{"nrhp_refnum":"72001130","name":"Brendle Farms","other_names":["Alexander Schaeffer Farm","Sheetz Farm"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Jct. of PA 501 and 897","address_restricted":false,"city":"Schaefferstown","county":"Lebanon County","state":"PA","lat":40.29590972750006,"lon":-76.30282950902213,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-07-24","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture","Agriculture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"The Alexander Schaeffer Homestead, a farmstead in Heidelberg Township near Schaefferstown, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, with a limestone Swiss bank house, barns and outbuildings. Alexander Schaeffer bought the 347-acre property in 1758.","why_significant":"The farmstead is presented as the most complete evidence of eighteenth-century alcohol production in Schaefferstown, and the only Pennsylvania house located so far to retain evidence of a pot still. It is also regarded as a representative example of the Swiss Weinbaueren farmhouse and the most distinctive early Swiss bank house in the area. The Lower Farm was the birthplace of Reverend Thomas R. Brendle, whose folklore collection is significant, and the site is tied to local folklore and to a preservation and education program begun in 1965.","narrative":"A limestone Swiss bank house and farmstead in Heidelberg Township, Lebanon County, on a 347-acre land grant that Alexander Schaeffer bought in 1758. The two-and-a-half-story house has limestone walls, segmented brick arches over first-floor windows, and a tile roof. Its ground floor held work space, a central fireplace with two stills attached to the rear, and a large arched wine cellar where cider barrels were stored and fermented. Living quarters occupied the upper floors. Outbuildings include a stone pigsty dating from about 1740, a limestone smokehouse, a wheat barn from about 1840, and a barn rebuilt around 1894 on eighteenth-century foundations. The farmstead is considered the most complete evidence of eighteenth-century alcohol production in Schaefferstown, and the only Pennsylvania house located so far to retain evidence of a pot still. It also represents the Swiss Weinbaueren farmhouse tradition. The Lower Farm was the birthplace of Reverend Thomas R. Brendle, whose folklore collection is held by Historic Schaefferstown, Inc.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Swiss bank house","criteria":[],"status_note":"The chimney of the central fireplace is no longer extant; the wheat barn has recently been used for tobacco curing.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:30.201959-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/72001130.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71998053","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brendle_Farms","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4961140"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/lebanon-county/brendle-farms-72001130/"}