{"nrhp_refnum":"75001972","name":"Pytlovany, Simon, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1.5 mi. S of Dubina on FR 1383","address_restricted":false,"city":"Dubina","county":"Fayette County","state":"TX","lat":29.71286985200004,"lon":-96.83905970599994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-04-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-and-a-half-story farmhouse of timber frame, split-log and mud-and-straw construction, built in 1909 about 1.5 miles south of Dubina, Fayette County, Texas, by Ukrainian immigrant Simon Pytlovany.","why_significant":"The house closely follows the Ukrainian peasant hut, or \"izba\", and is described as a unique example of foreign building tradition brought to Texas around 1900. It shows inventive construction, including an upside-down-assembled frame, a mud-and-straw mix and a flue that worked as natural air-conditioning. While neighbors in the Czech-German community adapted to local conditions, Pytlovany built as he had known in Ukraine.","narrative":"Built in 1909 about a mile and a half south of Dubina, Texas, this farmhouse reproduces the Ukrainian peasant \"izba\" that its builder, Simon Pytlovany, knew before emigrating in 1896. Pytlovany reused timbers salvaged from Dubina's hurricane-damaged church. The 6 to 8 inch square frame was assembled upside down, joined with splices, holes and bolts, then raised. Split cedar logs and a mud, clay and straw mixture form walls fourteen to eighteen inches thick, finished with yellow clay plaster and whitewash. A massive baker-style oven in the kitchen doubled as a sleeping surface, and an adjustable chimney flue warmed the house in winter and drew cool air through it in summer. Steep gables carry wooden shingles and scalloped board-and-batten trim. The house never had plumbing, a telephone or electricity and has been unoccupied since 1959. Moisture is steadily breaking down the mud walls. It is valued as an unusual example of Ukrainian building transplanted to central Texas.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Vernacular (Ukrainian \"izba\")","criteria":[],"status_note":"Not lived in since 1959 and used for storage; wall fabric described as in very poor condition from moisture damage.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.083202-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/32/9719/40971932/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/75001972.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40971932","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Pytlovany_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q85801215"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/fayette-county/pytlovany-simon-house-75001972/"}