{"nrhp_refnum":"71000693","name":"Cedarcroft","other_names":["Bayard Taylor House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"N of Kennett Sq.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Kennett Square","county":"Chester County","state":"PA","lat":39.86011463650004,"lon":-75.7187908470898,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1971-11-11","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1971-11-11","areas_of_significance":["Literature"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Cedarcroft is a large two-and-a-half story brick house with a four-and-a-half story tower on its front elevation, located near Kennett Square in Chester County, Pennsylvania. It was built by the writer Bayard Taylor, who laid the cornerstone in 1859 and moved in the following year.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that the house is a direct expression of Taylor's character and of the romantic and materialistic outlook of mid-nineteenth-century America. It is described as a striking memorial to Taylor and his era, and it is noted as the scene of much of his writing. Its relatively unaltered interior is cited as a further reason for its importance.","narrative":"Cedarcroft is a large brick house near Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, with a four-and-a-half story tower projecting from its front elevation and an entrance porch of five round arches. Writer Bayard Taylor laid its cornerstone in 1859 and moved in the following year, and it remained his home until 1874, when he moved to New York. Taylor wrote many works here, and the house is valued as a reflection of his character and of the taste of his age. Its lavish scale and design are cited as expressions of the blend of romantic and materialistic impulses of mid-nineteenth-century America. The interior retains parquet floors, moulded ceilings, marble mantles and woodwork believed to be original, and two large mirrors said to date from Taylor's time. Taylor was also buried in a time capsule-style zinc box beneath the cornerstone, containing poems by himself and R. H. Stoddard. The house was later owned by several families and, by the early 1970s, was vacant.","period_of_significance":"1859-1874","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"The house is said to be in good condition structurally but in need of many minor interior repairs; a 1972 letter says it was vacant and on the market.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:30.904012-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/71000693_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000693/602e27ef90-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000693/602e27ef90-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Ned Goode, Photographer,","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cedarcroft,_Bayard_Drive_(East_Marlborough_Township),_Kennett_Square_vicinity_(Chester_County,_Pennsylvania).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Ned Goode, Photographer,</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cedarcroft,_Bayard_Drive_(East_Marlborough_Township),_Kennett_Square_vicinity_(Chester_County,_Pennsylvania).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71994183","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedarcroft","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5056970"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/chester-county/cedarcroft-71000693/"}