368 Riverside Dr

From the National Register nomination

Two-story, three-bay single-family dwelling of 3- and 5-course Ametican-bond brick on a coursed-rubble foundation, with a standing-seam-metal gable roof and two exterior-end brick chimneys. Other exterior features include a single-leaf paneled wood door, 6/6 double-hung wood windows, a molded wood cornice across the front and rear elevations, and four-light hinged windows in gable ends (flanking chimneys). A one-story shed addition, dating from the 1990s and never completed, extends across the rear elevation of the house. Situated on a one-and-a-half-acre parcel comprised of low ground adjacent to the South River. Built in two principal phases, the Crouse House originally was a one-room-plan dwelling that stood only one-and-a-half stories. Additions in the antebellum period, during John and Catherine Crouse's ownership, raised the house to a full two stories and extended it northwards to create a center-passage-plan. Intact interior features of the house include some wide plank flooring, enclosed winder stairs, Federal mantels and several later mantels, beaded moldings, plaster walls, paneled doors, and some original hardware. John Crouse, a blacksmith, farmer and land speculator, with his wife Catherine acquired this property in 1817, and the property remained in the family until 1944, when it was acquired by an African American couple, Andrew and Ella Harris. Black families retained ownership of the property until 1990.

Information supplied by Elliott and Wood, "The John Crouse House" .