Harnish, Johannes, Farmstead
Why it's listed
Built on the east side of US Route 222 south of Lancaster city, the Johannes Harnish Farmstead is a group of stone, brick and frame buildings dating from the 1760s to the 1920s. The stone farmhouse bears a datestone reading 1774 and was finished by the joiners Gottlieb Sehner and John Bachman, whose account books record payments for the work. Nearby stand a brick Pennsylvania style dwelling of about 1860, a mid-1800s frame kitchen with a walk-in fireplace, a stone springhouse that may be of the eighteenth century, and a tobacco shed of about 1925 built after fire destroyed the barn. The farmstead was held by one family through several generations, from Johannes Harnish and his wife Anna to later descendants. Its buildings and landscape buffers retain the setting of an older farm despite nearby housing. The nomination regards the grouping as an unusually complete example of how Lancaster County farms changed over time, and it is one of the few places in the township where two regional house types stand side by side.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the farmstead is significant for its evolutionary development as a Lancaster County farm over several generations of one family, and for its largely intact group of buildings from circa 1765 to circa 1925. It states the farmhouse is documented as the work of Lancaster joiners and builders Gottlieb Sehner and John Bachman, and that the site is the only one documented in West Lampeter Township with both a Germanic style farmhouse and a Pennsylvania farmhouse in one grouping.
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 99000327, listed March 12, 1999. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Woodfield Crossing, 202, West Lampeter Township |
|---|---|
| County | Lancaster County |
| Listed | March 12, 1999 |
| Reference number | 99000327 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | ca. 1765 - ca. 1925 |
| Architect / builder | Sehner, Gottlieb; Bachman, John |
| Architectural style | OTHER: Pennsylvania German vernacular |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | The farmhouse was rehabilitated in 1958-1960; the barn burned circa 1923 and only its stone ruin remains; the tobacco shed has stable alterations at its east end. |
| Acreage | 14.5 |
| Coordinates | 40.00173, -76.28598 (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 99000327.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q6216723
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.