OWINS-BEDFORD HOUSE

    Thomas Bedford and William Owins purchased this lot in 1729. The next known owner, Thomas Duncan, purchased from commissioners in 1806.   

    20th-century owners included Jean Bruyere Kell, Amy Bradley Muse, as well as David and Kathryn Cloud, who purchased the house in the 1970s. When the "Cramer House" (1796 Courthouse) was moved to the Beaufort Restoration Grounds, Kathryn Cloud rescued lumber, that had been added when the courthouse was converted to a residence, and used the wood to build kitchen cabinets.

    Though plaqued 1730, the Summer Field Study 2011 reported, "If the house dates from the 18th century, only some of its framing members are of that age. It is likely the building started out as a one-story dwelling with an integral shed, built sometime in the late-18th or early-19th century."