{"nrhp_refnum":"05000746","name":"Vesper Cliff","other_names":["Tioga Terrace","Glenbetsy","John, Robert C., House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Outside Village of Owego, W bank of Owego Creek, off NY 17","address_restricted":false,"city":"Owego","county":"Tioga County","state":"NY","lat":42.098124564000045,"lon":-76.2788895127301,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2005-07-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Vesper Cliff is a Greek Revival residence on a 29-acre landscaped parcel off New York State Route 17 near Owego, Tioga County, New York, with three outbuildings. An older plank-construction dwelling received a temple-fronted addition around 1834.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it an extremely rare surviving Greek Revival house designed by prominent architect Alexander Jackson Davis, for Robert C. Johnson. Of the few extant Davis Greek Revival residences, it appears to retain perhaps the highest integrity to his design intent. It is also tied to 19th-century local figures, including a merchant and bank president and an abolitionist minister.","narrative":"Vesper Cliff is a Greek Revival residence on a 29-acre estate beside Owego Creek, just outside the village of Owego in Tioga County, New York. The house combines an early dwelling of vertical plank construction with a woodshed and a monumental front block designed in 1834 by New York architect Alexander Jackson Davis for Robert C. Johnson. A portico of square wood anta piers wraps the south and east sides, beneath a deep Ionic entablature, pedimented gables and a cupola. Inside, double parlors retain black marble mantels and other period finishes. Three outbuildings also contribute: a barn with an unusual meeting-house-like facade, an ice house and a chicken shed. The property was listed because few Greek Revival houses designed wholly or partly by Davis survive, and this one appears to keep the most of his original design. Later residents included a merchant and bank president and the Reverend Samuel Hanson Cox, an abolitionist.","period_of_significance":"c. 1825-1900","architect_builder":"Architect (1834): Davis, Alexander Jackson; Builder (1834): Unknown","architectural_style":"Mid-19th Century: Greek Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Used as a single dwelling; the barn is described as badly deteriorated and in danger of collapse.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:52.820783-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/05000746.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000746/7172eb252d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000746/7172eb252d-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Jtocwru","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vesper_Cliff.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jtocwru</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vesper_Cliff.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75322457","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesper_Cliff","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7923282"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/tioga-county/vesper-cliff-05000746/"}