Lou’s View: AND THE WINNER IS…

By Lou Bernard

“As Lock Haven was growing, it became….Well, almost a competition really. It’s why so much of our architecture looks a little strange—Everyone wanted to see who had the biggest, most elaborate house. If one guy had big picture windows, the next guy had to have towers and a huge porch. They were all trying to outdo one another.”

I’ve made that speech on downtown tours a million times. It’s accurate enough, if a bit simplified. In the mid-1800s, as Lock Haven was growing and wealthy businessmen were settling here, it’s fair to frame it as a competition. All of them were, basically, competing to see who could outdo the others. They were trying to see who, in the end, wound up with the most decorative, elaborate home.

So as it was a competition, the question is obvious: Who was the winner?

I actually have the urge to figure that out. I’m interested in declaring a winner to the “big house in Lock Haven” concept. By the end of this column, I’ll make my announcement.

But first, let’s set the rules.

First, who qualifies? As I said earlier, the competitors were mostly the wealthy businessmen settling in the area in the 1800s, as Lock Haven was growing. So let’s limit this one to residential houses built before 1900.

Second rule: Here’s what we’re looking for. I’m judging this based on who had the most architecturally decorative home. I want a house that is beautiful and elaborate, something eye-catching.

And also, the time frame. As they were all trying to outdo one another, I can’t exactly take the earliest house. (Most of the very early ones are historic, but not very decorative anyway.) So the house I choose has to be the latest one built—I can’t pick one from, say, 1835 and declare it the winner, as he didn’t exactly outdo anyone else.

I’m also going to insist that it be still standing. Hey, my contest, my rules. If you got knocked down in the 1970s, you’re disqualified.

So that’s my criteria: The most elaborate house built at the latest date, pre-1900.

We have some lovely contestants: The Wilson Kistler House is beautiful. The Simpson Building is both historic and eye-catching. The Yost House….Well, let’s not talk about the Yost House.

And the winner is….

The Justine Crawford House, 204 West Main Street.

It sits on the corner of West Main and First Streets, this beautiful piece of architecture with a rounded turret and a wraparound stone porch. I get asked about it on tours a lot. It was built in 1896, making it one of the latest of the era, and I’d also judge it to be the most visually elaborate.

The Historic Resource Survey Form (If you don’t know what that is, never mind, just trust me) describes it as a Queen Anne style. It also mentions a “3-story stone and frame tower with bell-shaped roof, pinnacle, cut stone course at lintel level….Gable-end ornament incorporating king post.” It’s a really, really cool-looking building, is what we’re saying here.

Justine Crawford was a local woman, a member of Great Island Presbyterian Church, and sister-in-law to Mayor Robert Bridgens, who lived down the street. Her husband was Thomas Crawford, a local contractor, who built the house. This makes it stand out somewhat, historically, as it’s one of the few houses created by the person who actually lived there.

Justine died in 1903 at age fifty-eight. The Clinton County Times, in her obit, describes her as a “woman of most amiable and lovable disposition, benevolent and considerate.” She’s buried in Section I of Highland Cemetery, up and over the hill, beside a family monument.

And she’s the owner of the winner of my imaginary competition. The Justine Crawford House: Built the latest, and most elaborate, of those early places. Congratulations, Justine.