{"nrhp_refnum":"79001840","name":"Thurber, James, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"77 Jefferson Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Columbus","county":"Franklin County","state":"OH","lat":39.96624191800004,"lon":-82.98486928199998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-11-08","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Literature","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A large 2 1/2 story brick house at 77 Jefferson Avenue in Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio, built circa 1873 in the East Park Place subdivision.","why_significant":"The house was home from 1913 to 1915 to the family of Charles L. Thurber, including his son, the humorist James Thurber. By Thurber's own account it is the \"ghost house\" of his story \"The Night the Ghost Got In.\" It is also a relatively well-preserved residence in the once-fashionable East Park Place subdivision.","narrative":"Built around 1873, this large brick house at 77 Jefferson Avenue in Columbus rises two and a half stories on a stone foundation under a gabled slate roof. Its facade has a round arched window with rusticated brick, decorative wood trim in the gables, and a dormer; the front porch is a later addition. Inside, the front and rear staircases, door and window trim with corner blocks, and four mantels survive. The house matters chiefly for its literary link. From 1913 to 1915 it was home to Charles and Mary Thurber and their sons William, James and Robert. James Thurber later wrote that it was the ghost house in his 1933 story \"The Night the Ghost Got In,\" and city directories confirm the family lived there in November 1915. It also stands as a fairly intact example of housing from the East Park Place subdivision, though it was vacant and deteriorated when nominated.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as vacant and in a deteriorated state; the form lists it as unoccupied and altered, with the later front porch noted as an addition.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:12.268729-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/79001840.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79001840/a0bc1d9ef4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79001840/a0bc1d9ef4-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:James_Thurber_House.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:James_Thurber_House.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"82001459","name":"Jefferson Avenue Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/ohio/jefferson-avenue-historic-district-82001459/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71988527","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thurber_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7799257"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/franklin-county/thurber-james-house-79001840/"}