Talk:Walter Curtis House

A fact from Walter Curtis House appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 31 January 2011 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that the Walter Curtis House has been recognized as one of the best Greek Revival farmhouses in southeastern Ohio?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2011/January.

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"Greek Revival"

Is its construction date, 1827, the only "Greek Revival" feature?--Wetman (talk) 09:07, 22 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I seriously doubt it. Many houses from the period are in the Federal style, such as the Daniel Stout House in Indiana; it's not as if all period buildings are automatically called Greek Revival. Presumably there are Greek Revival elements that are (1) not visible in this image because it's taken from a distance, or (2) hidden under the overgrowth, or (3) on sides of the house not pictured, or (4) a combination of 1 and/or 2 and/or 3. Nyttend (talk) 17:01, 22 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

No, I do think it's most likely that almost any house of 1827 falls within a prescribed "Greek Revival period" for the compilers of the National Park Service listings. An actual Greek Revival house of c 1820, for comparison purposes, is Nicholas Longworth's house some 50 miles away, now housing the Taft Museum of Art. Does "Greek Revival" absolutely have to be associated with the vernacular board and batten-sided Walter Curtis house on the Main Page of Wikipedia? Doesn't seem essential to the DYK squib. --Wetman (talk) 21:44, 24 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry, the source disagrees with you on both counts: this house is classified as Greek Revival, and places like the Stout House aren't so classified. Running a search of National Register-listed houses in Ohio built during this period, the first three that I found from the second half of the 1820s were the Finley-Darrah House (profile), the Col. Erastus House House (profile), and the William Walker, Jr., House (profile). None of these are classified as Greek Revival. Nyttend (talk) 23:30, 24 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Moreover, the source and the image both tell you that its walls are brick, not board and batten. Nyttend (talk) 23:35, 24 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Correct about board-and-batten: I was distracted looking at another house. Too bad, nevertheless, that this made it to the Main page as "one of the best Greek Revival [sic] farmhouses in southeastern Ohio" when there are in fact no exterior Greek Revival details, however the National Register Information System may classify it. Search at the linked NRIS "source" provides nothing for the Walter Curtis House, so the only "Greek Revival" connection is the misinformation at Ohio Historic Preservation Office website. Dropping this page from my watchlist, I simply point out what any architecturally literate reader might note. --Wetman (talk) 00:18, 1 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Since you've not seen all sides of the house, you're hardly qualified to judge the professional architectural historians whose works are used as references here. Please read Wikipedia:The Truth. Nyttend (talk) 03:19, 1 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]