Building date: 1840
Original use:
Corner structures: Variable
Mortar application and content: Vertical very heavy, bold. Vertical mortar heavy on first floor, weak on the second. There are two styles in which the mortar was handled. The lower part, up to the top of the windows, has coarse horizontals and verticals. Above the bottom of the window lintels, the mortar is not as prominent and no doubt was constructed by another mason.
Types and uses of stones:
Types and choice of windows: Quoin-like sides
Structures with similar masonry details:
Masons who worked on building:
Unique features: Vertical mortar heavy on first floor, weak on the second.
Map views courtesy Google Maps. Address is Google Earth confirmed; 42°57'22.35"N 77°03'10.66"W. Current owner of record, Follett as of the 2019 Tax Roll.
Town of Phelps and Ontario County Maps
The front wall of the wing of this house, built in 1840, has two styles in which the mortar was handled. The lower part, up to the top of the windows, has coarse horizontals and verticals. Above the bottom of the window lintels, the mortar is not as prominent and no doubt was constructed by another mason. The exact structure cannot be described without close examination, which could not be done from the ground. Roudabush Survey page 91
The Roudabush Survey stated the street address number as 111 E. Main St.; however, the correct current street address number is 38 Main St. as stated by Richard Palmer.
38 Main St., Phelps, north side. Built by C. Bannister, a local physician, in 1840. Richard Palmer blog.
Cobblestone wing added 1840 to original cobblestone building. Editor's Note: Notation in the "Permanent File of Cobblestone Structures" in the Cobblestone Museum archives. The structure date stone shows 1840; therefore, The 1840 date applies only to the wing was added to the older original structure, date unknown, but definitely an early period structure.
"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, 1941. Reference the third paragraph on page 19.
The C. Bannister House Phelps, NY Ontario County, courtesy the Tom The Backroads Traveller blog.
Editor's Note: The Tom The Backroads Traveller blog states that C. Bannister built the right hand side of this cobblestone in 1830 and the left hand side in 1840: However, Carl Schmidt in "Cobblestone Masonry" 1966 page 101 states that the left side was built first. The left side is of early period construction, date unknown to-date, preceding the 1840 date of the date stone which should apply only to the middle period right wing addition. There are numerous architectural details that suggest that this conjecture is true. There are construction and materials differences in the first and second story right wing that suggest that the second story was built at either by a different mason, different material sources had to be used, or the second story was built somewhat later.
The [right wing of the] house at 38 Main, if we believe its date stone, was erected by "C Bannister 1840" - 3 years later than the D.E.Peck 1937 cobblestone structure directly across the street. With the popularity of the fancy doorways by that time, its not too surprising this element was incorporated into the design. A closeup inspection of the entrances shows that the D.E.Peck 1937 doorway detail is more refined.
This arrangement of a 3-bay Greek Revival style is a standard arrangement of doors and windows. Rarely is the door in the middle as it distracts from the elegance of the style. The door typically is on either the right corner or the left corner. Because the door opening is wider to accommodate the sidelights and fancy woodwork, the windows flanking it are placed closer together to fit into the remaining tighter space and to accommodate their respective shutters. For continuity of style throughout the façade the non-equidistant spacing of windows on the upper level becomes more obvious. It's a byproduct of the design, not a design element in and by itself.
Owners according to the 1859, 1874, 1904 maps (the 1852 map shows the houses but they are unlabeled, and there's no inset for the Village of Phelps until 1859 map).
38 E Main: 1859 "C.Bannister"; 1874 "J M Cole"; 1904 "W S Root"
Edit excerpts from Karen Crandall, email 9/3/2021.
- "Cobblestone Masonry", 1966, Carl Schmidt: Name reference, Bannister - Seager House
- Pages 101 - 102
 Phe-19 Reynolds 2.jpg ¹ Photography by Charles Hopkins 1934. |  Phe-19 Reynolds 4.jpg ¹ Pease Collection 1940-41 |  GP Ontario Phelps Phe-19 1-1 N.jpg ² 8/23/1971 |  GP Ontario Phelps Phe-19 1-1 P.jpg ² 8/23/1971 |
 Phe-19 Reynolds 3.jpg ¹ Pease Collection 1940-41 1970 photograph by Clyde Maffin, Ontario County Historian 1968-81. |  Phe_19_1.jpg |  Phe_19_2.jpg |  Phe_19_3.jpg |
 Phe_19_4.jpg |  Phe_19_5.jpg |  Phe_19_6.jpg |  Phe_19_7.jpg |
 Phe_19_8.jpg |  Phe-19 Reynolds 1.jpg ¹ |  Phe-19 38 Main St 1.jpg ³ |  Phe-19 38 Main St 2.jpg ³ |
 Phe-19 Reynolds 5.jpg ¹ 9/15/96 |  38 Main St Phelps.jpg 4 |  Bannister.jpg 4 |  IMG_0398.jpg 5 3/17/2016 |
¹ Image courtesy Cobblestone Museum.
² Photography courtesy Gerda Peterich. Cobblestone Museum.
³ Photography courtesy Martin and Sheila Wolfish.
4 Photography courtesy Richard Palmer.
5 Image courtesy Karen Crandall.
