{"nrhp_refnum":"82003561","name":"Walker, Cristopher C., House and Farm","other_names":["Old Walker Place"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"SW of New Madison, N of OH 121","address_restricted":false,"city":"New Madison","county":"Darke County","state":"OH","lat":39.95075448450004,"lon":-84.73464861990752,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-04-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Agriculture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick High Victorian Italianate farmhouse (built 1884) with an earlier 1860-70 house, an 1879 bank barn and several outbuildings on a 151.7-acre farm one mile southwest of New Madison, Darke County, Ohio.","why_significant":"The farm is nominated for architecture and agricultural history as an unusually complete and little-altered elaborate nineteenth-century Ohio farm. The mansard-towered Italianate house and large barn reflect the rise of Cristopher C. Walker, a noted breeder of short-horn cattle and Poland-China hogs. The farm helped establish Darke County's reputation for hog breeding.","narrative":"Set on a hill above State Route 121 southwest of New Madison, this Darke County farmstead preserves the buildings of a prosperous nineteenth-century stock farm. Cristopher C. Walker, born in Maryland in 1829, bought the land in 1862. He first built a small brick house, then a large bank barn in 1879, and finally a two-story brick Italianate house with a three-story mansard-roofed tower in 1884. The house has segmental-arched windows with keystone motifs, bracketed cornices, a polychrome slate roof and a wooden veranda. Inside, a cherry staircase, fourteen-foot ceilings and Eastlake-style details survive. Walker was known for short-horn cattle and Poland-China hogs, and the farm helped establish Darke County as a leading hog-breeding area. The buildings show few changes, and the farm stands out among neighbors that now have modern metal buildings and silos. It was listed for its architecture and its agricultural history.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"High Victorian Italianate","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Occupied private residence and working agricultural property; the house interior is described as in excellent condition, though some porches are badly deteriorated.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:12.353891-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/82003561.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82003561/64034e63b7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82003561/64034e63b7-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christopher_C._Walker_Farmhouse.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christopher_C._Walker_Farmhouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71987961","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_C._Walker_House_and_Farm","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5112045"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/darke-county/walker-cristopher-c-house-and-farm-82003561/"}