O'Donel House and Farm
Approximate location: the National Park Service places this pin arbitrarily within the property, not at a surveyed point (stated accuracy ±12 m).
Why it's listed
Built ca. 1863 in Toboyne Township, Perry County, the O'Donel House is a two-story log house of pièce sur pièce corner-post construction, set on a fieldstone foundation with a large fieldstone chimney on its west end. Tradition holds that David Yocum built it. Its three-room plan on each floor resembles the Pennsylvania German Continental house, but its external west chimney reflects English building practice, and the nomination treats this mix of traditions as a key reason for listing. The house is described as one of only six corner-post log houses known to survive in Perry County, and one of the few with good integrity. The farmstead also includes a bank barn of heavy timber framing, dated by family history to 1893, and a combined wash house and smokehouse. The house has been occupied by members of the O'Donel family, and the property was later transferred to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Significance in brief: The house is built in pièce sur pièce corner-post log construction, which the nomination describes as a fairly rare form in Perry County and one of only six such houses known to survive there, with good integrity. It blends Pennsylvania German and English building traditions in its plan and chimney placement. The outbuildings, including the late nineteenth-century bank barn, are described as representative of typical county farm buildings.
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 86001687, listed July 17, 1986. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | W of New Germantown on PA 274, Blain |
|---|---|
| County | Perry County |
| Listed | July 17, 1986 |
| Reference number | 86001687 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1863 |
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Lee O'Donel, aged 91 years, continues to occupy the dwelling under a building lease with the Commonwealth. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 40.28158, -77.62171 (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 86001687.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7071759
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.