{"nrhp_refnum":"02001457","name":"Highland Cottage","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"36 S. Highland Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Ossining","county":"Westchester County","state":"NY","lat":41.15975595400005,"lon":-73.86101941599998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-07-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":[],"significance_levels":[],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Highland Cottage (Squire House) is a concrete-block residence at 36 South Highland Avenue in Ossining, Westchester County, New York, built in 1872 in an eclectic style for Henry J. Baker.","why_significant":"It is one of only four surviving nineteenth-century concrete structures in Westchester County and the second built there. It is the only one that still serves its original residential use. It shows early use of concrete as a load-bearing material, remains virtually unaltered since 1872, and housed people and events important to the local community.","narrative":"Highland Cottage is a large concrete-block house at the corner of South Highland Avenue and Maple Place in Ossining, completed in 1872. Built for local businessman Henry J. Baker, it has a slate mansard roof, towers and dormers, and Renaissance-inspired details such as vermiculated quoins, voussoirs and a carved lion's head over the entrance. Inside are dark molded oak woodwork, ornate plaster ceilings, an oak staircase, seven stone fireplaces and an unusual octagonal dining room. No architect is known. The house is one of only four surviving nineteenth-century concrete structures in Westchester County, and the only one still used as originally intended. It predates the better-known Ward Castle in Port Chester by four years. In 1905 it passed to Dr. Amos Squire, whose family used parts of it over the years as a private sanitarium, a naval hospital, a restaurant, medical offices and a business school. It has remained virtually unaltered.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Eclectic, with Renaissance motifs and Eastlake-style interior decoration","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in use as a private residence; described as in good condition and virtually unaltered since construction in 1872.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:42.301769-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/02001457.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02001457/fc9b7948df-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02001457/fc9b7948df-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Doug Kerr from Albany, New York, United States. Cropped and color-corrected slightly by Daniel Case prior to upload","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Highland_Cottage,_Ossining,_NY.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Doug Kerr from Albany, New York, United States. Cropped and color-corrected slightly by Daniel Case prior to upload</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Highland_Cottage,_Ossining,_NY.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"88001827","name":"Downtown Ossining Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/new-york/downtown-ossining-historic-district-88001827/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75323059","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_Cottage","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5758724"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/westchester-county/highland-cottage-02001457/"}