Cobblestone House Tour Scheduled For Southern Part of County Saturday", Citizen-Advertiser, Auburn, N.Y., May 29, 1963Four cobblestone houses between Wyckoff and Aurora will be visited Saturday, the third annual cobblestone tour, sponsored by the Cayuga Museum of History and Art and the Cobblestone Society of Childs [NY]. The tour will begin at 1 p.m. and the four houses visited are the Wyckoff-Burlew house overlooking Owasco Lake, the Fordyce-King house just west of Scipio Center, the Reynolds-McHale house on Center Road in Merrifield, and the Allen-VanBuskirk house of Aurora, overlooking Cayuga Lake. Several other unusual structures including an octagon house and a Victorian Gothic Church will be inspected from the outside.
Refreshments Planned
Prof.. Walter K. Long, director of the museum, has invited all visitors to return to the museum after the tour for refreshments at about 5 p.m.
Cobblestone construction was used almost exclusively in the Lake Ontario region of New York State. Because of the high cost and the lost secrets of the trade, no houses of this type have been built since the Civil War. The individuality of the craftsmen can be read in the laying of the cobblestone. It often took over two years to collect the cobblestones from the fields, from the shore of Lake Ontario or from a gravel pit. The stones had to be sorted as to size by running them through an iron ring or a hole in a board. Some masons wanted them sorted as to color. Because of the weight of stones and wet mortar, a mason could only lay one two or three courses at a time. Then it had to harden before the next installment could be added.
Overlooks Lake
The first home open for the tour is the Wyckoff-Burlew house overlooking Owasco Lake. The living room has a mantel over the fireplace and nice woodwork with narrow double doors into a small bedroom. The dining room also has a fireplace. The house has been in the Burlew family for over a hundred years. It is now owned by Mrs. Henry L. Burlew.
Just west of Scipio Center four corners Dr. Benjamin Fordyce built his cobblestone house in 1843. He spent two years collecting the stones for this 1 1/2 story house. Wheat was hauled to Lake Ontario and stones brought on the return trip A hundred years later Mr. and Mrs. Morgan J. King purchased the house and have been gradually restoring it. The parlor is Greek Revival in treatment with woodwork in keeping with the size and type of house. The dining room is only a little less elaborate.
About three miles west of Sherwood is a fine two-story house built by Sylvanus Hussey and his son during the middle 1830s. On the death of his father, John came into the possession in 1838. The John Rafferty family has owned it since 1905. The stones here lack the finished "V" in the vertical joints found in some sections. The house is not open to the tour, but may be studied from the outside.
Van Buskirk house
The Allen-Van Buskirk house, just north of Aurora and overlooking Cayuga Lake, was built sometime after 1845. It is an example of Victorian, or late cobblestone, with high gables. It was purchased by Dr. Michael Brown Van Buskirk, local physician and member of the Assembly, in the 1870s, and has been in the family since. It will be open for inspection. It is occupied by Mrs. J. H. Van Buskirk and Mrs. Gregory Van Buskirk.
North on Route 90 north of Cayuga is the combination brick-cobblestone Morris-Traver house. It is said to have been built entirely of cobblestones but the mortar deteriorated and the front was replace by brick. The house is not open.
South of Sherwood is a two-story eight sided, or Octagon house built in 1856 by C. Young, a spiritualist. It is a frame house with exterior walls built up solid with one inch thick boards laid flat. The exposed foundation wall from the grade to the wood still is faced with cobblestones. In the rear of this property is an unusual six-sided out-house. The house may be studied from the outside.
Three miles further south is an example of Greek Revival architecture. A four-column portico with a pediment projects from the front wall. The exposed basement wall is faced with cobblestones.
In Scipio Center there is an example of a Victorian Gothic country church of frame construction with wooden buttresses.