{"nrhp_refnum":"87001940","name":"Gerrard, Stephen A., Mansion","other_names":["Cantaloupe King Mansion"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"748 Betula Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cincinnati","county":"Hamilton County","state":"OH","lat":39.16101030400006,"lon":-84.48591326499997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1987-11-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story limestone Tudor Revival mansion at 748 Betula Avenue in the North Avondale neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, built in 1915 for Stephen A. Gerrard and designed by Cincinnati architects C.C. and E.A. Weber. A large organ room was added in 1929.","why_significant":"The house is significant under Criterion C as an excellent, highly intact example of Tudor Revival architecture in Cincinnati. Its limestone walls, gargoyles, crenellation and slate roof are paired with an elaborate $100,000 organ room that the nomination says cannot be matched in the city. It was also built for Gerrard, a cantaloupe shipping magnate.","narrative":"Perched on the highest crest of Cincinnati's North Avondale, this fifteen-room, 7,000-square-foot limestone house was completed in 1915 for produce merchant Stephen A. Gerrard, nicknamed the Cantaloupe King. Cincinnati architects C.C. and E.A. Weber designed it in the Tudor Revival style, with steep gables, a slate roof, tall decorated chimneys, stone hoodmolds, crenellation, a stone belt course, and two gargoyles. Inside are paneled rooms, molded plaster ceilings and marble fireplaces. In 1929 Gerrard added a two-story organ room costing $100,000, built to hold what he called the nation's largest home organ, with carved screens, murals and a marble mantel. Gerrard made his fortune shipping cantaloupes by refrigerated rail car, but the Depression ruined his company, and he died in 1936 after the bank took the house. The property is recognized for its architecture and its unmatched organ room. The organ has deteriorated, and restoration of the room and garden is planned.","period_of_significance":"1915; 1929","architect_builder":"C.C. and E.A. Weber","architectural_style":"Tudor Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Listed as a single dwelling, historically and currently. The organ is described as in ruins from neglect and termite infestation, and the organ room and formal garden are slated for restoration.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:14.275686-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/87001940.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87001940/d9082f4344-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87001940/d9082f4344-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stephen_A._Gerrard_Mansion.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stephen_A._Gerrard_Mansion.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71988995","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_A._Gerrard_Mansion","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7608526"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/hamilton-county/gerrard-stephen-a-mansion-87001940/"}