Building date: 1845
Original use:
Corner structures: Quoins are of equal sized square cut stones. Tooled
Mortar application and content: Vertical heavy. Vertical pyramids
Types and uses of stones: Irregular rough. Courses of stone are four per quoin in the front, while on the exposed side the rows alternate four and three per quoin. Stones are irregular and rough to slightly smooth. Scaffold holes in walls.
Types and choice of windows:
Structures with similar masonry details:
Masons who worked on building:
Unique features:
Map views courtesy Google Maps. Address is Google Earth confirmed; 42°59'52.13"N 77°06'34.43"W. Current owner of record, Trzeciak as of the 2019 Tax Roll.
Town of Phelps and Ontario County Maps
A two story house on Bell Rd. has a one story frame addition on one side. Its quoins are of equal sized square cut stones. The courses of stone are four per quoin in the front, while on the exposed side the rows alternate four and three per quoin. Stones are irregular and rough to slightly smooth. On the exposed side, there is a hole in the wall halfway between the windows on the second floor at a height of 2/3 of the upper window. This is not just a missing stone, since the stones around the hole were placed for the specific purpose of permitting the hole to exist. This is like the hole in the wall of Far-1 Herendeen, which has been assumed to be the point at which a scaffold was attached during construction. Roudabush Survey page 88
An Old House Gets New Life, by Ted Scala, Finger Lakes Times, Geneva, N.Y., February 9, 1979
Phelps - Time had reduced the 150-year-old house to just a shell. The roof was gone, and the floors and walls had collapsed into the cellar. Teenagers used the lot for a lover's lane, called the building "The Haunted House," and carved their names into what remained of the window frames. All that was left standing were the cobblestone outer walls.
Dave Miles first happened upon the house eight or nine years ago the it had been empty for at least 10 years. But it wasn't until March 7, 1977, after a "for sale" sign was put up, that Miles finally bought the house from a farmer who lived farther down Bell Road.
Now after less than two years of work, Miles and Dianne Lawson have rebuilt the classic cobblestone house down to the original style of woodwork.
During an interview in their comfortable family room, which had once been attached to the house. Miles he and Ms. Lawson has lived in Newark for about seven years. Miles said he bought the house because during their stay in Newark they had been looking for a cobblestone house and because, he said, "I just like to build. Everybody thought I was crazy (to try to rebuild the house). Some people told me it was physically impossible," Miles recalled. But, he said, "I just couldn't leave it (the house) alone. There's something about it."
Miles, who works as a pharmacist, became interested in construction when he worked one some for a builder. "The most fun I ever had was working for him that summer," Miles said. Later, while he was going to pharmacy school, he and Ms. Lawson built, lived in and sold two houses.
Miles said when he bought the cobblestone house the remains of the walls and floors were still in the cellar. "The first day we got the house I went up to Brockport and got a little Bobcat loader," Miles remembered.
He said it took him a week just to clear out the debris. Miles said during reconstruction he tried to keep as much as possible of the original design. To determine where walls had been, Miles studied pictures of the interior he had taken before he bought the house when some of the walls and floors were still in place. He also judged where walls were by breaks in the plaster along the still-standing outer walls.
Miles said that when he bought the house the 18-inch outer walls were still sound. The walls, which are 22 inches thick blow the ground, had deteriorated very little considering the house's age, Miles said. He explained that, in a sense, he built a new house within the old house's walls. He noted that except for the windows his"new house" could stand alone without the outer cobblestone shell.
Miles said that with the help of Ms. Lawson's brothers he did almost all the reconstruction work including plumbing and wiring. After working nights and weekends, Miles and Ms. Lawson moved in during January 1978. Since then they have been finishing he work and Miles said now they are "getting pretty close to being done."
Miles said he is happy with the results although he adds, "It seems very much larger than what we need." The house has three full baths, four bedrooms, a library, a living room, a dining room, a family room, a kitchen and a laundry.
Miles said when all the work is finished he'd like to take some time to research the history of the house. Beyond that, Miles said, when the reconstruction is finished "I rest." Asked if he will be building any more houses he replied "This is the last one. It was a hard job." Richard Palmer blog.
Dave Miles owned the home until 7/1/1980. As of AUG2019, the residence has had 4 additional owners.
 Phe-16 Miles 1.jpg ¹ Photograph by Mrs. Jeffrey 1941. |  Phe-16 Miles 2.jpg ¹ Ca. 1975? |  Phe_16_1.jpg |  Phe_16_2.jpg |
 Phe_16_3.jpg |  Phe-16 Miles 3.jpg ¹ |  Phe-16 905 Bell Rd 1.jpg ² |  Phe-16 905 Bell Rd 2.jpg ² |
 Phe-16 905 Bell Rd 3.jpg ² |  905 Bell Road Newark Arcadia 2.jpg ³ |
¹ Image courtesy Cobblestone Museum.
² Photography courtesy Martin and Sheila Wolfish.
³ Photography courtesy Richard Palmer.
