{"nrhp_refnum":"85000450","name":"Kokosing House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"221 Kokosing Dr.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Gambier","county":"Knox County","state":"OH","lat":40.378530639000076,"lon":-82.40381297799996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-02-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story, L-shaped sandstone house with a purple slate roof, at 221 Kokosing Drive in Gambier, Knox County, Ohio. It was completed in 1864 to designs by architect William Tinsley.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is a representative example of William Tinsley's residential work, which was mostly Victorian Gothic Revival. It is also tied to Bishop Gregory Thurston Bedell, third Episcopal Bishop of Ohio, who lived there for almost twenty-five years and raised funds for Kenyon College. The house is largely unaltered since 1864 apart from a turn-of-the-century porch.","narrative":"Kokosing House is a two-story, L-shaped residence on a wooded hilltop lot on the west side of Gambier, Ohio. Completed in 1864, it was designed by Irish-born architect William Tinsley and built of rough-faced local sandstone under a purple slate roof. Clustered carved chimneys, decorated bargeboards, round-headed windows and a stone tower give it an Italianate look with Gothic touches. It was built for Bishop Gregory Thurston Bedell, third Episcopal Bishop of Ohio and a leading fund raiser for Kenyon College, who insisted on local workmen. Bedell and his wife lived there for almost twenty-five years before he gave the house to the college in 1891. It later served as an Episcopal summer retreat until 1936 and then housed faculty and visiting figures, including writer Robert Penn Warren. Apart from a Colonial Revival front porch added around 1900, the exterior is little changed, and the interior keeps eight fireplaces and original pine floors.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"William Tinsley (architect); William Fish carried out the construction","architectural_style":"No particular style; Italianate with Gothic overtones (Victorian Gothic Revival influence)","criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"Occupied as a private residence; condition listed as excellent and unaltered, with the interior in good repair.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:14.502849-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/85000450.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85000450/8387e5c0d9-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85000450/8387e5c0d9-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Wdzinc","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Kokosing_House.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Wdzinc</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:The_Kokosing_House.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71989529","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138395901"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/knox-county/kokosing-house-85000450/"}