Building date: About 1840
Original use: Residence
Corner structures:
Mortar application and content: Vertical heavy
Types and uses of stones:
Types and choice of windows:
Structures with similar masonry details: Chi-2, Chi-4, Chi-5, Rig-1, Rig-2
Masons who worked on building: Otis Legg
Unique features:
Map views courtesy Google Maps. Address is Google Earth confirmed; 43°02'45.29"N 77°45'41.31"W. Current owner of record, Perneski as of 2018 Tax Roll.
The tax roll address is 95 Sheffer Rd.; however, the street address is 95 N. Sheffer Rd.. The difference is because the overall property and Sheffer Rd. are divided by Interstate 90. Please wave at the lady and dog in the front yard of the Google Maps street level view.
Town of Chili and Monroe County Maps
This house at 95 Sheffer Road was built about 1840. The Sheffer family resided here for nearly a century.
"The Cobblestone Houses of Upstate New York", compiled by Dorothy Wells Pease, 1941. Research done in collaboration with Hazed B. Jeffery, supplemented with material furnished by Carl F. Schmidt. Reference the first paragraph on page 12.
Cobblestone House Still Sound as a Brick, By Marilyn Rice, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, May 2, 1962
The Frederick R. Bean family at 95 Sheffer Road, Scottsville, live in a home that needs no air conditioning, soundproofing or repairs. The large cobblestone house has sen a comfortable home for about 130 years and undoubtedly would last another century without any changes.
The two-story cobblestone house was built for Peter Sheffer II in the early part of the 19th century, explained Mrs. Bean. The Beans bought the house 19 years ago and since have added oil heat, a mourn kitchen and a bay window but they have not changed the original plan of the house. The wide board floors - hemlock downstairs and pine upstairs - are original as is most of the plaster throughout the house.
"You can't nail pictures up on these walls," remarked Mrs. Bean, as she pointed out the two-foot thick wall through the center of the house. The mortar and stone walls act as soundproofing ("You can't even hear the children practicing their instruments") and insulation ("The house is always cool in the summer").
"Plumbers and carpenters don't like to work in this house because the walls and floor are so thick," said Mrs. Bean.
Ceiling fixtures provide the light upstairs because of the difficulty in putting in wiring for electrical outlets. The floor boards, more than two inches thick, could be sanded for years without any damage.
The window sills throughout the house are 24 inches deep and the panes in the front windows are the original glass.
The floor plan of the home includes a living room at the left of the center entrance way with entertaining room for the children, (aged 14, 16, 19, 21) and a laundry room at the right.
A family room - dining room is across the middle of the house, with the kitchen at the back. Upstairs are four bedrooms, a bath and two storage rooms. The upstairs room at the back of the house has open handout beams in the ceiling covered with big nails that used to hold hams and vegetables for drying.
The only fireplace in the house is in the family room that was once the kitchen. The house had to be heated by some other means, explained Mrs. Bean, but no one is positive what was used. The dutch oven over the right of the old fireplace had been bricked up by former residents. A cupboard at the left may have been used as the pantry.
A bay window in the dining room was built after the Beans had the old wood dining room, once used for hired hands, ripped down. Richard Palmer blog.
Cobblestone House Still Sound as a Brick, by Marilyn Rice, photographs by Joe Watson, Democrat and Chronicle 5/8/1962
Sheffer House First Floor Plan, letter size vellum architectural drawing by Carl F. Schmidt.
Editor's Note: The Cobblestone Museum Archives includes additional handwritten notes in the Chi-3 Sheffer-Bean History Notes Pages 1_4 that have not yet been transcribed and edited. These notes may or may not contain information used in preparation for the publishing of the 11th Annual Cobblestone Tour pamphlet 06/12/1971 linked below.
Cobblestone and Folklore", by Doreen Scanlan, a paper for class, Folklore 460, 12/11/1975.
Realtor Information, property offered for sale November 2022.
The Cobblestone Society & Museum Tours:
Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Bean House 11th Annual 06/12/1971
- "Cobblestone Masonry", 1966, Carl Schmidt: Name reference, Sheffer - Bean House
- Page 42
- "Cobblestone Landmarks of New York State", 1978, by Olaf William Shelgren, Jr., Cary Lattin, and Robert W. Frasch, Photographs by Gerda Peterich: Name reference, Sheffer House
- Page 85
- "The Era of Cobblestone Architecture", unpublished manuscript 1972. To access the manuscript content about this structure, see 27. Monroe County, Sheffer-Bean House.
On file duplicate or unused imagery not included above.
¹ Image courtesy Cobblestone Museum.
² Photography courtesy Gerda Peterich.
³ Photography courtesy Martin and Sheila Wolfish.
4 Photography courtesy Richard Palmer.
