{"nrhp_refnum":"85002543","name":"Townsend, Henry, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"231 W. Neck Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Huntington","county":"Suffolk County","state":"NY","lat":40.92603495700007,"lon":-73.43636961699997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-09-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Agriculture","Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-and-one-half story clapboard and shingle dwelling at 231 West Neck Road, Huntington, Suffolk County, New York, built circa 1830 by Henry Townsend and remodelled in the 1850s, with several outbuildings.","why_significant":"It is a distinctive example of mid-nineteenth century residential architecture in Huntington, where an early house was updated with Swiss-inspired decorative details likely drawn from A.J. Downing's published designs. It also reflects the change of the West Neck Road area from a rural farming community to a residential suburb. Its farm outbuildings are rare surviving examples of their type and period in densely developed Huntington.","narrative":"Set on a one-and-one-half acre lot along West Neck Road in Huntington, this house was built around 1830 by Henry Townsend. It is a five-bay, center-hall dwelling with clapboard and shingle sheathing, small-pane sash windows and interior end chimneys. In the 1850s the exterior was remodelled with broad overhanging eaves, exposed carved rafter ends, scrollsawn corner braces, kingpost trusses in the gable ends, and gable dormers with scalloped vergeboards. These Swiss-inspired details probably followed designs published by A.J. Downing and his followers. The property also keeps mid-nineteenth century farm outbuildings, including a well house, privy, smokehouse and shed, plus a late nineteenth century carriage house later converted to a garage. The house is valued as an example of how older local dwellings were updated to reflect national tastes, and for showing the area's shift from agriculture to a suburban setting on the edge of Huntington's business district.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Architect unknown; builder Henry Townsend","architectural_style":"Settlement period house with mid-nineteenth century Swiss-inspired decorative alterations","criteria":[],"status_note":"Inventory form lists condition as good, with no known threats; the house remains in residential use and the interior is open by appointment only.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:44.653909-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/85002543.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85002543/dcc65029f2-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85002543/dcc65029f2-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Muncharelli","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Henry_Townsend_House_West_Neck_Road.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Muncharelli</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Henry_Townsend_House_West_Neck_Road.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75314851","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Townsend_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5729263"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/suffolk-county/townsend-henry-house-85002543/"}