{"nrhp_refnum":"79002176","name":"Elm Court","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Between Polk and Elm Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Butler","county":"Butler County","state":"PA","lat":40.86956112550007,"lon":-79.89158429714905,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-12-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Landscape Architecture","Art","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A forty-room Tudor Gothic country residence set into a hillside in Butler, Butler County, Pennsylvania, built around an enclosed central court with landscaped terraces and gardens.","why_significant":"The nomination describes it as a rare, intact period piece of 1920s-1930s Gothic Revival design, with original fixtures and detailing. It is one of only two Butler buildings by architect Benno Janssen and is regarded as his most creative residence. Its interior craftsmanship, including English stained glass and metalwork by Samuel Yellin, and its association with philanthropist Benjamin Dwight Phillips add to its importance.","narrative":"Elm Court is a forty-room residence built around an enclosed central court on a hillside in Butler, Pennsylvania. Construction began in early 1929 and was completed in mid-1930 at a cost of $3,000,000, with limestone, marble and slate over a steel-reinforced concrete frame. Its irregular Tudor exterior has complex slate roofs, oriel and bay windows, and carved stonework. Inside, carved oak panelling, linenfold decoration, English stained glass and hand-forged metalwork by Samuel Yellin of Philadelphia survive largely intact. Benno Janssen, one of the period's fashionable designers, produced what is considered his most inventive work here. The estate was the home and philanthropic headquarters of Benjamin Dwight Phillips, whose gifts supported numerous colleges. The surrounding gardens, planted in the 1920s and now mature, form an arboretum of sorts.","period_of_significance":"1929-1930","architect_builder":"Benno Janssen (architect); Harry Wimer (construction engineer)","architectural_style":"Tudor Gothic","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Repaired and restored by Loeffler & Johnson of Pittsburgh with no major alterations; the sunken garden pool had recently been filled in and was to be restored.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:13:08.477019-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/79002176.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002176/616706c3e7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002176/616706c3e7-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elm_Court_courtyard,_Butler.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elm_Court_courtyard,_Butler.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71994859","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elm_Court_(Butler,_Pennsylvania)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5366263"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/butler-county/elm-court-79002176/"}