{"nrhp_refnum":"78002070","name":"Barnett-Criss House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"SW of Cambridge off U.S. 22","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cambridge","county":"Guernsey County","state":"OH","lat":39.99992054900008,"lon":-81.69242452599997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-12-08","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A T-shaped, 2 1/2-story wood frame Italianate house on a sandstone foundation, built in 1875 on Best Hill in Westland Township near Cambridge, Guernsey County, Ohio, beside the old National Road (later U.S. Route 40).","why_significant":"The nomination calls it an outstanding example of rural Italianate domestic architecture in Southeastern Ohio. It is far more ornate than most contemporary houses along the highway. Its interior woodwork is largely intact, and it was built by Pittsburgh contractors John and Charles Halstead for farmer Oliver Barnett.","narrative":"Set on 3.58 acres atop Best Hill in rural Westland Township, this T-shaped wood frame house was built in 1875 beside the National Road, later U.S. Route 40. Its three-bay facade has a projecting gabled center bay, a sawn-scrollwork porch, bay windows, bracketed cornices and segmental-arched window frames. Inside, a central hall and six-room plan hold walnut and chestnut woodwork, including an open walnut stair balustrade, fireplace mantels with burled walnut panels, and original unpainted flooring. The house was built for Oliver Barnett, a Westland Township farmer and Civil War veteran, by John and Charles Halstead, a father-and-son team of contractors from Pittsburgh. Its reported cost of about $12,000 proved too great, and Barnett sold it in 1890 to Elijah and Carrie Criss, whose family kept it until 1944. It is regarded as an outstanding example of rural Italianate architecture in Southeastern Ohio and is far more ornate than most neighboring roadside houses.","period_of_significance":"1875","architect_builder":"John & Charles Halstead","architectural_style":"Italianate","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied private residence in excellent condition; exterior altered (enclosed side porch, garage addition) but interior ornament largely intact.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:12.358835-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/78002070.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002070/8aa47f59bc-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002070/8aa47f59bc-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Bwsmith84 (talk)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Barnett_Criss_House.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Bwsmith84 (talk)</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Barnett_Criss_House.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71988778","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnett%E2%80%93Criss_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4861620"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/guernsey-county/barnett-criss-house-78002070/"}