{"nrhp_refnum":"83001790","name":"Verbeck House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"20 Church Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Ballston Spa","county":"Saratoga County","state":"NY","lat":43.00032985000007,"lon":-73.84928837699994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-04-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two and one-half story Queen Anne style frame house at 20 Church Avenue in Ballston Spa, Saratoga County, New York, built in 1889 for attorney James Verbeck and designed by architect Marcus F. Cummings.","why_significant":"The house is a documented work of Marcus F. Cummings, a prolific regional architect, and one of his last designs before retiring in 1891. It marks a stylistic shift from his earlier Italianate and Second Empire residences. Long ownership by the Verbeck family left the interior largely intact.","narrative":"Built in 1889 on Church Avenue in Ballston Spa, this rambling twenty-five room Queen Anne style house was designed by Marcus F. Cummings for James Verbeck, a local attorney. The frame building sits on a rock-faced stone foundation and has narrow clapboard siding, shingled gables, two-story bays, a raised front porch, a modillioned cornice and a slate roof. Inside, the central hall holds a walnut staircase, early Art Nouveau wall coverings and stained-glass doors, while cherry woodwork, gas and electric chandeliers, original bathrooms, an intact butler's pantry and attic servants' quarters survive. Cummings was the most prolific architect in northeastern New York from 1862 to 1880 and published influential pattern books. This house was among his last residential commissions and shows a move away from his earlier Italianate and Second Empire work. The Verbeck family owned it until 1977, which helped preserve its integrity. It now serves as the National Bottle Museum.","period_of_significance":"1889","architect_builder":"Marcus F. Cummings","architectural_style":"Queen Anne","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied; in excellent condition and unaltered. Acquired in 1978 by the Federation of Historical Bottle Clubs and being adapted as a bottle museum (National Bottle Museum) without significant alteration of historic features.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:43.155036-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/83001790.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83001790/101b07ecce-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83001790/101b07ecce-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Daniel Case","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Verbeck_House,_Ballston_Spa,_NY.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Daniel Case</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:Verbeck_House,_Ballston_Spa,_NY.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75321643","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verbeck_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2514072"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/saratoga-county/verbeck-house-83001790/"}