{"nrhp_refnum":"04000282","name":"Palatine German Frame House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"4217 NY 5","address_restricted":false,"city":"Herkimer","county":"Herkimer County","state":"NY","lat":43.02832191700003,"lon":-75.04272017699998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2004-04-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 1 1/2-story, five-bay by two-bay timber-framed dwelling on a 1.8-acre parcel on the north side of New York Route 5, about three miles west of the village of Herkimer, built by Palatine German settlers around 1760.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is an extremely rare and intact example of settlement-period frame residential architecture in the Mohawk Valley. It is described as the only known surviving timber-frame settlement-era house in the upper Mohawk Valley and reflects the late medieval Northern European building tradition brought by Palatine Germans. A late-1990s restoration relied on extensive surviving original materials.","narrative":"Set at the base of a wooded ravine on Route 5 west of Herkimer, this small timber-framed house was built by Palatine German settlers around 1760. It has a post-and-girt frame with mortise-and-tenon joints, a fieldstone foundation, brick end chimneys, a steep wood-shingled gable roof and a center hall flanked by two rooms with open fireplaces. Heavy ceiling timbers were planed smooth because they were meant to be seen. The house stands on part of a lot in Burnetsfield, the tract granted in the 1720s where Palatine Germans settled in the Mohawk Valley. Many early wooden dwellings of the region burned during the French and Indian War and the Revolution, and the builder and first owner are unknown. The house is considered the only known surviving timber-frame settlement-period residence in the upper Mohawk Valley. A careful restoration in the late 1990s used original glass, moldings and other surviving fragments, and the building keeps a high degree of integrity.","period_of_significance":"circa 1760-1810","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"COLONIAL/German colonial","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Restored in the late 1990s; still used as a single-family dwelling, with a modern shed-roofed rear addition containing kitchen, bathroom and dining area.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:53.975254-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/04000282.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04000282/aa9fcddbad-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04000282/aa9fcddbad-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HerkimerNY_PalatineGermanFrameHouse.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Magicpiano</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HerkimerNY_PalatineGermanFrameHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75318174","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palatine_German_Frame_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7126812"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/herkimer-county/palatine-german-frame-house-04000282/"}