The William Burnett House was a historic

farmhouse FarmHouse (FH) is a social Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternity founded at the University of Missouri on April 15, 1905. It became a national organization in 1921. Today FarmHouse has 33 active chapters and four associate ch ...

located near the city of

Washington Court House Washington Court House (often abbreviated as Washington C.H.) is a city in Union Township, Fayette County, Ohio. It is the county seat of Fayette County and is located between Cincinnati and Columbus. The population grew almost 1.5% from 2010 to ...

in Fayette County,

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 ...

. Constructed in the nineteenth century, it was once a masterpiece of multiple architectural styles, and it was designated a historic site because of its architectural distinction.

Burnett

William Burnett was a prominent Union Township resident in the middle of the 19th century: an 1850 publication recorded him as serving as a

constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

for the township and as a

marshal Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated o ...

for the village of Washington Court House. Six years later, he was elected to a five-year term as the county sheriff for Fayette County. In addition to his law enforcement duties, Burnett operated a farm on the Leesburg Road southwest of Washington Courthouse;Owen, Lorrie K., ed. ''Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places''. Vol. 1. St. Clair Shores: Somerset, 1999, 408-409. here he built a new house in 1869.

Architecture

Burnett's house was built with brick walls and foundation, a metal roof, and elements of wood. Five

bays 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, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a narr ...

wide, it featured an unusual combination of architectural styles: the basic floor plan was that of an I-house, but unlike most I-houses, it was constructed with high-style features common to the

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

and Italianate styles of architecture. Some of the most prominent components of the house's design were the pairs of

brackets A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. Typically deployed in symmetric pairs, an individual bracket may be identified as a 'left' or 'r ...

placed above the hooded windows to support the large

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

; these Italianate elements were supplemented by Greek pieces such as the glass around the main entrance, which featured a

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 ...

sidelight A sidelight or sidelite in a building is a window, usually with a vertical emphasis, that flanks a door or a larger window. Sidelights are narrow, usually stationary and found immediately adjacent doorways.Barr, Peter.Illustrated Glossary, 19th ...

s, and a transom light. Together, the Greek and Italianate elements served to distinguish Burnett's residence from the typical I-house, which was a thoroughly

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 ...

structure.

Preservation

In early 1989, the Burnett 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. Despite this designation, the house was destroyed by 2006,Fayette County Comprehensive Use Strategy Plan
, Fayette County, 2006, 13. Accessed 2013-05-23. but it remains listed on the Register.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burnett, William, House Houses completed in 1869 Buildings and structures in Fayette County, Ohio Greek Revival houses in Ohio I-houses in Ohio Italianate architecture in Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Fayette County, Ohio U.S. Route 62 1869 establishments in Ohio 2006 disestablishments in Ohio Buildings and structures demolished in 2006