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NATIONAL REGISTER NOMINATION STAFF REPORT PROPERTY Evergreen Hills 59449 Keria Trail South Bend, IN. 46614 OWNER John and Anne Abernethy 1211 Eckman Street South Bend, IN. 46614 [.911IIM107:1:713.1 The nomination proposes placement of these building and site on the National Register of Historic Places based on Criterion C and A: design construction and association with events. National Register Bulletin 15 — How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation provides that "Properties may be eligible for the National Register if they embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction..." These characteristics are further described as "The pattern of features common to a . particular category of resources." RECOMMENDATION The Staff of the HPC recommends in favor of the nomination of Evergreen Hills located at 59449 Keria Trail, South Bend, Indiana to the National Register of Historic Places. The building meets Criterion C and A as exemplary of Italianate Revival architecture and its association with the exploration and settlement of St. Joseph County by one of its earliest white settlers, Peter Rupel.' As described in the Statement of Significance section of the nomination, the main building is a well preserved example of high -style Italianate architecture in a farm setting. It is considered architecturally significant for its excellently preserved representation of characteristics associated with Italianate architecture of this era, including a shallow pitched roof; cornice brackets; decorative frieze; tall, narrow windows and window hoods. Since its construction in 1873 the house has had two small room additions added to the kitchen and a sunroom replaced a bay window on the south elevation. Currently a family room and bathroom addition is being added to the west fagade of the kitchen where the summer kitchen used to be. The building is considered historically significant by its role in the early settlement of St. Joseph County. The land was granted to Peter Rupel in 1831 by a grant signed by Andrew Jackson. The Rupel farm was one of the earliest settlements in St. Joseph County and has remained in the family to this day.