History The Governor Bickett House, built around 1897 for Dr. W. H. Nicholson, is a two-story frame structure with a square tower reflecting a combination of the Italianate and Queen Anne styles. It was sold to Thomas Bickett in 1901, a lawyer who served as governor of North Carolina from 1917 to 1921. Bickett and his wife, Fannie Yarborough Bickett, the daughter of Col. William H. Yarborough, retained title to the home until 1919. George Taylor, a lumberman, purchased the home and 3-1/2 acres from the Bicketts in 1919 and lived there for fifty-five years. The house was sold to Louisburg College in 1974 and served as the home for the Louisburg College president until it was recently purchased by Buddy and Susan Lewis. Architecture The asymmetrical house is covered with German siding and has interior chimneys, a three-story tower attached to the center bay and a two-story five-sided, clipped bay on the front elevation. The porch is attached to the south side of the clipped bay and extends southward across the front facade. Slender chamfered posts with brackets and pendants support a narrow paneled frieze.
The Italianate treatment of the central entrance consists of a two-leaf door with etched glass within round, arched glass panes above single molded panels. Other significant exterior features include the rectangular molded panels with a diagonal pattern beneath the window of the clipped bay; triple-sash, floor-length windows; and boxed cornices that return to frame diamond-shaped louvered vents in shingled gables. The triple-sash window on the side opens onto a shallow balcony porch that has square posts connected by turned balusters. The house is a central-hall plan interior reflecting the late 19th century detailing, which includes symmetrically molded surrounds with rounded cornerblocks, beaded tongue and groove wainscoting, four-part paneled door, high ceilings and plaster walls. It has a closed stringer stair featuring a boldly turned newel and slender balusters.
Louisburg, the county seat of Franklin County, is located 20 miles from Raleigh. There are approximately 50,000 people in the county. The town of Louisburg is located in the plateau of North Carolina between I-85 and I-95 and is the home of Louisburg College, the oldest junior college in the United States.
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