{"nrhp_refnum":"83004249","name":"Sharpless, William C., House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"5446 Wayne Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":40.03009535100006,"lon":-75.17659325599999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-12-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Art","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story Queen Anne style house of coursed Wissahickon schist at the southwest corner of Wayne Avenue and Schoolhouse Lane in Central Germantown, Philadelphia, built circa 1886 for William C. Sharpless, with a one and one-half story brick stable at the rear.","why_significant":"The house is argued to be significant as an intact example of suburban residential architecture of the late nineteenth century, with some of the finest interior encaustic and art tile work in the city. Its tile collection, including hand-painted panels by English tile painters, is presented as showing the popularity of decorative tiles for interior use after the 1876 Centennial Exposition. The nomination also ties the house to Sharpless's firm, Sharpless and Watts, importers of tiles and marbles.","narrative":"Built around 1886 in Central Germantown, Philadelphia, the three-story house is constructed of coursed Wissahickon schist with a gable and hipped roof, decorative shingling and a stable at the rear. Its design is attributed to George W. Hewitt, whose work is linked in the nomination to Henry H. Houston's suburban developments. The house was built for William C. Sharpless, a partner in Sharpless and Watts, agents and importers of fine tiles and marbles. Its interiors contain an unusually large collection of nineteenth-century English and American encaustic and art tiles, including hand-painted panels signed by Albert Slater and Samuel Alcock, Minton Hollins and Copeland pieces, and an oriel window with stained glass. The nomination regards the house as a well-preserved example of suburban residential design, with a notable concentration of decorative tile work from the period after the 1876 Centennial Exposition, when tile use in homes became fashionable.","period_of_significance":"1872-1913","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Queen Anne","criteria":["C"],"status_note":null,"vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:33.918835-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/83004249.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83004249/10cd3604cc-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83004249/10cd3604cc-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sharpless_House_Philly.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sharpless_House_Philly.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"72001151","name":"Fairmount Park","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/fairmount-park-72001151/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997068","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_C._Sharpless_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8006403"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/sharpless-william-c-house-83004249/"}