Building date: 1840
Original use:
Corner structures:
Mortar application and content:
Types and uses of stones: Field stones of various sizes, shapes and colors.
Types and choice of windows:
Structures with similar masonry details:
Masons who worked on building:
Unique features:
Map views courtesy Google Maps. Address is Google Earth confirmed; 42°53'17.39"N 78°31'59.24"W. Current owner of record, Pielechowski as of the 2019 Tax Roll.
Town of Alden and Erie County Maps.
The Rautenstranch-Knucke House at 979 Four Rod Road in the town of Alden was built about 1840 of field stones of various sizes, shapes and colors. It is believed to be the only existing cobblestone house in Erie County. It appears to have been extensively renovated over the years. Richard Palmer email 6/06/2020.
Following from the local historian on the cobblestone house at 979 Four Rod Road, Alden. Richard Palmer email 6/07/2020.
The Town Assessor has a date of 1840 for the house. Our first map of the Town is dated 1855 and Oliver Field (1799-1872) is shown as the owner of the property. His wife owned it after Oliver's death. On the 1909 map, the owner is M. Knoche. The Rautenstrauch family came between 1915 and 1920. The house is one of only two cobblestone houses in Erie County. Both houses are only cobblestone on the first floor. It is believed that the large dormer on the second floor is a later addition. (Erie County's Architectural Legacy, 1983). It appears to have been extensively renovated over the years.Karen Muchow, Town & Village of Alden Historian
- "Cobblestone Masonry", 1966, Carl Schmidt: Name reference, Rautenstranch-Knucke House
- Page 23
 1854 Erie County Map Alden Excerpt.jpg 6 Click link to enlarge. |  img058.jpg ¹ |  img059.jpg ² |  Ald-1, Rautenstranch-Knucke House 1.jpg ³ Jan 1972 |
 Ald-1, Rautenstranch-Knucke House 2.jpg ³ |  GP Erie Alden Ald-1_1 N.jpg 4 |  IMG_4181.jpg 5 Facing South |  IMG_4185.jpg 5 Facing North |
 IMG_4186.jpg 5 Facing west |
¹ Image courtesy Karen Muchow, Town & Village of Alden Historian.
² Artwork by Conrad Boruck. Image courtesy Karen Muchow, Town & Village of Alden Historian.
³ Image courtesy Cobblestone Museum
4 Image courtesy Gerda Peterich.
5 Photography courtesy Richard Palmer.
6 1854 Erie County Map excerpt, Town of Alden, courtesy Library of Congress. Believed location of cobblestone structure and owner in 1854
