Building date: Begun 1848 and completed in 1851.
Original use:
Corner structures: Tooled
Mortar application and content: Horizontal rounded. Vertical, no embellishment
Types and uses of stones: Small red
Types and choice of windows:
Structures with similar masonry details:
Masons who worked on building: Lemoreaux
Unique features:
Map views courtesy Google Maps. Address is Google Earth confirmed; 42°33'20.16"N 76°56'44.22"W. Current owner of record, Carr as of the 2019 Tax Roll.
Town of Starkey and Yates County Maps.
The front wall has horizontal joints with 5/8 inch wide beads, as described by Schmidt. However, this treatment occurs in only the bottom rows and extends only to a point opposite the third quoin From this point up the horizontal joints are flatter, and so do not project from the wall surface like the lower joints do. Roudabush Survey page 122
This large cobblestone house at 306 Lakemont-Himrod Road, Dundee, was built in 1848 by a mason named Lemoreaux. Veneer cobblestones came from near Sodus Point. Richard Palmer blog.
Spence Home at Lakemont Has Absorbing History, by A.H. Richards, Watkins Express, Watkins Glen, January 3, 1940
One of the outstanding farm homes in the Lake Country is that of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Spence of Lakemont. The cobblestone house with its 21 rooms is nearly a century old and affords a commanding view of Seneca Lake and the purple chain of hills to the east.
Around the Spence home, there is a spirit of friendliness, a spirit that has been handed down through four generations of the same family. The house is rich in heritage, history, romance and is a paradise to the person who loves through spacious halls and large rooms and browse in a huge attic under the eaves on a rainy afternoon.
The picturesque house on the Lakemont-Himrod road, was constructed to last for years. Its walls are 30 inches thick and its cellar foundation to this day is a perfect piece of expert masonry.
The history of the Spence family is one of great interest. The great grandfather of the present owner, Robert Spence Sr., was John Spence who left his native Ireland to settle in Seneca County. His son, Mr. Spence's grandfather, Dr. Henry Spence settled in Lakemont on the farm in 1818. It was Dr. Henry Spence that constructed the large dwelling. Work began in 1848 and was completed in 1851 at a cost of $30,000. Last summer, Mr. William Shaw, Construction Superintendent on the Dundee Central School, visited the Spence home and was thrilled by its architecture and made an estimate of the present day cost of construction. Mr. Shaw's estimate was $150,000.
To construct the building, field stones gathered from all parts of the farm were saved for 12 years. These were used in the foundation. The cobblestones were shipped in from Sodus Point by boat to Starkey Point, where the material was hauled to the site by a team of oxen, a distance of 13 miles. The dwelling is unchanged with the exception of the slate roof which was removed about 10 years ago by the present owner.
The next generation to live under its friendly roof was Dr. Byron Spence, a prominent horticulturist, who attended meetings all over the country. Dr. Spence was a Lieutenant in the Quartermaster Corps during the Civil War. Dr. Spence used the dwelling somewhat as a hospital. He died in 1884. His son, Robert Spence Sr., is carrying the traditions of his ancestors and Robert Spence, Jr., apparently is falling in his father's footsteps. Both are justly proud of the place they call home and whose "latch string is always loosened."
The elder Mr. Spence, one of Yates County's popular and prominent residents, was born on the spacious farm. He lived on the place until he was 20 years old and then began an interesting career of adventure and business. He took a position with the Barker, Rose & Clinton Hardware firm in Elmira. He worked for the Elmira firm for four or five years, selling to contractors, builders and mill owners.
While in Elmira he went into partnership with the old E.S. Brown & Company Shoe firm at 109 Water St. Mr. E.S. Brown now resides in Horseheads. After five years in the shoe business, Mr. Spence purchased his interest and the next two years he spent in Northern Canada in a silver camp at Elk Lake, 60 miles north of Cobalt. This was from 1908 to 1910. He loves to recall those days of prospecting with its winter hardships and its pioneer life. The two year stay in Canada resulted in a slight financial return for Mr. Spence.
In Canada he did contracting work, sinking shafts for silver, surface work, etc. His brother, Theodore Spence, died and Mr. Spence returned to the farm home for the winter. He managed the farm for about a year and then left for Texas, where he planned to invest in some irrigated fruit lands in the Rio Grande Valley. He spent two months in the southwest and changed his mind. While in Texas, he visited Mexico and of course went to the bull fights which were not to his liking. He still has a souvenir of the bullfight, one of the sharp pointed instruments the matadors use to dispatch the bull.
Leaving the southwest, he became a salesman, traveling through Ohio and Kentucky. Later he was a salesman working out of Syracuse, where he met the future Mrs. Spence. Mr. and Mrs. Spence will observe their 25th wedding anniversary this coming January. Mr. and Mrs. Spence began their married life on the place of his birth. The property was then owned by his nephew, Byron Spence and Mr. Spence purchased the property in 1929. He has operated the farm for the past 25 years.
A decade ago, Mr. Spence began to raise turkeys and today is considered an authority on them. More than 1,000 birds on his ranch were ready for the Turkey Day and Christmas. Mr. Spence raises his birds on wire from the time of birth until ready for the table. The birds are fed under a scientific plan and a turkey's diet contains a regular ground mash, consisting of proteins, fat, fibre, carbohydrates, dried skim milk, liver, meat, fish, dehydrated alfalfa leaf meal, wheat bran, corn gluten, soy bean oil, pulverized heavy barley, ground yellow corn, pulverized heavy oats, fortified cod liver oil, salt and manganese sulphate. The manganese sulphate, Mr. Spence regards as very important in raising a perfect bird. Only a quarter of a pound is used in a ton of feed. It is a preventative of a malformation similar to rickets. Gravel of course is placed in the feet troughs to grind the feed up in the gizzard.
Raising turkeys on wire, instead of allowing freedom of the range, results in a better flavored bird, as the animal easts no grubs or worms. Mr. Spence through the years has been cross breeding, making a better bird, better flavored meat and one that will fit a roasting pan perfectly. His stock is composed of White Hollands, Bourbon Reds, Black Spanish breeds. He has crossed White Hollands and Bourbon Reds, which has resulted in a very good turkey.
The best selling turkey, Mr. Spence said, is one that weighs 12 to 15 pounds. This year there was a fine crop of turkeys and Mr. Spence believes that a good season for the grower was due to the war in Europe. "Most people in this country were so thankful this year that this country is not at war, that they wrapped themselves around a a pretty good turkey," he said.
The price was about the same as last year, a home dressed, number one turkey sold a little higher than the western turkey. Strange as it seems, Mr. Spence says that although Thanksgiving is known as "Turkey Day," there is a bigger demand at Christmas.
In addition to 1,000 turkeys, on his 260 acre farm, Mr. Spence has 40 to 50 sheep, 25 head of cattle, one to two hundred capons, a few dozen pigeons and three dogs. Despite the large number of animals around the farm, Mr. Spence has a wish for a couple of beautiful peacocks and he says he is going to have two another year.
Mr. Spence holds a deep interest in persons and books. He is an ardent reader of newspapers and periodicals and boasts of a well stocked library.
The property passed out of the Spence family in 1972 when it was sold to Mr. and Mrs. Kim Kuhnle of Fairport, Ohio. Richard Palmer blog.
"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 23.
"Historic Yates Area Homes", Geneva Daily Times, Monday, February 2, 1955.
"Permanent File of Cobblestone Structures".
"Gateways To Cobblestone Houses of Yates County", by Crooked Lake Yorkers, Penn Yan Academy, page 13, 1967.
"Spence homestead sold to Ohioan", The Geneva Times, 4/20/1972.
Realtor Information Form for The Spence Homestead, c. 1978.
"A Brief History of Cobblestone Architecture in Yates County, New York", By Richard F. Palmer
"More about Cobblestone Structures"
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National Register of Historic Places Registration
- "Cobblestone Architecture", 1944, Carl Schmidt: Name reference, Spence House
- Page 16, Page 18, Page 52.
- Exterior Details of Entrance, the Dr. Spence House, Himrod, N. Y., Page 94
- Interior Details from the Dr. Spence House, Himrod, N. Y., Page 95
- Exterior Details of Entrance, the Dr. Spence House, Himrod, N. Y., Page 94
- "Cobblestone Masonry", 1966, Carl Schmidt: Name reference, Spence House
- Page 208, Three Types of Cobblestone Work Page 262, Main Entrance Page 273
- "Cobblestone Landmarks of New York State", 1978, by Olaf William Shelgren, Jr., Cary Lattin, and Robert W. Frasch, Photographs by Gerda Peterich: Name reference, Spence House
- Pages 140 - 141
- "The Era of Cobblestone Architecture", unpublished manuscript 1972. To access the manuscript content about this structure, see 162, 163. Yates County, Spence-Kuhnle.
 Sta-1 Spence 4.jpg ¹ Pease Collection 1940-41 |  Sta-1 Spence 3.jpg ¹ Pease Collection 1940-41 |  Sta-1 Spence 2.jpg ¹ |  GP Yates Starkey Sta-1 1-1 N ² August 1971 |
 GP Yates Starkey Sta-1 2-1 P ² August 1971 |  GP Yates Starkey Sta-1 3-1 N ² August 1971 |  Yat_5_1.jpg |  Yat_5_2.jpg |
 Yat_5_3.jpg |  Yat_5_4.jpg |  Yat_5_5.jpg |  Yat_5_6.jpg |
 Sta-1 4306 Lakemont-Himrod Rd 1.jpg ³ |  Sta-1 4306 Lakemont-Himrod Rd 2.jpg ³ |  Sta-1 4306 Lakemont-Himrod Rd 3.jpg ³ |  Sta-1 4306 Lakemont-Himrod Rd 4.jpg ³ |
 IMG_1659.jpg 4 |  IMG_0778.jpg 4 Kitchen at left. Ballroom was located on the top floor of main part of the house. |  IMG_0779.jpg 4 |  IMG_0780.jpg 4 |
 IMG_0783.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.
