{"nrhp_refnum":"80003175","name":"Lafee Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"22 E. 3rd St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Dayton","county":"Montgomery County","state":"OH","lat":39.759395049000034,"lon":-84.19139604799994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-11-25","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story Queen Anne commercial building at 22 E. Third Street in downtown Dayton, Ohio, built in 1886 by the Lafee family as part of a commercial block just east of Main Street.","why_significant":"The building is described as one of the most highly decorated Queen Anne commercial buildings in the Dayton area, with distinctive and outstanding facade ornamentation. It was built by local merchants, the Lafee family, and has remained in commercial use. The nomination notes it was threatened with demolition.","narrative":"Located at 22 E. Third Street, two buildings east of Main Street in one of downtown Dayton's busiest areas, this three-story commercial building dates to 1886. The Lafee family, local merchants, built it, and it has stayed in commercial use ever since. Its upper facade is richly ornamented, with an elliptical bay on the second floor, Gothic dragon spandrels in relief, carved flower panels, and a wide band of leaves and heraldry bearing a central cartouche reading \"Lafee.\" The third floor includes a pediment dated 1886 and deeply recessed end bays with basket-handle arches, checkerboard terra cotta panels, and stepped parapet gables topped with owl masks. Metal piers with grotesque mask capitals separate the storefront bays, although the ground floor has a modern storefront. The building was listed for its architecture, as one of the most highly decorated Queen Anne commercial buildings in the Dayton area, at a time when demolition threatened it.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Lafee family","architectural_style":"Queen Anne","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in commercial use as a shoe outlet at the time of nomination; described as threatened by demolition.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:12.412529-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/80003175.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"100004316","name":"Downtown Dayton Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/ohio/downtown-dayton-historic-district-100004316/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71990424","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/montgomery-county/lafee-building-80003175/"}