{"nrhp_refnum":"94000770","name":"Liggett-Freedlander House","other_names":["David Q. Liggett House","Shupe House","Herman Freedlander House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"408 N. Bever St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Wooster","county":"Wayne County","state":"OH","lat":40.80233201300007,"lon":-81.93804135299996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1994-07-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story wood-frame single-family house at 408 N. Bever Street in Wooster, Wayne County, Ohio, built around 1861-62 and extensively remodeled in the Italianate style around 1880 and again around 1918.","why_significant":"It is nominated under Criterion B for its association with Herman Freedlander, a leading Wooster businessman who owned the department store that bears his family name and lived here from 1918 until 1974. It is nominated under Criterion C as a notable and highly ornate example of Italianate and late Victorian architecture in Wooster.","narrative":"Located in a residential neighborhood north of downtown Wooster, this two-story wood house began around 1861-62 as an ell-shaped, gable-roofed building with Greek Revival cornice returns. Around 1880 it was remodeled in the Italianate manner, gaining a corner tower with slate hipped roof and iron cresting, an octagonal mansard-roofed pavilion, paired eave brackets and decorative stickwork. A Colonial Revival wrap-around porch, new entry and one-over-one windows followed around 1918. Much Victorian interior woodwork survives. Herman Freedlander bought the house in 1918 and lived there until 1974. He managed the family clothing store, which grew into a large downtown department store, and he supported playgrounds, Wooster's first public swimming pool and the founding of a local temple. After his death the house was divided into apartments, but later owners restored it to a single-family home. It is considered one of the most ornate houses in Wooster.","period_of_significance":"1861-circa 1880; 1918-1944","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late Victorian (predominantly Italianate, with Late Greek Revival and Colonial Revival elements)","criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"Historically converted to apartments after 1974, then restored to a single-family dwelling by the current owners; current function is single dwelling. One altered garage is noncontributing.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:07.107237-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/94000770.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94000770/9a16b2aef2-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94000770/9a16b2aef2-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Liggett-Freedlander_House_in_Wooster.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Liggett-Freedlander_House_in_Wooster.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71991984","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138766157"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/wayne-county/liggett-freedlander-house-94000770/"}