{"nrhp_refnum":"85001881","name":"Demand-Gest House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"37 N. Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Mechanicsburg","county":"Champaign County","state":"OH","lat":40.07284665100008,"lon":-83.55726329399994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-08-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture","Agriculture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A large two-and-a-half-story frame Colonial Revival house at 37 North Main Street in the village of Mechanicsburg, Champaign County, Ohio, built around 1900 by Dr. Demand, a local physician.","why_significant":"The house is argued to be an excellent example of Colonial Revival style in Mechanicsburg and one of the most impressive turn-of-the-century residences in the village. It is also tied to the commercial history of the community as the home of Neil Gest, a wealthy farm owner and president of the Ohio Grain Company, and of Dr. Demand, one of several local doctors.","narrative":"Built around 1900 at 37 North Main Street in Mechanicsburg, Ohio, this large frame house was constructed by Dr. Demand, one of several practicing physicians in the village at that time. Later it was the home of Neil Gest, a wealthy farm owner who served as president of the Ohio Grain Company, a business near the railroad that remains among the few early twentieth-century firms still operating in the village. The two-and-a-half-story house shows many hallmarks of the Colonial Revival style: a symmetrical facade, a projecting central bay on the second floor, a Palladian window in the gabled dormer, classical columns on the front porch, an entrance with a transom, and an oval window in the stairhall. It sits close to the street behind a small front yard and an iron fence. Few houses were built in Mechanicsburg after 1920, and this is one of the few early twentieth-century styles represented there, which supports its recognition for architecture and for its link to local commerce.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Built by Dr. Demand (architect and contractor not known)","architectural_style":"Colonial Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Exterior in good condition; interior unknown; used as a residence.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:14.50665-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/85001881.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85001881/d57810bb8a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85001881/d57810bb8a-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Demand-Gest_House,_winter.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Demand-Gest_House,_winter.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71984512","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demand-Gest_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14716402"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/champaign-county/demand-gest-house-85001881/"}