{"nrhp_refnum":"80003233","name":"Wilson-Lenox House","other_names":["Marvin Ditmer House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"W of Sidney at 9804 Houston Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Sidney","county":"Shelby County","state":"OH","lat":40.255931976000056,"lon":-84.24855540499999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-03-27","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story Flemish bond brick house with a gambrel roof, built in 1816 on Houston Road near New Bern, west of Sidney in Shelby County, Ohio. It was built by John Wilson and is also known as the John Wilson - James Lenox House.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it the first brick house erected in Shelby County and the earliest brick house in west central Ohio, built before the county and township were organized. It is also described as the only example of Dutch Colonial style in Region 3-HA. Its interior retains Federal detailing rare to the area, and the second floor remains nearly intact.","narrative":"Built in 1816 by settler John Wilson, this two-story Flemish bond brick house sits on a rubble sandstone foundation near Turtle Creek in Shelby County, Ohio. Its gambrel roof, boxed cornice with dentils, and interior end chimneys give it a Dutch Colonial character, while the interior carries Federal detailing. Local tradition holds that the brick was imported from England. The house is described as the first brick house in Shelby County and the earliest in west central Ohio, predating the organization of the county and township. Windows and a front doorway have been altered, and a brick kitchen wing was added in 1870, but five fireplaces, carved mantels and a nearly intact second floor with pegged walnut doors survive. Wilson served on the county's first Board of Commissioners in 1819. The property stayed in the Wilson family until 1897, and son-in-law James Lenox, the first county treasurer, owned it for a time. It was vacated as a residence in 1967.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"John Wilson","architectural_style":"Dutch Colonial, with Federal interior detailing","criteria":[],"status_note":"The house was vacated as a residence in 1967; the form lists its present use as storage and its status as unoccupied.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:12.503586-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/80003233.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80003233/f7b1a1dc44-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80003233/f7b1a1dc44-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wilson-Lenox_House.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wilson-Lenox_House.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71991309","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson%E2%80%93Lenox_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8022951"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/shelby-county/wilson-lenox-house-80003233/"}