Kemmerer House
Also known as: Irongate; Residence of Mr. and Mrs. Russell L. Pellett
Why it's listed
Built of brick in about 1840-1850, this sizable farmhouse in Emmaus, Lehigh County, has a five-bay southern facade and a central side-lighted entrance door with a transom. It retains features of houses from two generations earlier, and its interior evidence, including ceiling heights and fireplace types, places the original construction before the Civil War. An 18th-century root cellar beneath the basement suggests the present house replaced an earlier dwelling on the same stone foundations. The house stands with a detached summer kitchen wing and a Pennsylvania-German forebay barn on a fenced yard. Frederick X. Camerer was the original settler of the Kemmerer Homestead, and Henry Walter Kemmerer is thought to have built the main house around the time of his father's death in 1851. The property is significant as a farm complex that shows the character of 19th-century Lehigh County farming, with Georgian-derived proportions carried into the later period.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the house is a fine example of a 19th-century farmstead whose proportion and plan reflect earlier Georgian prototypes. It is said to reflect the arrival of cultural tastes into the Lehigh farming area, and the house, kitchen wing and barn together are described as a handsome complex that exemplifies 19th-century Lehigh County farm life.
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 77001173, listed September 14, 1977. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 3 Iroquois St., Emmaus |
|---|---|
| County | Lehigh County |
| Listed | September 14, 1977 |
| Reference number | 77001173 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1800-1899 |
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Acreage | 0.5 |
| Coordinates | 40.54871, -75.50037 (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 77001173.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q6386976
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.