The house, located on Main Street, was built in the 1880s for Abraham M. Nail (1854-1896) and his wife Ida Rose Nail (1851-1946). Nail designed and built the unusual home himself. The home boasted Mocksville's first doorbell. Family friends and strangers came to the front door for no other reason than to ring the doorbell. Nail worked as a manager with the Forepaugh Circus and traveled with his sister, Mariah Nail Mertz.