{"nrhp_refnum":"75001541","name":"Mason, John Wesley, Gothic Cottage","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"NW of Braceville on OH 534","address_restricted":false,"city":"Braceville","county":"Trumbull County","state":"OH","lat":41.24620100100003,"lon":-80.97594434799998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-11-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A board-and-batten Gothic Revival cottage of the A. J. Downing type with a corncrib and a privy in matching style, on State Route 534 near Braceville, Trumbull County, Ohio, built around 1860 by farmer John Wesley Mason.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the house as an excellent example of the design ideas of Andrew Jackson Downing, combining features from several patterns in his books and carrying them into the outbuildings. It is also tied to a Victorian romantic legend about Mason, whose fiancée died on the eve of their wedding, after which he lived on as a recluse in the house.","narrative":"Near Braceville in Trumbull County, Ohio, this board-and-batten Gothic Revival cottage was built around 1860 for John Wesley Mason, a successful dairy farmer. T-shaped, it has steep gables with pierced bargeboard pendants, finials at each apex, pointed windows with hood molding, and a central door flanked by full-length windows under cusped arches. A corncrib and a privy repeat the style, and all are painted pink, the original color. The design draws on several patterns from A. J. Downing's books, including Cottage Residences and The Architecture of Country Houses. The house also carries a local legend. Mason, engaged at thirty-three, lost his young fiancée to typhoid fever on the eve of the wedding and is said to have lived on as a recluse. Census records show his sister lived with him, so the tale is not literally accurate. Its place in Victorian romantic tradition forms part of the property's significance.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"John Wesley Mason (builder, presumed supervisor of the design)","architectural_style":"Gothic Revival (Picturesque Gothic Revival, Downing type)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as excellent and altered; the house is a private residence. Central heating, electricity, plumbing and a garage were added between 1942 and 1947, and the original barn burned and was replaced.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:09.216215-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/75001541.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75001541/cf0027cf35-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75001541/cf0027cf35-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Wesley_Mason_Gothic_Cottage.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Wesley_Mason_Gothic_Cottage.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71991703","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138749190"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/trumbull-county/mason-john-wesley-gothic-cottage-75001541/"}