Building date: Roudabush 1835; Palmer between 1838 and 1844.
Original use:
Corner structures: Quoins are uniform square cut gray limestone. Tooled.
Mortar application and content: Horizontal rounded. Vertical, slight embellishment. Vertical pyramids
Types and uses of stones: Lake washed cobbles. Small red. Front wall constructed of small rounded red sandstones laid six courses to the quoin.
Types and choice of windows: Lintels cut gray limestone
Structures with similar masonry details:
Masons who worked on building: Purton Grow (sometimes listed as "Elmer")
Unique features:
Map views courtesy Google Maps. Google Maps street level view is not available. Address is Google Earth confirmed; 42°45'44.79"N 77°02'24.72"W. Current owner of record, Quackenbush as of the 2019 Tax Roll.
Town of Benton and Yates County Maps.
The one and a half story house on Alexander Road has a front wall constructed of small rounded red sandstones laid six courses to the quoin. The quoins are uniform square cut gray limestone, and the lintels are constructed of the same material. It has a porch attached to the west wall. Roudabush Survey page 122
The Nichols House at 1980 Alexander Road, Town of Benton. This Greek Revival house was built by mason Purton Grow (sometimes listed as "Elmer") between 1838 and 1844 for William Nichols. Grow reportedly had worked on the Erie Canal and then turned to house building. The cobbles were hauled from Lake Ontario by ox team. It took three years to collect enough stones. Small red sandstones dominate the front facade. This is a one and a half story Greek Revival structure built of red sandstone, lake washed cobbles. The carpentry and masonry work are exceptional. The main entrance is boldly framed with smooth pilasters on pedestal bases. It was placed on the National Register in 1992. Richard Palmer blog.
"The Cobblestone Houses of Upstate New York", compiled by Dorothy Wells Pease. Research done in collaboration with Hazed B. Jeffery, supplemented with material furnished by Carl F. Schmidt, 1941. Reference the sixth paragraph on page 21.
"Historic Yates Area Homes", Geneva Daily Times, Monday, February 2, 1955.
"Permanent File of Cobblestone Structures".
"Gateways To Cobblestone Houses of Yates County", by Crooked Lake Yorkers, Penn Yan Academy, page 11, 1967.
"A Brief History of Cobblestone Architecture in Yates County, New York", By Richard F. Palmer.
The Cobblestone Society & Museum Tours:
Nichols - Schulz House 8th Annual 06/15/1968Yorkers Assist - Cobblestone Society Plans Yates Tour.Geneva Times, 6/6/68.
"Cobblestone buffs visit historic homes in Geneva-Penn Yan area", Syracuse Herald-American, 6/16/1968.
|
National Register of Historic Places Registration
- "The Era of Cobblestone Architecture", unpublished manuscript 1972. To access the manuscript content about this structure, see 158. Yates County, Nichols-Schulz House, and 174. Doorway: Nichols-Schulz House. This structure is not included in the subsequent book "Cobblestone Landmarks of New York State", 1978.
¹ Photography courtesy Gerda Peterich. Cobblestone Museum.
² Image courtesy Cobblestone Museum.
³ Photography courtesy Martin and Sheila Wolfish.
4 Photography courtesy Richard Palmer.
