{"nrhp_refnum":"82004602","name":"Merrillat, J. C. M., House","other_names":["Hunter House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"521 E. Beverley St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Staunton (Independent City)","county":"Staunton","state":"VA","lat":38.15211825200004,"lon":-79.06553380999998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-09-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story, four-bay Gothic Revival board-and-batten cottage at 521 East Beverley Street in Staunton, Virginia, built in 1851 on a landscaped hilltop lot for Dr. J. C. M. Merrillat.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is an ideal mid-19th-century Gothic Revival cottage, with steep gables, scrolled bargeboards, board-and-batten siding and diamond-paned windows. It is described as one of the few examples in the Staunton area and certainly the finest. It is also tied to its first owner, an early administrator of the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind.","narrative":"Perched on a landscaped hilltop on East Beverley Street in Staunton, this two-story board-and-batten house was built in 1851 for J. C. M. Merrillat, a native of Bordeaux, France. He was the first principal of the blind department at the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind, founded in 1839, and later became superintendent of both departments. The house shows the Gothic Revival cottage form, with steep gables, scrolled bargeboards, finials, diamond-paned windows and a porch carried on large carved brackets. The original four-room section has a side hall, while wings added later, including a bedroom wing from the 1930s, were designed to blend with it. A former carriage house stands on the grounds, and the rear garden was laid out in 1935-36 by landscape architect A. A. Farnham. The nomination calls it one of the few Gothic cottages in the Staunton area and the finest of them. Later owners included the Lara family and banker Charles S. Hunter.","period_of_significance":"1851","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Gothic Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in good condition, occupied, and used as a private residence; later additions were designed to harmonize with the original character.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.553807-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/97/6837/41683797/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/82004602.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82004602/2296e58a1d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82004602/2296e58a1d-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:J.C.M._Merrillat_House.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:J.C.M._Merrillat_House.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"85000299","name":"Gospel Hill Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/gospel-hill-historic-district-85000299/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41683797","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._C._M._Merrillat_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16895050"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/staunton/merrillat-j-c-m-house-82004602/"}