Greenman, William J., House
Why it's listed
Built in 1896 at 27 North Church Street in Cortland, this Queen Anne style house was constructed for William J. Greenman, president of the Cortland Door & Window Screen Company. It follows House No. 1 from George Franklin Barber's 1895 magazine American Homes, and its floor plan matches Barber's published plan with virtually no changes. Barber ran a large mail-order architecture office in Knoxville, Tennessee, and this is one of at least three known examples of the design, the others being in Alabama and Illinois. Local builder John Ireland carried out the construction. The clapboard house sits on a rusticated stone foundation and has wraparound porches with turned woodwork, half-timbered gables, a multi-sided attic tower and a decorated south elevation. Inside, extensive woodwork, mantels, pocket doors and inlaid floors survive. Converted to apartments in the mid-twentieth century, it now serves as an office building and has been carefully maintained.
Significance in brief: It is significant under Criterion C as a substantially intact example of a Queen Anne house based on George Franklin Barber's House No. 1 from his 1895 American Homes. The Cortland house copies Barber's second floor plan exactly, with virtually no changes. It is one of at least three known examples of this design in the United States and illustrates the early mail-order house trade.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 11000542, listed August 18, 2011. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 27 N. Church St., Cortland |
|---|---|
| County | Cortland County |
| Listed | August 18, 2011 |
| Reference number | 11000542 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1896 |
| Architect / builder | George Franklin Barber, Architect; John Ireland, Builder |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian: Queen Anne |
| Criteria |
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| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Currently used as an office building; it was converted to apartments in the mid-twentieth century, which changed some of the floor plan, but its historic character is described as not compromised and the plan could be restored. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 42.60606, -76.17735 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 11000542.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q23091702
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.