{"nrhp_refnum":"11000066","name":"High Banks","other_names":["Helm-Clevenger House","DHR File No. 034-0109"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"423 High Banks Rd","address_restricted":false,"city":"Stephenson","county":"Frederick County","state":"VA","lat":39.21031326500005,"lon":-78.07125962579059,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2011-03-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Exploration/Settlement"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"High Banks (the Helm-Clevenger House) is a ca. 1753 two-story-plus-basement, center-hall, double-pile limestone house at 423 High Banks Road near Stephenson, Frederick County, Virginia, with additions from 1978 and 2000 and ruins of two outbuildings.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is a remarkably intact example of Germanic stone construction combined with an anglicized center-hall plan in the Shenandoah Valley, with a rare exterior relieving arch. It also reflects the ca. 1858 Greek Revival rehabilitation under the Clevenger family and the settlement path along Opequon Creek.","narrative":"High Banks is a limestone farmhouse built around 1753 on a high bluff above Opequon Creek near Stephenson, in Frederick County, Virginia. Once the center of a 478-acre farm, it now sits on about seventy acres. The two-and-a-half-story main block has a center-hall, double-pile plan, fine rough-dressed ashlar on the front, and a large relieving arch visible on the west wall, a rare feature. In the basement, heavy fireplace supports, a massive walnut summer beam and wide yellow pine floors survive from the original construction. After a partial structural failure in the 1850s, the second-floor front wall was rebuilt, a low-pitched roof replaced the steep gable, and the interior was re-trimmed in Greek Revival style around 1858. Additions were made in 1978 and 2000. Ruins of a bank barn and an icehouse pit also remain. The property is recognized for its Germanic masonry, early center-hall plan, and its role in the settlement of the Shenandoah Valley, through 1944.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1753 - 1944","architect_builder":"Thomas Helm; James D. Stillwell (1978; 2000)","architectural_style":"Colonial: Georgian; Mid-Nineteenth Century: Greek Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Used as a single dwelling, with about 70 acres used for pasturing cattle; described as thoughtfully rehabilitated and carefully maintained.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:02.930607-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/0/6808/41680800/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/11000066.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/11000066/eef03aca19-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/11000066/eef03aca19-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"AgnosticPreachersKid","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:High_Banks_1.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">AgnosticPreachersKid</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:High_Banks_1.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41680800","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Banks","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14712533"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/frederick-county/high-banks-11000066/"}