{"nrhp_refnum":"75001476","name":"Morehouse-Downes House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"4 S. River Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Waterville","county":"Lucas County","state":"OH","lat":41.498994252000045,"lon":-83.71755094699995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-05-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story frame Greek Revival house at 4 South River Road in Waterville, Lucas County, Ohio, built about 1837 for mill owner Lorenzo Morehouse. A one-story addition on the south side dates to about 1900.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it one of the finest Greek Revival homes in the area. It stands on Waterville's oldest commercial street, above the Maumee River, on the site of the original Wabash Hotel. It is tied to Lorenzo Morehouse, who ran the Pekin Mill during the town's canal era.","narrative":"Built in 1837 by Lorenzo Morehouse, this two-story frame house at 4 South River Road in Waterville, Ohio, is described as one of the finest Greek Revival homes in the area. It has a nearly square plan and a hip roof. The recessed front entrance on the east side has a plain panelled architrave, pilasters, sidelights and a three-part transom. Windows are double-hung with shutters, and a wide plain frieze runs beneath the roof. Inside, a stairway curves along two walls of the entrance hall, with two parlors, a dining room and original floor boards. The house stands above the Maumee River on the town's oldest commercial street, on the site of the original Wabash Hotel, just south of the 1828 Columbian House. Morehouse and James Brigham ran the Pekin Mill, a grist and saw mill, during the canal era. John Isham bought the house in 1870 for his daughter, who married Dr. Samuel Downs; the Downs family lived there until 1960.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (ca. 1837)","architect_builder":"Lorenzo Morehouse (builder/original owner)","architectural_style":"Greek Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as a private residence in good condition, altered by a ca. 1900 one-story south addition; occupied.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:09.259406-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/75001476.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75001476/9a297aa19e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75001476/9a297aa19e-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Morehouse-Downes_House.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Morehouse-Downes_House.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71989911","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138558787"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/lucas-county/morehouse-downes-house-75001476/"}