{"nrhp_refnum":"84003442","name":"Gayer, Jacob M., House","other_names":["Slanczka, Richard, House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"406 Sumner St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Akron","county":"Summit County","state":"OH","lat":41.072459458000026,"lon":-81.51417049799994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-10-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story, wood-framed house at 406 Sumner Street in Akron, Summit County, Ohio, built in 1872 by and for carpenter Jacob Gayer, a late nineteenth-century workingman's home.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is a good example of late nineteenth-century working-class housing in Akron. It also shows an unusual degree of detail and variety of materials, including an ornate porch, interior hardwood woodwork and a faux marble mantle. It is an intact remnant of the building work of the Gayer family, who helped develop south central Akron.","narrative":"Built in 1872 at 406 Sumner Street in Akron, this two-story house was constructed by and for Jacob Gayer, a carpenter who learned the trade from his father and grandfather. Its plan and form are typical of workers' housing, with a gabled roof, shiplap siding and an irregular plan, yet it carries far more detail than most. Two matching porches have turned posts, spindlework friezes and fret-sawn brackets, and a three-sided bay window anchors the south front. Inside, unpainted cherry, walnut, oak and butternut woodwork survives, along with a slate mantel painted to imitate marble. Much of the woodwork was machine-made, reflecting Eastlake influence. The house is tied to the Gayer family, who reportedly built some 300 houses in a laborer neighborhood shaped by Akron's post-Civil War industrialization. Most of that neighborhood has been lost or altered, and the university demolished many Gayer-built houses in the 1960s. Few comparable examples remain intact.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899 (specific date 1872)","architect_builder":"Jacob, Gayer & Gayer","architectural_style":"Transition from Italianate to Eastlake; vernacular interpretation","criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"Occupied as a private residence; condition listed as excellent, altered, on its original site.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:15.224394-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/84003442.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71991521","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/summit-county/gayer-jacob-m-house-84003442/"}