{"nrhp_refnum":"80004116","name":"Berry House","other_names":["Stephenville Historical House Museum"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"525 E. Washington St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Stephenville","county":"Erath County","state":"TX","lat":32.222086801000046,"lon":-98.19951616899999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-05-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story stone cottage at 525 E. Washington Street in Stephenville, Erath County, Texas, built in 1869 by Colonel J. D. Berry with stonemason J. J. Wyatt. It now serves as the Stephenville Historical House Museum.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as one of the few examples of residential Gothic Revival architecture in Texas, in the style sometimes called English Cottage. It is also the oldest house in Stephenville. It was the home of the influential John Berry family from 1869 to 1900.","narrative":"Built in 1869 at 525 E. Washington Street in Stephenville, this small two-story stone cottage is the oldest house still standing in town. Colonel J. D. Berry erected it with the help of stonemason J. J. Wyatt, laying the stone flat and cushioning it with lime and sand. Steeply gabled and shingled, it has a chimney at each gable end, ornate bargeboards, attic vents shaped like Pennsylvania hex symbols, and narrow windows with white louvered shutters. The porch and deck date from a 1965 restoration. The cottage is regarded as one of the few examples of residential Gothic Revival architecture in Texas, recalling the English Cottage designs popularized by Andrew Jackson Downing. The Berry family lived here from 1869 to 1900, and Berry established a law office and a bank in Stephenville. After years of neglect under later owners, the city bought the house in 1968. Public donations funded its restoration, and it now operates as a historical house museum.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"J.J. Wyatt, stonemason","architectural_style":"Gothic Revival (English Cottage)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Restored through public donations and operated as a historical house museum; the form lists its condition as good and its status as occupied and unoccupied.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:18.588685-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/6/9719/40971906/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/80004116.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004116/5d1bf36427-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004116/5d1bf36427-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Renelibrary","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:J.D._Berry_House1.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Renelibrary</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:J.D._Berry_House1.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40971906","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110000436"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/erath-county/berry-house-80004116/"}