{"nrhp_refnum":"75001677","name":"Brush Hill","other_names":["Old Scull House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"651 Brush Hill Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Irwin","county":"Westmoreland County","state":"PA","lat":40.32503928700004,"lon":-79.68934041399996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-10-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation","Architecture","Communications"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Brush Hill is a two-story fieldstone mansion in Irwin, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, built in 1798 by Col. John Irwin in the Federal style with a Georgian floor plan.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is architecturally important as one of the earliest mansion-scale houses west of the Appalachians. It was the largest of Col. Irwin's three plantations, and his family and descendants were prominent in the political, social, and economic growth of the area. Col. Irwin also rendered important services to the American Revolution, and the Scull family connection includes the founding of the Pittsburg Gazette.","narrative":"Built in 1798 by Col. John Irwin, Brush Hill is a two-story fieldstone house in the Federal style, set on a Georgian floor plan in Irwin, Westmoreland County. Its symmetrical facade has a central entrance with a double staircase of pyramid-tiered shale stone and an arched doorway with radiating voussoirs that originally held a fanlight. The boxed cornice is original, decorated with modillions and dentils. The attic retains an unusual roof support of pegged, hand-hewn beams. The house was the largest of Irwin's three plantations and is regarded as one of the earliest mansion-scale houses west of the Appalachians. Irwin's family and descendants shaped the political, social, and economic growth of the area, and Irwin himself gave important service during the American Revolution. Through his son-in-law, John Scull, the family founded the Pittsburg Gazette, the first newspaper west of the Alleghenies. A restoration program is returning the house toward its original appearance.","period_of_significance":"1700-1799","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Federal","criteria":[],"status_note":"A restoration program has been underway to return the house to its original appearance, including removal of the Victorian front porch and the 1886 rear wing.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:29.799815-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/75001677.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75001677/974319819c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75001677/974319819c-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"JERRYE &amp; ROY KLOTZ MD","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BRUSH_HILL,_WESTMORELAND_COUNTY,_PA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">JERRYE &amp;amp; ROY KLOTZ MD</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BRUSH_HILL,_WESTMORELAND_COUNTY,_PA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71995942","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brush_Hill","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4979678"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/westmoreland-county/brush-hill-75001677/"}