Several notable families have occupied the Harper House. The Harper Family was the last of seven families to occupy the Shuler-Harper House, as some locals still refer to it. Daniel Webster Shuler built the house in 1887. In 1923, Finley Gwyn Harper, Sr. (1880-1951), purchased the house from Mrs. Minnie C. Taylor. The Harper family resided there until December 21, 2000, when it was acquired by the CCHA.
The Harper family understood the house’s architectural significance. They preserved the foyer’s carved, coffered ceiling and intricate stained-glass window; the parquet floors of the dining room and grand parlor; the ornate brass-work of the heavy doorknobs, sashes, key plates, and many sets of pocket doors; the piano-grade cherry of the staircase with two landings and the dining room’s carved wainscoting, as well as the numerous silhouettes of family friends on the walls of the attic, where Mr. and Mrs. Harper, Sr., entertained during Prohibition.
The mantles have now been returned to their original places, and the CCHA with the assistance of nationally renown consultants have transformed the house back to its original paint scheme and redecorated the house with Victorian wall-paper. A restored porch—with recreated balustrades, brackets, strings of spindles, and the custom-turned columns—is the latest restoration. A hipped roof with lower cross gables, the Harper House’s exterior is composed of classic Queen Anne features: irregular massing, half-timbered gables, differing wall textures, including pebbledash and scalloped wooden shingles, a full-width porch extending along two sides, as well as a second-story porch, and a tower with stained-glass windows.
You are looking for a loc-n-loc large enough for a few trade items.
The house is open, for tours, Thurs. - Sat., 10-5 and Sundays, 1-5, so be careful of muggles. It is NOT required to tour the house to receive a smiley for the Geocache. Geocache is hidden with permission by establishment. Sit for awhile and enjoy the garden. ******Congratulations to NYHOF for FTF*****