A regional expression of the Italianate style, Shadow Lawn evolved in tandem with the town’s transformation from the crossroads village of Christiansville into a thriving colony of northern immigrants after the Civil War, renamed Chase City. The house began ca. 1834 as the home of Richard Puryear, a substantial landowner and proprietor of a local tavern. An extensive remodeling of the house was undertaken in 1869-70 for George Endly, the co-founder of Chase City, who moved here from Pennsylvania in 1868. The project is attributed to Jacob W. Holt, a Virginia-born architect-builder who worked in both North Carolina and Virginia, creating a distinctive body of structures in a boldly ornamented Italianate style. In 1902 Shadow Lawn became part of the Mecklenburg Mineral Springs Hotel complex. The hotel burned in 1909. Shadow Lawn is now a private residence.