Cant Ranch, House, East side of State Route 19, North of U.S. 26, Dayville, Grant County, OR

Significance: The Cant Ranch is one of the best-preserved examples of the early 20th century ranching operations in the John Day River Valley. The ranch complex includes 11 structures: ranch house, barn and sheepshearing stalls, cabin, bunkhouse, privy, chicken coop, feed storage shed, workshop, shed, sheep pens, and watchman's hut. The most prominent building is the main ranch house, built circa 1915-18. it is an imposing 2-1/2-story, hip-roof structure with extensive porches. The central hall plan incorporates a central stairhall running west to east. Living room, dining room, kitchen, parlor, bedroom, baths and storage on the first floor; six bedrooms and a bath on the second floor; and a large open room in the attic story. The plan is a composite of three house plans from "Radford American Homes," a book of 100 house plans published in 1903. The Ranch House is currently used by the National Park Service as a visitors' facility for the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. In 1984, the ranch complex and adjacent lands were nominated as a historic district to the National Register of Historic Places.
Survey number: HABS OR-142-A
Building/structure dates: ca. 1918 Initial Construction
National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 84003000