Building date: Mid 1830s
Original use:
Corner structures: Limestone quoins
Mortar application and content: Vertical heavy
Types and uses of stones: Round and oval, water-rounded stones set in the recessed hexagonal pattern.
Types and choice of windows: Lintels brick, width vertical
Structures with similar masonry details:
Masons who worked on building:
Unique features:
Map views courtesy Google Maps. Address is Google Earth confirmed; 43°15'16.87"N 78°10'23.26"W. Current owner of record, Braunbach as of the 2019 Tax Roll.
Town of Gaines and Orleans County Maps
This mid 1830s home was built by the Brown family. Daniel Brown was born in Columbia County, N.Y., in 1787. In 1800 Daniel's father, Benjamin, moved his family to Canada. There Daniel married Mary Willsea in 1807. When the War of 1812 began, Daniel refused to bear arms against his native United States. He was tried for treason but was eventually acquitted. Daniel moved his family to Gaines in 1816. Mr. Brown became supervisor of Gaines in 1844. He was remembered as a man of integrity and was much respected in the town.
This house was built by Daniel Brown who was born in Columbia County in 1787. It is of Greek Revival architecture and dates to about 1840. The old photo shows two wings that are now gone. Mason Paul Briggs said: "I did all the repointing under the porch on the right side of this house. I should add that there was originally a wood wing on the house on the east side which burned and actually pre-dated the cobblestone part. There was plaster over that wall since it had been an interior wall visible on the interior of the wood framed part of the house. When the wood framed part burned, the plaster wall complete with wallpaper fragments was boarded over. I removed the wood, and took the excess mortar (plaster) off the stonework which never was meant to be seen. I repointed it and weathered it to match the other exterior joints though it was rather random cobble in appearance. Someone else did the modern brick chimney on that side. A realtor owned the house at the time and her husband was a general in the National Guard." The quoins are of Medina sandstone. Richard Palmer blog.
This cobblestone home is built of round and oval, water-rounded stones set in the recessed hexagonal pattern with limestone quoins. At one time the home had the addition of wooden wings on each end, which have since been removed. Kenneth and Mary Anne Braunbach purchased this country residence in the 1990s and added a rear wing addition for a kitchen, dining area and family room. Braunbachs were careful to incorporate the addition to not to detract from the cobblestone structure of the home and you will notice the exterior cobblestone wall remains. Booklet, Cobblestone Society and Museum, Albion Christmas Tours of Homes 12/01/2018.
This house was built by Daniel Brown who was born in Columbia County in 1787. It is of Greek Revival architecture and dates to about 1840. The old photo shows two wings that are now gone. Mason Paul Briggs said: "I did all the repointing under the porch on the right side of this house. I should add that there was originally a wood wing on the house on the east side which burned and actually pre-dated the cobblestone part. There was plaster over that wall since it had been an interior wall visible on the interior of the wood framed part of the house. When the wood framed part burned, the plaster wall complete with wallpaper fragments was boarded over. I removed the wood, and took the excess mortar (plaster) off the stonework which never was meant to be seen. I repointed it and weathered it to match the other exterior joints though it was rather random cobble in appearance. Someone else did the modern brick chimney on that side. A realtor owned the house at the time and her husband was a general in the National Guard." The quoins are of Medina sandstone. 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. Reference the eleventh paragraph on page 7.
Knapp Cobblestone House Renovation & Decoration". Editor's Note: This document is a reformatted version of the contents in a binder within the Gai-7 Brown-Knapp Cobblestone Museum archives folder. Provided are the renovation and decoration details that, due to lack of documentation, are assumed to have been done sometime in the period between the spring of 1970 and the summer of 1977 based on the available photographs. The owner did a major rehabilitation and restoration of this cobblestone structure and property during that time period.
Building-Structure Inventory Form, dated 1/4/1978.
"Cobblestone Buildings of Orleans County, N. Y.", A Local History, pages 28 and 29, by Delia Robinson, Edited by Evelyn Lyman and William Nestle. Jointly published by The Cobblestone Society and The Orleans County Historical Association, December 1996.
The Cobblestone Society & Museum Tours:
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas D. Allchin House 16th Annual 06/05/1976, Braunbach House Tour of Historic Cobblestone Homes 10/17/2009, Tour of Historic Cobblestone Homes 09/14/2013, Tour of Cobblestone Homes 09/15/2018
- "Cobblestone Masonry", 1966, Carl Schmidt: Name reference, Brown - Knapp House
- Page 124
- Erie Canal Legacy, Architectural Treasures of the Empire State, by Andy Olenick (photography) and Richard O. Reisem (text), page 176: Name reference, Brown-Knapp House, circa 1830. Published by the Landmark Society of Western New York, 2000. Editor's Note: Contradictions - address stated as 14615 Densmore Street and architecture as Federal style.
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¹ Image courtesy Richard Palmer. Attribution not provided.
² Image courtesy Cobblestone Museum.
³ Photography courtesy Martin and Sheila Wolfish.
4 Photography courtesy Richard Palmer.
5 Photograph courtesy Joyce Potote, Albion Christmas Tour of Homes 01DEC2018 presented by the Cobblestone Society and Museum.
6 Original rear exterior wall now an interior wall in the current addition at the rear of the structure. Homeowner pointed out that the tar line of a prior roof was intentionally left on the wall as a historical note.
7 Editor's Note: Best effort restoration of a badly exposed and degraded polaroid print which was heavily scratched with a moderate number of non-image artifacts. Color is degraded and distorted.
