The Samuel Harper Stone House is a historic residence in rural

Guernsey County Guernsey County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 38,438. Its county seat is Cambridge, and it is named for the Isle of Guernsey in the English Channel, from which many of the county's earl ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. A traditional building constructed in the 1840s by a well-known local builder, it has been named a historic site. The first resident of the house, Samuel Harper, was an ancestor of founding

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

president

William Rainey Harper William Rainey Harper (July 24, 1856 – January 10, 1906) was an American academic leader, an accomplished semiticist, and Baptist clergyman. Harper helped to establish both the University of Chicago and Bradley University and served as the fi ...

, although the latter man was never associated with his forefather's house. Construction was performed in 1841 by

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

resident Archibald Boal, who gained the reputation of a master

stonemason Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. It is one of the oldest activities and professions in human history. Many of the long-lasting, ancient shelters, temples, mo ...

through his work on buildings such as the Harper House.Owen, Lorrie K., ed. ''Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places''. Vol. 1. St. Clair Shores: Somerset, 1999, 554-555. Constructed of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

on a foundation of another kind of stone,, Ohio Historical Society, 2007. Accessed 2014-02-26. the Harper House is typical of the once-common

vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

building form known as the I-house. The two-story interior is built around a central hallway on each floor, with rooms on either side. The façade is a simple rectangle, with narrow sides rising to

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

s and a wider five-

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

façade. A chimney pierces the

roofline Roofline is used to describe the fascia, soffits, bargeboards, antefixes and cladding that forms the frontage immediately below the roof and the eaves of many homes and buildings. These are traditionally made from wood, but can be made of a ...

at either end, while the façade features openings in each bay of each story; all are windows except the center of the first story, in which the main entrance is placed. The building is exceedingly simple, with virtually no ornamentation; the sole exception is slight decoration above the main entrance on the

lintel A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented structural item. In the case of w ...

. Assorted farm-related outbuildings surround the house, which predates all of the outbuildings. In early 1980, the Harper House was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

, qualifying because of its historically significant architecture. The same designation was granted on the same day to the James Hunter Stone House near Adamsville to the west, another building constructed by Archibald Boal.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Houses completed in 1841 Houses in Guernsey County, Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Guernsey County, Ohio Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio I-houses in Ohio Stone houses in Ohio Vernacular architecture in Ohio