. The second floor sleeping area is divided into two rooms with a central hall. This hall has been partitioned to provide a closet that can be entered from either of the bedrooms. Old newspapers (dated were initially used to cover the wide board walls. Several layers of wallpaper and other types of covering were later added to this base. Most of these later coverings have been removed from the upstairs west bedroom, exposing the old newspapers. A turned newel post and balustrade may have been added to the staircase in the upstairs hall at the time the sleeping area was wallpapered. There is no evidence of fireplaces or mantels in either bedroom.

Exterior Changes and Additions: Changes to the exterior include the replacement of the original hipped roof front porch with a shed roof. Original porch flooring and stairs have been replaced with concrete. Both aluminum siding and "permastone" siding cover the original clapboard walls. The west side kitchen addition has altered the rear roof line. The L-shaped porch, which once wrapped around the rear of the house, the breezeway, and the old cook house, has been partially enclosed (as mentioned above), and the flooring has been partially replaced with cement. A stone-lined well located on this porch next to the cook house is still in its original location; however, a concrete pipe has replaced the frame above-ground structure. Part II.

Historical Context The Landers-Cain House is located in Gwinnett County, Georgia, in Land Lot The current address is 915 Pleasant Hill Road in the town of Lawrenceville. At one time, the house faced the old Atlanta to Athens Road, which ran between the house and the barn. The intersection of this road with Beaver Ruin Creek is one of the earliest crossroads in the county (Garrow et al. The identity of the first builder or occupant of the house is unknown, but traditionally the property has been known as the Humphrey D. Landers place.

Landers drew this lot in and moved there between and After initial settlement, this property developed into a prosperous farm that survived the Civil War in the capable hands of Susan Landers, the widow of Humphrey Landers, Landers-Cain House (Pound House) HABS No. GA-2304 (Page 4) who had died in Letters written by Susan's son Eli during the Civil War provide insight into the hardships of both the war and everyday life during this difficult time (Roberson Papers The land continued to be farmed by the Landers family until the first decade of the twentieth century, when L. E. "Luke" Cain secured the property. His family continued the agricultural tradition until the mid when his son Leonard Cain and Leonard's wife Winney sold the main house and 10 acres of land to Elton and Lucille Pound.

The remainder of the property was subdivided (Garrow et al. Development pressure has crept northward from Atlanta into the northern counties. Pleasant Hill Road, located about 100 feet from the east side of the Landers-Cain House, is now multilaned and heavily traveled. From Interstate 85 eastward to this site, a continuous mix of new commercial and residential development has occurred. Residential development began soon after the property was subdivided; most buildings are moderate, brick ranch type houses typical of the Commercial development is more recent and consists of strip malls and convenience stores. Except for the nearby Sweetwater Creek Baptist Church and its associated cemetery, very little remains of this area's former historic, agricultural character. Part III.

Sources Garrow, Patrick H., Tad Britt, and Jeffrey L. Holland Phase II Archaeological Testing of the Landers-Pound House Site (Site Located within the Pleasant Hill Road Widening Project (Task Gwinnett County, Georgia. Garrow & Associates, Inc., Atlanta. Submitted to Piedmont Olsen Hensley, Atlanta. Roberson Papers Material related to Eli Landers in the possession of Elizabeth Roberson, Williamston, North Carolina. Part IV. Organization Ellen B. Ehrenhard Senior Preservation Planner GARROW & ASSOCIATES, INC. March Project Proposed Pleasant Hill Road Widening Project (Gwinnett County Project No. Gwinnett County, Georgia) Landers-Cain House (Pound House) HABS No.

GA-2304 (Page 5) FL-oo~ -N- J r- - 1 Ollt\411'-lAI- i-----1 Qt WIH-&.-~ :I I I KITCHe:foJ I I I l A~c:>l'"t"ION I~, 7( IS I J Re:e I L---SHAPE:P Po Re' ' Kl -reM E.N I ( PA~11 AL- ~~Cl.-O~l!!P) rI qt. '3 I I ) ( 2 7 I IJREE.t.li:WA"'f I I I I __ I (EMGLOSE"P) i ....i.--- ~~ c1.-ose-r . I UP-+ IST OC>P f '\ I I l ._, P~~~oP. I<~:~ "- ~ L_,__L,A L: I I PO~C.H _, __J I I ~ , . ')( : Landers-Cain House (Pound House) HABS No. GA-2304 (Page 6) l-A"11/~R?- CAIN 1-lOUSE: (Pou....i9 House) S~CO~t'/ PL-Af.J I -N- r- - - --- -1 I I F I R $ T FL- OCI~ L- - - - - - ., J_ - - - - ~-1 I I I I I I I I SE"P ROO""' 15 I ) < , . , I I Pow,.. HA\...\... 8EPROON\ 1,5 1 ')( 11. l l I - I I - I Landers-Cain House (Pound House) HABS No. GA-2304 (Page 7) 1.- ... N'Oe R~ - C.AIJ..l HOO~S.

( PoOtJP HOU~~) I -N- F\ Fi..oo~ Pt-Al-1 I Pollrc'4 PICl.O-SJiP) ) I I I I I I Landers-Cain House (Pound House) HABS No. GA-2304 (Page 8) 1-AIJ~~R?- CAIN HOOS~ (Poc.JtJ9 HO"se) I -N- SECo>jJ? oo~ AJJC11...e:? PL-A.t.J I r- -- - - - - - - - - - ..I '-- - - - - - - -, I L- z ~-1 I J: I I I 6~pf\OOM. 15. )( l"T 1 I 8EP Ro o ~s'ic I "T' M~ l I~ P wl4 ~ HA~I- I I T I - J