Building date: 1835
Original use:
Corner structures:
Mortar application and content: Vertical, heavy
Types and uses of stones:
Types and choice of windows:
Structures with similar masonry details:
Masons who worked on building: Bradley, Alonzo
Unique features:
Map views courtesy Google Maps. Address is Google Earth confirmed; 43°09'54.25"N 77°33'47.16"W. Current owner of record, Kirsch Land LLC as of date (YMD) 190422 (2018 Tax Roll).
City of Rochester NY and Monroe County Maps
Built about 1835 by Roswell Lockwood, this house at 1090 Culver Road is the only surviving cobblestone structure in the city of Rochester. The mason was Alonzo Bradley. It is built of field stones of various shapes and sizes. It is believed Bradley also built the similar McDonald House that once stood nearby at the corner of Main Street East and Culver Road that was demolished in the late 1930's.
Originally located in the town of Brighton, this handsome residence was once surrounded by a 100-acre farm. By the early 1900s, the neighborhood has been annexed into the city and many new residential streets were created. By the late 1940s, the Alhart family had purchased the house and subsequently built a retail plaza next door. Later, the house was converted into apartments.
With its unique character and prominent location, this historic house is a major landmark in the Culver-Merchants-Beechwood area. The Landmark Society of Western New York feels its renovation could serve as an important catalyst for further revitalization in this historic neighborhood.
Alonzo Bradley's obituary in the Monroe County Mail of Thursday, August 12, 1897, stated he died August 4 at his home in Avon at the age of 84. He had formerly lived in the towns of Irondequoit, Victor and Henrietta. He and his wife had one son, C.S. Bradley. "Mr. Bradley, in his younger days was a stone mason, and many of the houses in Monroe county known as cobble stone are the work of his hands. About 20 years ago the family moved to a large farm in Avon. Mr. Bradley married a second time, and his wife, son, and four grandchildren, survive him. The funeral was held at Mt. Home chapel on Friday Morning. Richard Palmer blog.
Lockwood House Fine Example of Cobblestone Work, Old Rochester Homes, Rochester Times Union, March 6, 1924
The house shown below, which still standing in Culver near Parsells avenue, was built about 1835 for Roswell Lockwood. It is one of the finest specimens of cobblestone construction in this part of the country and is believed to have been the work of a young man named Slo Enzo Bradley who built up a reputation for his skill in this work, and who also built the Schank house at Culver road and Main street east.
In 1820 Roswell Lockwood bought a tract of nearly 100 acres extending from Hazelwood terrace on the north to a point some distance beyond the line of the present Glen Have railroad on the south and beyond the Merchants road on the east, The land was formerly owned by Eli and Betsy Stilson. Mr. Lockwood paid $1,200 for this tract.
The first building on the present site of the cobblestone house was a frame dwelling which was used as a wing when the stone house was built. There was also a long frame building added in the rear but all this wooden structure was removed some years ago and the cobblestone house with its hand-hewn stone insets at the corners now stands in all the dignity and beauty of its plain, straight lines.
The interior of the house shows a sturdy construction to match its exterior, the beams being hand-hewn from solid baulks of timber and the partitions being of unusual thickness.
In 1863 the property was sold by Mr. Lockwood to Henry D. Schank, youngest son of Hendrik V. Schank. It has now passed into other hands but still remains a very attractive and interesting landmark.
The Rochester Houses
Rochester has two cobblestone houses and Irondequoit two. The oldest one, the Lockwood house, is on Culver Road near Grand Avenue. Mr. Roswell Lockwood bought one hundred acres in 1820 for 911200. In 1835, Alonzo Bradley built for him a two-story house of field cobblestones, The four-sided (hipped) roof was bordered originally by a balustrade, but this has been removed. The beams are hand-hewn and the partitions are unusually thick. The hall is graced by a beautifully curved stairway with a tiger-tailed newel post. Excerpt from "The Cobblestone Houses of Upstate New York", compiled by Dorothy Wells Pease. Research done in collaboration with Hazel B. Jeffrey, supplemented with material furnished by Carl F. Schmidt. 1941
Culver Rd. Structure Regarded as Fine Example of Old Art, By Bernice Morgan, Rochester Daily Union, October 22, 1949
Screen Shot 2020-10-22.jpg Attribution not provided.
A battered survivor of the golden Age of cobblestone architecture in upstate New York is this house at 1090 Culver Road in Rochester. It was once written: “It is its plain, simple dignity that makes each cobblestone house a tribute to man’s determination to form a beautiful and lasting homestead from materials at hand.”
The builder who painstakingly fashioned it 114 years ago couldn't have been much prouder than are those who live in it today. Divided by a recently owner into a double, the house is tenanted on the left by Mr. and Mrs. William C. Wogast; on the right by Mr. and Mrs. G. Robert Alhart.
Mrs. Wolgast smooths the hand-hewn beams as other women m might handle an exquisite length of fabric. She never tires of admiring the airy flight of stairway, fire place, parlor windows and interior doors that make the inside a pattern of great beauty.
It is the exterior masonry, carpentry and joinery, however, that make the building one of the finest specimens of cobblestone construction in this part of the country.
Mrs. Wolgast, through a file of old clippings and records, has pieced together the history of the famous Lockwood house, built of smooth fist-size fieldstones, laid in horizontal rows. In 1820, according to Mrs. Wolgast, Roswell Lockwood bought a tract of almost 100 acres for $1,200. The tract extended from Hazelwood Terrace on the North to a point beyond the line of the Old Glen Haven Railroad on the south and beyond Merchants Road on the East.
The house was painstakingly fashioned by 1835. Whoever its builder was (It is thought to have been a young man named Alonzo Bradley) he was an artist in masonry. The hand-hew stone insets at the corners, the careful recessed joints, the beauty of form and texture of the old landmark still brings pause to passersby.
In 1863 Lockwood sole the property to Henry D. Schank. Since then it has passed through the hands of several others and now belongs to the Alhart Electric Co. The Alhart brothers have no immediate plans for use of the corner, considered a prize commercial location.
The house, in the Greek Revival style, is typical of the middle period of cobblestone architecture. Queried on why the dwelling so powerfully attracts her, Mr. Wolgast will refer you to the writing of the late Claude Bragdon, who she will tel you, said it better. Bragdon said of cobblestone architecture: "Austere and humble as these buildings are, they show a beauty and integrity of a kind which made this country great, and should serve as an inspiration to us of today." Richard Palmer blog.
Original newspaper article "Cobblestone House Still Charming", by Bernice Morgan, Rochester Times-Union, 10/22/1949.
Recently the cobblestone house at 1090 Culver Road was damaged by fire which primarily affected a workroom at the rear of the first floor. A considerable amount of smoke filled the house but the structure and the interior trim were not materially damaged.
There is a beautiful circular staircase and entrance hall the doors of which follow the curve of the wall. Two of the four rooms facing Culver Road have fireplaces. The building is situated in a commercial zone but is within a block of a residential area. There is extensive parking to the side and rear of the structure.
The owners of the house, Alhart Electric Co., are interested in preserving the building as it is one of the few remaining examples of cobblestone architecture within the city. They are open to suggestions for its use. Possibly it could interest someone as a doctor's office, an architect's office or a realtor's premises. (Actually the Cobblestone Society formed a year ago needs a headquarters in Rochester for their activities.)
I quote from the December issue of the "Newsletter", "If there ever was a time when concern and good deeds were needed it is now". As a Society let us help in practical way to preserve our existing examples of good architecture. If you have any suggestions or thoughts on what could be done for this building telephone Mr. Clarence Alhart.
Helen Bassett, excerpt from the Rochester Society of Architects Newsletter circa 1961.
"The Geological Origin of Cobblestone Architecture", by Gerda Peterich. Specific reference to this structure on page 9.
Cobblestone Museum Permanent File of Cobblestone Structures.
"The city's lone cobblestone", by Leigh Rader, photographs by Nancy Leggs, City Newspaper, 10/22/1981, page 19.
- "Cobblestone Architecture", 1944, Carl Schmidt: Name reference, Lockwood House
- Page 22, Page 29, Page 37, Page 41, Page 51.
- Three Fieldstone Types of Walls Lockwood House. Culver Road, Rochester, N.Y. Page 79
- Four Windows from Cobblestone Houses Page 93
- Main Entrance, Lockwood House, Rochester, N. Y. Page 96
- Interior of Front Entrance, Lockwood House, Rochester, N. Y. Page 97
- Interior Details from the Lockwood House, Rochester, Page 98
- Mantel in Parlor, Lockwood House, Rochester, N. Y., Page 99
- Three Fieldstone Types of Walls Lockwood House. Culver Road, Rochester, N.Y. Page 79
- Front of Lockwood House drawing, Entrance Door straight on view. Carl Schmidt Collection of Two-Dimensional Drawings, online access to view, New York Heritage digital collections.
- "Cobblestone Masonry", 1966, Carl Schmidt: Name reference, Lockwood - Alhart House
- Page 40, Page 229, Page 255, Comparison of Cobblestones and Quoins Page 259
- Four Windows from Cobblestone Houses Page 270, Main Entrance Page 271, Interior of Front Entrance Page 272
- Interior Details Page 263, Mantel in Parlor Page 294
- Four Windows from Cobblestone Houses Page 270, Main Entrance Page 271, Interior of Front Entrance Page 272
¹ Image courtesy Carl Schmidt collection, SUNY-Geneseo
² Image courtesy Cobblestone Museum.
³ Photography courtesy Martin and Sheila Wolfish.
4 Photography courtesy Richard Palmer.
