White House, The
Also known as: James Butterfield House
Why it's listed
Built about 1792 for James Butterfield, this white clapboard house sits on a rise overlooking the Otego Creek valley in Hartwick, Otsego County. It has a two-story, five-bay south front and an L-shaped plan with a roof that is gabled at the ends and hipped over the southeast corner. Inside, the frame shows at least two early building phases, with hewn and adzed timbers, numbered rafters, wrought nails and wide pine paneling reused from the original house. A restoration begun in the late 1930s, based on 1937 plans, gave it Colonial Revival details. The 19-acre property also has a barn from about 1870 enlarged in the late 1940s, a corn crib, and a brick library/bookstore built in 1948-1949. Its significance rests on its survival as an early dwelling of the frontier settlement era, when New England families came to newly created Otsego County, and on its long single-family ownership and later restoration.
Significance in brief: The house is an early frontier-era dwelling in Otsego County, built in at least two phases and reusing an earlier house's chimney foundation. It was remodeled in the late 1930s and 1940s in Colonial Revival style, and it retains much original framing and fabric. The form treats it as locally significant, linked to the Butterfield family and the settlement of the area by New Englanders.
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 12000598, listed September 4, 2012. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 108 White House Rd., Hartwick |
|---|---|
| County | Otsego County |
| Listed | September 4, 2012 |
| Reference number | 12000598 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architect / builder | Library/bookstore: Katz Waisman Blumenkranz Stein Weber Architecture Associates; 1937 house remodeling plans by Edgarton and Edgarton |
| Architectural style | Federal: Colonial Revival |
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Social History |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Historic and current use is a single dwelling. The current functions also include a specialty store. |
| Acreage | 19.3 |
| Coordinates | 42.69078, -75.05874 (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 12000598.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q23092165
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.