Kemp-Shepard House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Kemp-Shepard House
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 Location in Vermont
Location in the United States
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| Location | VT 104A, 1 mile (1.6 km) SE of US 7, Georgia, Vermont |
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| Area | 10.5 acres (4.2 ha) |
| Built | 1830 |
| Built by | Kemp, Levi, N. |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 97001442 |
| Added to NRHP | November 13, 1997 |
The Kemp-Shepard House is a very old and special house in Georgia, Vermont. It sits on Highbridge Road, also known as Vermont Route 104A. The main part of this brick house was built around 1830. It was an important early project by a skilled builder from the area. This main house is connected to an even older wooden part. The land where the house stands was one of the first places settled in the eastern part of Georgia town. Because of its history and unique style, the house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
Exploring the Kemp-Shepard House
The Kemp-Shepard House is located in a country area of eastern Georgia. You can find it on the north side of Highbridge Road. It is just east of where the road crosses a small part of Arrowhead Mountain Lake. The house sits on about 10 acres (about 4 hectares) of land. This land is what is left of a much larger farm. Most of the original farm was covered by water when the lake was created in 1937.
What Does It Look Like?
The main part of the house is made of brick. It has one and a half stories. The roof comes to a point at the front. The house sits on a strong stone foundation. Behind this main part, there is a wooden wing with its own pointed roof.
The front of the main house has three sections. The front door is set back into the wall on the right side. It has tall, narrow windows on either side. The door and all the windows are rectangular. They have stone sills at the bottom and stone tops. On the upper level, there are two windows. Near the top of the roof, there is a cool diamond pattern made from bricks. The edge of the roof has a special brick design called corbelled brickwork. Inside, many of the original features are still there. The older wooden wing shows building styles from the late 1700s. Its original vertical wooden planks are now covered with horizontal wooden boards.
A Look Back in Time
The land where the Kemp-Shepard House stands was first settled a long time ago. This was in the 1780s or early 1790s. At that time, the property was about 80 acres (about 32 hectares). There was a log cabin on the land, but it was taken down in the 1980s.
The wooden farmhouse, which is now the back part of the current house, was built between 1790 and 1810. The main brick part of the house was added around 1830. This brick section is the earliest known work of a builder named Levi N. Kemp. We do not know much about him, but his buildings that are still standing are very well made. Other builders in the area copied some of the brick designs seen on this house. They used these ideas for other brick houses nearby.
The Kemp-Shepard House stayed in the same family for a very long time. These were the descendants of Kemp, who later took the name Shepard. The house did not get modern things like indoor plumbing or electricity until the 1980s.
