Building date: 1837
Original use: Tavern
Corner structures:
Mortar application and content: Vertical heavy. Vertical pyramids
Types and uses of stones:
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; 43°16'27.96"N 78°19'58.63"W. Current owner of record, Lowery as of the 2019 Tax Roll.
Town of Ridgeway and Orleans County Maps
There is a contradiction with addresses: Roudabush states 2898 Oak Orchard Rd. [Ridge & Oak Orchard River Rds.]. This address is associated with a larger surrounding parcel to the north which the current property was likely a part, now subdivided. The National Register of Historic Places states 12226 Ridge Road which is the address of the property on the opposite side of Ridge Rd. owned by Schutt (as of 2019). The property address where the building stands is 12225 Ridge Road owned by Lowery (as of 2019).
Largest Cobblestone Building in North America
This 22-room, 6,307 square foot building is one of the largest surviving cobblestone structures in North America. It was built in 1837 and was known as the Spencer House and later as the Cobblestone Inn. It was a stagecoach stop on the Ridge Road in the early days.
The building's outstanding feature is its size. There is no hard evidence that it was a stop on the Underground Railroad before and during the Civil War. But it is an important example of an early cobblestone masonry. It represents the first wave of prosperity in Upstate New York.
The building is located on the northwest corner of the junction of Route 104 and Oak Orchard River Road (Orleans County Route 53). It is roughly 800 feet west of where the highway crosses the Oak Orchard River, and thus the ground around it slopes gently eastward. The building itself is on a 1.3-acre graded lot, elevating it slightly above the intersection. There are houses to the west along either side of the road and woods to the east as it slopes to the river.
The building itself is a two-story L-shaped structure seven bays on the long leg, paralleling Oak Orchard River Road, and four on the short. It is faced in cobblestones, five rows per Medina sandstone quoin, with a hipped roof pierced by a single central brick chimney with stepped parapet walls at the north and west ends. There is a wide plain frieze below the overhanging eaves. Besides the quoins, the sills, lintels, and water table are all sandstone as well. On the east side are two modern wooden porches at entrances along that wall. There is visible evidence of the roofs that once sheltered both.
From the main entrance on the south wall a long central entrance hall runs north to a long four-bay room and then ends in a group of service-related rooms. The second floor has, in addition to its small guest rooms, a similar room in that space. The interior retains much of its original plaster and Greek Revival woodwork. The main staircase has its original stringers, newels and balustrade.
History
There is little documentation of the building's history. The arrangement of the cobblestone facing is consistent with the middle period of the style, 1836-1845. The interior layout with the large public dining room on the first floor (probably expanded later on by removing a few rooms) suggests the inn did a lot of business on a competitive stage route.
Traffic on the stage routes declined first with the opening of the Erie Canal to the south, and then the rise of the railroads in the mid-19th century. The inn survived by becoming primarily a restaurant, and saw its business revive in the days of automobile tourism in the 1920s in that capacity. In the mid-20th century, that business declined when the New York State Thruway was built to the south in Genesee County. After being vacant for a while, the inn was converted into a residence. It has remained in that use, with no alterations, since then. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. Richard Palmer blog.
Largest Cobblestone House in North America For Sale
By Brenda Tremblay (From: WXXI News, Rochester, website, date unknown)
Attribution not provided.
Ridgeway - The largest cobblestone house in North America is up for sale. Built in 1837, the Cobblestone Inn, as it's called, stands about 45 miles west of Rochester on Ridge Road, in a region famous for pre-Civil War churches, houses, and schools built with small, rounded stones embedded in mortar. It's 6,307 square feet, not including space in the attic or basement.
When Joe and Linda Roberts first saw the Cobblestone Inn about seven years ago, they weren't in the market for a new home. They were actually looking for antique bottle caps. The Inn contained a bar, so they stopped by and feigned interest in buying the house so they'd be able to look around. When they did, they saw a disaster. The roof had enormous holes, there was extensive water damage everywhere, and not much livable space.
But the Roberts also saw potential. They bought it and moved in with hopes of refurbishing it and turning it into a bed and breakfast and antique shop.
Over the last few years, the couple have poured muscle, sweat, and creative power into the project, pulling up floors, stripping up to seven layers of wallpaper, and tearing down walls throughout a building that originally served as a stagecoach stop for passengers on their way to and from Rochester and Niagara Falls.
Linda and Joe filled a thick blue binder with photos and documents about the house and notable occupants such as New York State Assemblyman Frank Waters. He lived here and used it as a post office and general store around 1900.
The Roberts also discovered tantalizing clues about its past, such as a series of hash marks in a bedroom closet and a large, unexplained space accessible only through the attic. They heard rumors of a tunnel that may have connected the basement to the nearby Oak Orchard Creek, which was at one time an important trade route for farmers and settlers.
But the Cobblestone Inn's one outstanding feature is its size. Bill Lattin, the Orleans County historian, says there's no hard evidence that the house sheltered escaping slaves or Prohibition era smugglers. But it's an important example of an early cobblestone mansion.
It represents the first wave of prosperity in Upstate New York. For the current owners of the Cobblestone Inn, the hugeness of the place has simply become overwhelming. Now that most of house is refurbished, the Roberts say they are burnt out. They're hoping to sell the place, the furnishings, and the antique store for $349,000.
Linda Roberts says the next caretaker will be rewarded by the house itself -- with all of its stories, mysteries, and space.
In 1830 Henry's son Alfred [Achilles] moved from Lennox, N.Y., to Oak Orchard, Ridgeway Township, Orleans County, N.Y., about thirty miles west of Rochester. Soon thereafter he acquired a magnificent cobblestone house at Oak Orchard which had been built as an inn (and which is still standing). According to family tradition, Henry and Eliza (who we know from the census were living in Attica in 1830) came to live with Alfred in the cobblestone house. Henry and Eliza may have lived at the cobblestone house very briefly in the mid-1830s. In the 1840 Census, however, they appear at Alexander, Genesee County, N.Y., which is three miles north of Attica. Editor's Note: This excerpt is from page 77 of 'Achilles Genealogies 1596 - 1990, by Witter Burges Smith II, Penobscot Press, Camden, Maine, 1991.
"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 fourth paragraph on page 7.
"Cobblestone Buildings of Orleans County, N. Y.", A Local History, page 81, by Delia Robinson, Edited by Evelyn Lyman and William Nestle. Jointly published by The Cobblestone Society and The Orleans County Historical Association, December 1996.
Cobblestone Inn restaurant Dinner Menu c. 1950's.
"Cobblestone House Tourists" postcard, c. 1954
Realtor Sales Brochure.
The Cobblestone Society & Museum Tours:
1st Cobblestone Tour 06/10/1961, The Cobblestone Inn
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National Register of Historic Places Registration
- "Cobblestone Masonry", 1966, Carl Schmidt: Name reference, The Cobblestone Inn
- Pages 140 - 141
 Rid-5 Inn 2.jpg ¹ Upper photograph 1959, lower photograph c. 1870. |  Rid-5 Inn 1.jpg ¹ c. 1890s |  Rid-5 Inn 3.jpg ¹ c. 1920s |  Rid-5 Inn 4.jpg ¹ c. 1920s |
 Rid-5 Inn 7.jpg ¹ Pease Collection 1940-41 |  Rid-5 Inn 5.jpg ¹ Van Houten Collection 5/1/1946 |  Rid-5 Inn 6.jpg ¹ Van Houten Collection 12/8/1946 |  Rid-5 Inn 8.jpg ¹ Photograph by Wm. A. Monacelli |
 Rid-5 Inn 9.jpg ¹ Photography by Robert W. Frasch c. 1961 |  Rid-5 Inn 10.jpg ¹ |  GP Orleans Ridgeway Rid-5 1-1 N.jpg ² |  Rid_5_1.jpg |
 Rid_5_2.jpg |  Rid_5_3.jpg |  Rid_5_4.jpg |  Rid_5_5.jpg |
 Rid-5 12225 Ridge Rd 1.jpg ³ | Rid-5 12225 Ridge Rd 2.jpg ³ |  Rid-5 Inn 11.jpg ¹ |  Rid-5 Inn 12.jpg ¹ |
 12225 Ridge Road, Ridgeway, Orleans Cty.jpg 4 |
¹ Image courtesy Cobblestone Museum.
² Photography courtesy Gerda Peterich. Cobblestone Museum.
³ Photography courtesy Martin and Sheila Wolfish.
4 Photography courtesy Richard Palmer.
