{"nrhp_refnum":"77001142","name":"Neff, Maj. John, Homestead","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"SW of Centre Hall","address_restricted":false,"city":"Centre Hall","county":"Centre County","state":"PA","lat":40.821557049000035,"lon":-77.72705919799995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1977-04-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"The Major John Neff Homestead in Centre Hall, Centre County, Pennsylvania, is a farm complex consisting of a two and one-half story log house with rear additions and a large stone barn. The document dates the buildings to the second half of the 19th century based on architectural evidence.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that the complex is one of the earliest large farm complexes in the Penns Valley region. The stone barn is described as one of very few in Centre County and the only other comparable in size, style and condition is noted. The log house is said to retain craftsmanship in its interior and exterior details.","narrative":"Set on a farm in Centre Hall, Centre County, the Neff Homestead combines a log house and a large stone barn built in the second half of the nineteenth century, based on architectural evidence since no documents date the buildings precisely. The two and one-half story log house is four bays wide and two bays deep, with six-over-six sash windows, a centrally located enclosed stairway, and interior horse hair plaster walls on hand-split oak lath. A rear ell has a log first story thought to predate the house. The stone barn measures 84 by 50 feet, is built of rubble stone, and contains two threshing floors and six pinned framing beams, each fifty feet long. John Neff, born in 1791 in Lebanon County, settled in Centre County and was a blacksmith before buying the land in 1832 and turning to farming. The complex is valued as one of the earliest large farm complexes in the Penns Valley area and for its barn, which is one of very few of its size in the county.","period_of_significance":"2nd half of the 19th century","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":null,"vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:30.236009-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/77001142.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77001142/8508330828-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77001142/8508330828-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Neff_Homestead_Centre_County_PA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Neff_Homestead_Centre_County_PA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71994933","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maj._John_Neff_Homestead","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15243915"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/centre-county/neff-maj-john-homestead-77001142/"}