Building date: 1825-30, demolished 1973
Original use: Residence
Corner structures:
Mortar application and content:
Types and uses of stones: There were some rows of stones laid in herringbone pattern and at least two rows of elongated cobbles in one side wall between the first and second stories. The cobblestones obviously were not sorted and used by size as photos show large, medium and small ones mixed throughout.
Types and choice of windows:
Structures with similar masonry details:
Masons who worked on building:
Unique features:
Map views courtesy Google Maps. Street view is not available as of 03/15/2019. Address is Google Earth confirmed; 42°26'06.73"N 76°14'27.96"W. Current owner of record, Cornell University as of date (YMD) 190315.
Town of Harford and Cortland County 1975 Highway Maps
In 1973, one of the few cobblestone houses in Cortland County fell victim of Cornell University's plans to establish a massive farm operation in the Town of Harford. It had been neglected for years and didn't fit into the scheme of things. Built by Nathan Heaton, an early pioneer, it was located at 565 Daisy Hollow Road.
The house, a few miles south of Dryden, was on land purchased by Cornell University for development of its farms. The house had been unoccupied for years, and had fell into a state of disrepair before the sale. It had been ravaged by vandalism. With windows broken and doors left open, snow, wind and rain accelerated deterioration.
One of only five cobblestone structures in Cortland County, it was built by pioneer Nathan Heaton between the time he moved to Daisy Hollow in 1824 and the year he died, 1841. He is buried in Harford Cemetery.
These and other facts were the result of research done by Mary Louise Dexter of Cortland. She discovered an 1855 map showing the house as the only cobblestone structure in Harford as the property of Edward Mulks.
Mulks purchased it from James Hart Heaton, son of Nathan, in 1853. He paid $4,000 for 103 acres with buildings and appurtenances.
In the fall of 1970, Larry Doe of Dryden, a Cornell University employee, became curious about the old house. He took photographs and made a limited inquiry without learning much background. He then contacted historian Barbara Bell, a reporter at the Ithaca Journal, for ideas. It took only a brief checking to determine no written history of the house existed.
Starting with the former owner, retired farmer Clyde Cotterill of Dryden, with the assistance of others, Bell compiled names of former owners and old-timers who might know something about the house. Also contacted was Ray Rockefeller of Dryden, an a local historian, and other older local residents.
Bell said, "We checked libraries and made telephone calls to 30 or more persons. We wrote to many people and visited some, and with Rockefeller we visited the house itself".
"We were able to trace direct ownership back for 80 years or so and collected a number of comments from the memories of former residents of Daisy Hollow. But it wasn't until Miss Dexter delved back into the records that concrete information about the years before 1900. Miss Dexter first checked the 1855 census for Harford and found one, and only one, cobblestone structure listed - a house (No. 144) valued at $600 and owned by 35-year-old Edward Mulks meant a search of old deeds. Nowhere was the actual construction date recorded."
Nathan Heaton settled in Harford Mills in 1807 while it was still part of the Town of Virgil. He built the first grist mill there between 1814 and 1820. It was in use as long as he lived, and afterward was used as a shed for a newer mill, built by John C. Davis in 1841. In 1824, 1828 and 1829 Heaton purchased two parcels of land totaling 103 1/2 acres in Lots 71 and 72, on both sides of what is now Daisy Hollow Road. The first purchase included the parcel where the cobblestone house was built. Heaton married Susan Luana Hart. Their first child was James Hart Heaton, born about 1818. They also had three daughters, Caroline, Luana and Adaline.
Public-spirited, Heaton was on a three-member committee appointed to purchase land and erect a building for the Union Church of Virgil Flats. He was elected a New York State Assemblyman in 1840, but died while still in office, on April 19, 1841. He left no will and in June, 1841, his widow relinquished her right to the estate to her son, James, and a neighbor, Daniel Phillips.
Heaton's home, though unusual in this area for choice of materials, greatly interested architectural historians. There were some rows of stones laid in herringbone pattern and at least two rows of elongated cobbles in one side wall between the first and second stories. The cobblestones obviously were not sorted and used by size as photos show large, medium and small ones mixed throughout.
Before the cobblestone house was sold to Cornell University it belonged to and was occupied by Harry Robinson. Before that in order owners were Austin Gilbert, Albert Richardson, a man named Howe whose daughter was Mrs. Henry Patch of the Harford area; Clarence Conrad, Luther Holden and his father, Ben Holden. Mrs. Herbert Tyler of West Brookfield, Mass., wrote that she lived in the house from 1929 to 1932 and papered and painted every room. She was a member of the Richardson family.
Mrs. Leland Burch of Dryden said she often visited the Holdens at the cobblestone house. Her father was born and raised nearby and was a friend of the tenants of that day. Mrs. Holden always had big red geraniums flowering on the broad windowsills, Mrs. Burch recalled. Luther Holden was all, well-built and pleasant, "probably 45 or 50 years old."
It was unlikely the house would be restored. The natural wear of the ages, hurried by vandalism and open to the weather, made it impractical. It was just standing in the way of progress. But Mary Dexter termed it "a unique legacy from the past."
(This story was compiled from several sources including one by Barbara Bell published in the Ithaca Journal on April 17, 1971 entitled A Cobblestone Landmark; a historical paper tracing the history of the house by Mary Dexter for the Cortland County Historical Society; Harford Cobblestone House is Rarity in Cortland County, Cortland Standard, April 8, 1971). Richard Palmer blog.
This structure is not listed in the Roudabush Survey.
"Who Built the Cobblestone House at Harford NY by historian Mary Dexter (1932-2013), March 1970
"Cobblestone House Rocks Rambles", by Ray Rockefeller, 1/6/1971
"Hartford Cobblestone House Is Rarity in Cortland Area", Cortland Standard, 4/8/1971
"Glance Backward: A Cobblestone Landmark", by Barbara Bell, Journal Staff Writer, Ithaca Journal, 4/17/1971
"The Cobblestone Era Rock's Rambles", by Ray Rockefeller, 5/7/1971
 Scan 1.jpg ¹ The old Heaton House in the early 1900s. |  Screen Shot 2018-01-11 at 10.45.20 AM.jpg ¹ As it Appeared in 1930. |  Vacant house.jpg ¹ |  Har-1 Heaton House 1.jpg ² 1961 |
.jpg) Heaton House, Harford (1).jpg ¹ By 1972 it was long abandoned. | .jpg) Heaton House, Harford (2).jpg ¹ Detail of window frame |  Screen Shot 2018-01-15 at 12.13.30 AM.png ¹ Detail of window frame |  Screen Shot 2018-01-15 at 12.12.26 AM.jpg ¹ Detail of side wall |
 Screen Shot 2018-01-15 at 12.13.10 AM.jpg ¹ Old Dutch oven in basement |  Har-1 Heaton House 3.jpg ³ |  Har-1 Heaton House 4.jpg ³ |  Har-1 Heaton House 6.jpg ³ |
 Har-1 Heaton House 8.jpg ² |  Har-1 Heaton House 9.jpg ² |  Har-1 Heaton House 10.jpg ² |  Har-1 Heaton House 11.jpg ² |
 Har-1 Heaton House 12.jpg ² |
¹ Photography courtesy Cortland County Historical Society. Richard Palmer blog.
² Photography courtesy Mrs. Brown of Cortland NY, from the archives of the Cobblestone Museum provided by the Cortland County Historical Society. 1961
³ Photography courtesy Larry Doe (1931-2015), Dryden NY, from the archives of the Cobblestone Museum provided by the Cortland County Historical Society. ca. 1970
