{"nrhp_refnum":"11000451","name":"Gurnee-Sherwood House","other_names":["Gurnee-Onderdonck House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"29 Spook Rock Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Wesley Hills","county":"Rockland County","state":"NY","lat":41.15936333500008,"lon":-74.09719107699993,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2011-07-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Community Planning and Development","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one and one-half story dwelling at 29 Spook Rock Road in Wesley Hills, Rockland County, New York, with a five-bay brick façade and stone end walls. It was built in the 1790s and expanded in the mid-nineteenth century. The nomination includes the house and a well.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is a somewhat unusual example of rural vernacular design in Rockland County because of its brick façade, which may relate to large-scale brick manufacturing at nearby Haverstraw. It is also tied to Reverend James Sherwood, a Methodist clergyman who owned it from about 1813 until 1866. Sherwood held early Methodist meetings there, helped establish Wesley Chapel, and ran a mill that shaped local development.","narrative":"This one and one-half story house on Spook Rock Road in Wesley Hills, Rockland County, combines a five-bay brick façade with stone gable ends. Physical and documentary evidence suggests it was built in the 1790s, probably for the Gurnee family or possibly the Frederick family, and was enlarged in the 1840s to its L-shaped form with a rear kitchen wing and a salt box profile. Brick construction was rare in rural Rockland County at the time, and the common bond brickwork may reflect brick production at nearby Haverstraw. Inside, a Federal-style mantel survives in the east room, and later Colonial Revival touches date to about the 1920s. Reverend James Sherwood, a Methodist clergyman and mill owner, lived here from about 1813 to 1866. Local Methodists met in the house before Wesley Chapel was built in 1829, and the area came to be called Sherwoodville. The house is recognized for its architecture and for Sherwood's role in the community.","period_of_significance":"c. 1790-c. 1920","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Vernacular","criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"Historic and current function is single dwelling; the form also lists a historic religious use.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:48.671127-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/11000451.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/11000451/3d1a0e6136-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/11000451/3d1a0e6136-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"JERRYE &amp; ROY KLOTZ, M.D.","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GURNEEY_SHERWOOD_HOUSE,_WESLEY_HILLS,_ROCKLAND_COUNTY,_NY.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">JERRYE &amp;amp; ROY KLOTZ, M.D.</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:GURNEEY_SHERWOOD_HOUSE,_WESLEY_HILLS,_ROCKLAND_COUNTY,_NY.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75321448","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurnee%E2%80%93Sherwood_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q23091731"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/rockland-county/gurnee-sherwood-house-11000451/"}