{"nrhp_refnum":"75002010","name":"Brown, John M., House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"S of Washington on FM 912","address_restricted":false,"city":"Washington","county":"Washington County","state":"TX","lat":30.310598844000026,"lon":-96.16705424399998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-04-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story frame Greek Revival house about one mile south of Washington-on-the-Brazos in Washington County, Texas, built in 1854 by carpenter John Watson for planter John M. Brown.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is primarily architecturally significant as one of the best remaining examples of Greek Revival architecture in Texas. It is also the work of master craftsman John Watson, one of only three of his pre-Civil War houses still standing in Washington County. It was built for John Brown, an influential planter and merchant.","narrative":"Built in 1854 about one mile south of Washington-on-the-Brazos, this two-story frame house is a refined example of Greek Revival design in Texas. It has a low hipped roof, clapboard siding, and one-story Doric porticoes on the front and rear, each topped by a balustraded balcony. Tall windows and doorways have sidelights and transoms, and a central hall on both floors is flanked by rooms with paired fireplaces. A three-room brick cellar once held a kitchen and pantry. The house was designed and built by John Watson, a Scottish-born carpenter trained in Huntly, for John M. Brown, a planter and Washington merchant who lived there until his death in 1892. Watson worked on about thirty houses and inns, and only three survive, two of them in Chappell Hill. The house was recognized chiefly for its architecture and for being the work of a skilled craftsman. At nomination it stood vacant.","period_of_significance":"1854","architect_builder":"John Watson","architectural_style":"Greek Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed on the data sheet as unoccupied and vacant at the time of nomination; condition boxes are not legible.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:18.57397-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/12/9739/40973912/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/75002010.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75002010/ddf860c4b5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75002010/ddf860c4b5-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Harry L. Starnes","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_M._Brown_House,_Washington,_Texas.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Harry L. Starnes</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_M._Brown_House,_Washington,_Texas.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40973912","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110002496"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/washington-county/brown-john-m-house-75002010/"}