{"nrhp_refnum":"03001278","name":"Babcock, Dr. John, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"101 Lasher Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Selkirk","county":"Albany County","state":"NY","lat":42.54955900250005,"lon":-73.81278693157424,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2003-12-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick house built in 1851 for Dr. John Babcock on a ten-acre parcel at 101 Lasher Road, Selkirk vicinity, in the Town of Bethlehem, Albany County, New York. A frame carriage barn of similar age also stands on the property.","why_significant":"The house is significant as a remarkably intact example of pattern book-inspired Tuscan-style domestic architecture, derived with modifications from a design in Andrew Jackson Downing's 1850 book. It keeps a high level of integrity to its 1851 construction and blends Greek Revival, Gothic Revival and Italianate elements. The carriage barn and the surviving original ten-acre parcel preserve its setting.","narrative":"Built in 1851 for Dr. John Babcock, a well-known local physician, this red brick house sits on a ten-acre rural parcel in the Town of Bethlehem, Albany County. It has a cubic form, a shallow hipped roof, a limestone foundation, brownstone trim, and a bracketed wood cornice. Its design appears to derive from a Tuscan-style cottage plate and variation in Andrew Jackson Downing's 1850 book on country houses. Greek Revival touches, such as six-paneled doors and a columned entrance, mix with Gothic Revival porches and Italianate massing. Inside, double parlors with sliding pocket doors, plaster cornices, marble mantels, and wide plank floors survive, and the original brick cistern remains in the basement. A timber-framed carriage barn and the original acreage preserve the rural setting. Four generations of the Babcock family lived here with few alterations, which is why the house is valued as a well-preserved mid-nineteenth century country dwelling.","period_of_significance":"1851-c. 1871","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Mid-nineteenth century: Italianate, Greek Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still used as a single dwelling; changes since 1851 have been few, mainly a summer kitchen wing, a c. 1920 bathroom and electricity, and central heating about 1966.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:53.606971-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/03001278.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03001278/c14c6a865b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03001278/c14c6a865b-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"TrudiJ","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dr_John_Babcock_House,_Selkirk_NY.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">TrudiJ</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dr_John_Babcock_House,_Selkirk_NY.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75316167","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._John_Babcock_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14706245"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/albany-county/babcock-dr-john-house-03001278/"}