{"nrhp_refnum":"92000437","name":"Nichols, William, Cobblestone Farmhouse","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Alexander Rd. W of jct. with Thistle St. Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Benton","county":"Yates County","state":"NY","lat":42.75785589450004,"lon":-77.03811798487686,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1992-05-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one and one-half story, L-shaped Greek Revival farmhouse built of lake-washed cobblestones around 1844 on Alexander Road in the rural town of Benton, Yates County, New York. It sits on a 69.4-acre parcel with a garage, barn, well and smokehouse.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is a highly intact example of cobblestone construction in New York State, typical of the late Middle Period (ca. 1835-1845) and among the finest in Yates County. It is also a high-style rather than vernacular example of Greek Revival rural domestic architecture in the Finger Lakes region. The cobblestone smokehouse is a rare surviving cobblestone farm dependency with herringbone masonry.","narrative":"Set on a 69.4-acre parcel along Alexander Road in Benton, Yates County, this cobblestone farmhouse was built around 1844. The one and one-half story, L-shaped house is faced with small, reddish, oval lake-washed cobbles laid at an angle, with six cobbles per quoin on the front facade. Gray limestone lintels, sills and quoins, a wide frieze, cornice returns and a recessed front entrance with fluted Doric columns give it Greek Revival character. Outbuildings include an early twentieth century garage and dairy barn, a stone well, and a small cobblestone smokehouse with herringbone masonry. The house is described as one of the most finely crafted cobblestone buildings in Yates County, representing the late Middle Period of cobblestone construction, and as a high-style example of Greek Revival farmhouse design in the region. Most of the original farm has been subdivided, but the remaining acreage preserves an agricultural setting. The period of significance runs to about 1920 to include the barn and garage.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1844 - ca. 1920","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Mid-19th Century; Greek Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Historic and current use is a single dwelling; the smokehouse is described as deteriorated and obscured by overgrowth.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:45.459452-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/92000437.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/92000437/7bca798268-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/92000437/7bca798268-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Araucana","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_Nichols_Cobblestone_Farmhouse_in_Yates_County_NY.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Araucana</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:William_Nichols_Cobblestone_Farmhouse_in_Yates_County_NY.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75315525","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Nichols_Cobblestone_Farmhouse","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8016130"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/yates-county/nichols-william-cobblestone-farmhouse-92000437/"}