Shelton House united the lives of Stephen Jehu Shelton, a Civil War veteran and High Sheriff of Haywood County, his wife Mahala Conley Shelton, their son Will Taylor Shelton, and later advocates of North Carolina handicrafts. Stephen and Mahala completed the Charleston-style home in 1875 on a knoll at the south entrance to the emerging tourist town of Waynesville. Will Taylor Shelton, Superintendent of the Navajo Shiprock Reservation and a friend to the Cherokee, and his wife Hattie later purchased the home, developed a dairy farm, and enhanced the grounds with dahlia and produce gardens. The historic barn, finished inside, served farm displays and meetings and remained an agricultural icon in Waynesville for more than 100 years. In 1977 Mary Cornwell, Haywood County Home Extension Agent, and several Village of Yesteryear crafters from the North Carolina State Fair chose Shelton House as the home of the Museum of North Carolina Handicrafts, where traditional North Carolina crafts are displayed, including Will Shelton's Navajo rugs and hand-crafted Native American pieces alongside modern-day Cherokee crafts.