Schafer House

Set on the northern bank of the Ohio River about two miles east of Neville, this two-and-one-half story brick house faces the river with its south gable end. A two-story central porch with square wood columns, a hip roof and a turned balustrade marks the three-bay front, and an open porch with an iron rail spans the remaining bays. Rear and side additions, one frame and one brick and possibly from the 1920s, give the plan a U shape. The construction date is unknown, though it apparently falls between 1830 and 1840, probably during Whipple family ownership. Albert Schafer received the land in 1890. Major Woods bought it in 1927 and used it as a summer boys' camp, and a later owner restored it in the 1930s. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers acquired it in 1958 and it was once slated for demolition during the Meldahl Dam project. It is now leased to the Clermont Historical Society for restoration as a museum. The form calls it a classic early Ohio River home.