{"nrhp_refnum":"86002886","name":"Littell, David, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"PA 18","address_restricted":false,"city":"Hookstown","county":"Beaver County","state":"PA","lat":40.55606118150004,"lon":-80.40320674221024,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-10-31","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A vernacular mid-nineteenth century brick farmhouse on about 23.5 acres in rural Hanover Township, Beaver County, Pennsylvania, near the hamlet of Mechanicsburg along Route 18. The property also includes outbuildings, three former house sites, and remains of a tannery.","why_significant":"The house is presented as a locally significant example of mid-nineteenth century architecture with modest Greek Revival influence and a high degree of original integrity. Its atypical recessed entry and tripartite center hall window, and the documented builders Hayward and Cain, are cited as distinguishing features. The property also preserves physical evidence of the Littell family's farming and tanning activities from the late eighteenth to mid-nineteenth century.","narrative":"Built of red brick laid in common bond on a dressed stone foundation, the two-story house in rural Hanover Township has a five-bay, center-hall plan, six-over-six windows and paired interior end chimneys. It was completed in 1851 by the builders Hayward and Cain, whose names are recorded in a letter dated 1849. Its recessed front entry, with a transom and sidelights, and a tripartite window on the second floor are unusual for the region. Most of the interior remains intact, including original plaster, floors, baseboards and four-panel doors, and five of the original six mantels survive. The house was built by David Littell, who ran a tanning business on the property from at least 1819 until about 1860. Tanning pits, a grinding stone and the foundations of three earlier Littell houses remain on the land. The house is significant as a rare survivor of mid-century rural construction in Hanover Township, where few nineteenth-century buildings retain comparable integrity.","period_of_significance":"1851","architect_builder":"Hayward & Cain (builders)","architectural_style":"Greek Revival influence, vernacular","criteria":[],"status_note":"Well-preserved, with original interior plaster, floors, woodwork and most mantels; gable roof and slate roofing date from later alterations.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:33.123712-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/86002886.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86002886/dec87b91aa-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86002886/dec87b91aa-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Lee Paxton","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DavidLittellHouse.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Lee Paxton</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:DavidLittellHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71995754","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Littell_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5236663"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/beaver-county/littell-david-house-86002886/"}