Elizabeth Ann (Oates) Faison and William Wright Faison house (ca. 1835)
Located on the south west side, SR 1304, 1/4 miles south of intersection with SR 1354

Elizabeth was a granddaughter of Jethro Oates and daughter of John Oates.
 

The above house called "Friendship" was built shortly after Elizabeth Ann Oates and William Wright Faison were married in 1834. They had ten children of whom nine survived to adulthood. According to Betty (Ray) McCain, a great-granddaughter, the children were educated in the house by governesses until they went to college. The seven daughters all went to St. Mary's College (an elite school for women in Raleigh, North Carolina). When General Terry's Union troops encamped in the Faison area in March, 1865, he ordered a guard stationed at the house so that General Kilpatrick's calvary "bummers" would not molest the seven girls. Still, the rough necks attempted to set fire to the house three times, but were thwarted in each attempt when the servants put out the fires. According to Mrs. McCain, the plantation and lands owned by her great-grandparents included more than 3500 acres of land and 100 slaves.

The house is an immense two-story structure with four rooms over four rooms, a wide central hallway, and two interior chimneys symmetrically placed to serve the eight fire places. Originally, a double-tiered front porch extended across the front of the house. The porch had vernacular round Doric columns that enhanced the Greek Revival appearance of the exterior, as did the upper and lower front entrances with their side and transom lights and the pedimented gable ends. The large two-story pillars were added in recent years. Interior doors are the typical Greek Revival style with two full-length vertical panels.

Other structures on the property include, behind the main house, a small one-story coastal cottage with two front doors and hand-hewn sills. This in all probability was one of the old slave quarters. To the front left of the main house is an interesting little Greek Revival school building with corner pilasters and nine-over-six windows with pointed architraves. The interior is covered with wide flush-beaded horizontal paneling. Below is a photo of the school.
The Children's School on the Elizabeth Ann Oates and William Wright Faison plantation

Acknowledgements:
The above historical information was excerpted from the publication, "Front Porches", The Historic Architecture of Faison, North Carolina, Written and Photographed by W. Frank Ainsley, Edited and Published by Berta (Stroud) Swain. Sponsored by the Faison Museum Committee and the North Carolina Division of Archives and History, 1994. Other credits for the above research is included in the publication.

Betty (Ray) McCain, referenced above, was a great-granddaughter of Elizabeth Ann (Oates) Faison and William Wright Faison. Betty Ray, as she was known growing up in Faison in the 1950's lived in the home built by Susan (Oates) Perrett and Thomas Perrett. The Perrett house and Oates Landmark is included in a separate "Tour of Faison".