Mill Farm Inn in Tryon has become the latest Polk County historic site to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The inn was designed by Chicago architect Russell Walcott and built in 1939 for owner Frances Nevins Williams, who formerly ran a boarding house for students at Harvard University and lived for a time in the Provence region of France. Her two-story inn in Tryon, built of blue granite, was intended to evoke the image of a French farmhouse, according to the inn's National Register nomination.

Mill Farm Inn

From 1939 to 1948, when she retired after a stroke, the innkeeper catered to many well-to-do literary and artistic visitors who frequented the Tryon area from New York and other northern cities.
The inn continued to operate under subsequent owners until 1961, when it was converted to a single-family dwelling.  In 1981, the property was purchased by Chip and Penny Kessler, who returned it to its original use as an inn. James Blanton and Gary Corn purchased the inn from the Kesslers in 2006. They started working on the Register nomination the following year.

Blanton and Corn hosted a dinner to celebrate the Register listing on May 16, 2009. "Beginning with background research in November of 2007, through the night of this dinner party, our thought was to provide an event allowing everyone to meet and talk about their experience of owning/maintaining one of these special properties," Corn and Blanton say in a commemorative booklet provided for each of their dinner guests.

Other Register-listed properties in Polk County are:

The Blockhouse Site, Tryon, built as a fort in approximately 1756 and later used as a tavern and an inn.
Green River Plantation, Rutherfordton, built as a Federal-style home in 1804 and now used as a bed and breakfast.
Polk County Courthouse, Columbus, built in 1859 and considered one of the finest Greek Revival courthouses in the state.
Blackberry Hill, Tryon, a Federal-style home built about 1825 near the Green River and relocated in 1936.
Seven Hearths, Tryon, built in approximately 1770 by William Mills, a noted Loyalist who fought at the Battle of Kings Mountain. Relocated seven miles by new owners in 1935.
Pine Crest Inn, Tryon, built in 1906 as a sanatorium for tuberculosis sufferers. Converted to an inn in 1917.
Church of the Transfiguration, Saluda, Carpenter gothic style church built in 1889. Serves the Episcopal Diocese of Western North Carolina.
Mills-Screven Plantation, Tryon, a large Greek Revival-style house built in the early 1800s overlooking the Pacolet River Valley.
J.G. Hughes House, Columbus, built in 1896 in the Queen Anne style for the president of the Polk County Telephone Co.
The Rev. Joshua D. Jones House, Mill Springs, built in 1875 by Jones, an African American minister and farmer.
The John Hiram Johnson House, Saluda, constructed in 1887 for Johnson and his new bride. Maintained as an example of simple pioneer living with no electricity or running water.
Saluda Main Street Historic District, incorporated in 1881, a few years after railroad tracks were extended into the area bringing visitors from Hendersonville, Asheville and beyond.
Friendly Hills, Tryon, English Tudor home Constructed between 1922 and 1924 for the Law family of Spartanburg, SC. 
Railway Clerks Mountain Home, Saluda, built about 1925 as a vacation home for members of the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks.
Ryder Hall, Saluda, a Colonial Revival-style structure built in 1906 to serve as a school for youngsters in the mountain region.
Charlton Leland House, Saluda, built as a private residence in 1880 by Dr. Edward Buncombe Goelet, Saluda's first doctor and druggist.
Bank of Tryon Building, Tryon, constructed in 1905 of brick with classical detailing, including stone quoins and Palladian windows.

Read more about preservation in Polk County here.

Renee Elder is Communications Director for Preservation North Carolina. Contact her at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it