Building date: 1850
Original use:
Corner structures: Tooled
Mortar application and content: Vertical, slight embellishment
Types and uses of stones: lake washed stones, small red sandstone, very finely selected. Per quoin: Six courses front, side 5 courses, wing side 4 courses, back ? (note unreadable).
Types and choice of windows:
Structures with similar masonry details: Pal-8 Cooley, Sod-30 Cottrell
Masons and tradesmen who worked on building: Mason named Cotrell; carpenter Rufus Moses, interior work 1851-52, and made blinds (shutters) 1855. Cost was $350 cash and farm produce. Philip Wemesfelder is listed as mason in the book "Cobblestone Landmarks of New York State", page 37. See below in "Comments, Additional Information, References" section.
Unique features: Left porch original, front porch 20th century addition.
Map views courtesy Google Maps. Address is Google Earth confirmed; 43°16'47.20"N 77°11'24.82"W. Current owner of record, Kline as of the 2019 Tax Roll.
Town of Williamson and Wayne County Maps.
"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 tenth paragraph on page 34.
"Cobblestone Structures of Wayne County" Zumri Waters House excerpt, 1955, Verlyn Edward Klahn, pages 377 and 378. Essay submitted for Hoffman Foundation, Wayne County History Scholarship, awarded 1955. Reprint permission granted by Wayne County Historian.
This attractive cobblestone house at 4025 Lake Road just west of Pultneyville was built in 1850 for Zimri Waters by a mason named Cottrell and Rufus Moses, a carpenter. The front wall is constructed of lake washed stones. Richard Palmer blog.
Couple with dog in front of cobblestone house at #4025 Lake Rd. The couple in the photo is probably George Waters and his wife (will need confirmation), who owned the house for many years. Upon their deaths, their daughter Miss Alice Waters inherited the house. Alice bequeathed the house to her first cousin, Mary Cornwall Stevens (mother of Chip Stevens/Peter & their 4 sisters). Courtesy Dr. Peter Stevens, MD and brother Chip Stevens, architect/regional planner/watercolor artist in Pultneyville. Thanks to Cynthia Howk for providing image and documentation.
George Waters and Wife.jpg
Editor's Note: The following digitized images provided were taken by Cynthia Howk, when recently reviewing photo albums owned by Roland "Chip" Stevens, III. Sadly, the original photo albums and all the images they contained were destroyed some years ago by Fred Cornwall's second wife, who, from family information, was a vindictive person not interested in preserving any family memorabilia. Fortunately, prior to the albums destruction, Chip Stevens had the opportunity to make xerox copies of all the pages/photos in the two albums. These xerox copies are now the only known surviving copies of dozens of outstanding photos showing rural, agricultural life in Pultneyville N.Y. at the beginning of the 20th century. "Best effort" restoration of these images was done by editor Gregory Lawrence.
This image shows the front of the cobblestone house, with group of people, one of whom is George Waters (with pipe), the then-owner of the house. Date of photo: c. 1910.
Wil-19 Baldassari DSC_1003.jpg
A family group photo taken on the front porch, c. 1912. George Waters, the owner of the house is standing second from right and next to his wife, Mary (in white dress). The baby in the photograph is Mary Cornwall (later Mrs. Roland Stevens; mother of Chip Stevens). The photo caption refers to Mary Cornwall's first Christmas. Mary was a niece of George Waters and, upon the death of George's only daughter, Alice, Mary inherited this house in 1951. This is another photo from the Cornwall/Waters albums - photocopies of which are owned by Roland "Chip" Stevens, III. The original print of this photo is no longer extant. Cynthia Howk
Wil-19 Baldassari DSC_1024.jpg
Alice Evalin Cornwall Waters 1884-1951: This was prepared for the Williamson-Pultneyville Historical Society Program on Historically Significant Women of Williamson, which was to have taken place on April 1, 2020. Williamson-Pultneyville Historical Society Newsletter, July/August 2020, pages 6 and 7.
Her Grandfather built this house & she lived here for most of her life. She was a fascinating person, with exceptional education (Smith College/class of 1909) & Master's from Univ of Michigan/1910. After a short teaching career in Pennsylvania, she returned to the farm to help her parents. However, she was involved in many community initiatives, as well as personal interests (travel, beekeeping, played violin, etc.). Cynthia Howk email 2/1/2023.
This was Alice's home (principal residence) during for her lifetime (1884-1951). An only child, she lived here with her parents & helped them run their successful fruit farm. Per ads in Rochester's "Democrat & Chronicle," Alice's specific interest was poultry farming (she raised chickens/sold eggs in Rochester, on a weekly basis).
The article includes info about Alice's fascinating life - she was a "major force" in her community, as you'll read, as the founder of a number of important local institutions. For many years, she was an active member of Rochester's Smith College Alumnae Club and hosted its annual picnic several times, at her family's Pultneyville home.
 Alice Waters Portrait.jpg |  Alice Waters With Pet Dog.jpg |  Alice Waters Car | These photographs appear in the Williamson-Pultneyville Historical Society Newsletter, July/August 2020, pages 6 and 7. |
These photos that accompany this article show Alice at her family's Lake Rd. cobblestone, with its barns & outbuildings (no longer extant), as well as a wonderful photo of her seated in her open touring car, in front of the residence. "Best effort" restoration of these images was done by editor Gregory Lawrence.
Addendum: there are several more photos of this property, 4025 Lake Rd., that appear in Waters family photo albums (c. 1900-'30s), which exist only as xeroxed copies. Unfortunately, the albums were destroyed, c. 1970s, by the wife of the family member who'd had the albums for many years.
Fortunately, for us, retired architect Chip Stevens (cousin of Alice Waters) had the opportunity to borrow the albums prior to their destruction & he made xerox photocopies of all the contents (each ledger-sized page-with-photos was individually photocopied). Chip retains these photocopied albums in his family collections.
Today, this surviving collection of remarkable photos provides a unique glimpse of the everyday activities in the rural, agricultural community of Pultneyville, NY, during the early 20th century - a lifestyle that exists no more. Cynthia Howk email 10/17/2024.
Zimri Waters Account Book Excerpts, 1844-1869. Editor's Note: The original account book of Zimri Waters is on file in the Resource Center of the Cobblestone Museum.
Gerda Peterich handwritten notes c. 1950s for the Zimri Waters House, includes account book excerpts.
"Nine Historic Houses Along Lake Ontario", page 1E, Democrat and Chronicle 5/1/1960. Courtesy Cobblestone Museum.
Two pages from two Pultneyville Home Tour Brochures, date unknown, provided by Nancy Hance, Historian of Pultneyville. Richard Palmer email 1/25/2021.
The Zimri Waters House, courtesy the Tom The Backroads Traveller blog.
Wayne Historians Organization (WHO), Historic Sites Inventory Cobblestone house
The Cobblestone Society & Museum Tours:
Waters - Dunning House 4th Annual 06/06/1964
- "Cobblestone Architecture", 1944, Carl Schmidt: Name reference, Zimri Waters House
- Page 17, Page 25, Page 36, Page 53,
- Comparison of Cobblestones and Quoins, Zimri Waters House, Pultneyville, Page 75
- Comparison of Cobblestones and Quoins, Zimri Waters House, Pultneyville, Page 75
- "Cobblestone Masonry", 1966, Carl Schmidt: Name reference, Waters - Dunning House
- Page 200, Comparison of Cobblestones and Quoins Page 261, Main Entrance Page 279, Page 315
- Front of the Zimri House drawing, Front view askew to left. Carl Schmidt Collection of Two-Dimensional Drawings, online access to view, New York Heritage digital collections.
- "Cobblestone Landmarks of New York State", 1978, by Olaf William Shelgren, Jr., Cary Lattin, and Robert W. Frasch, Photographs by Gerda Peterich: Name reference, Waters House
- Page 37
- "The Era of Cobblestone Architecture", unpublished manuscript 1972. To access the manuscript content about this structure, see 141. Wayne County, Waters-Burggraaff House.
Editor's Note: On page 315 Schmidt stated the name Walters - Dunning House, whereas all other references are Waters - Dunning House.
 Residence of Alice Waters.jpg ¹ |  Wil-19 Baldassari 3 6 c. 1915 |  Wil-19 Baldassari 3 ² Charles Hopkins c. 1930 |  Wil-19 Baldassari 2 ² Pease Collection 1940-41 |
 GP Wayne Williamson Wil-19 1-1 N.jpg ³ |  Wil_19_1.jpg |  Wil_19_2.jpg |  Wil_19_3.jpg |
 Wil_19_4.jpg |  Wil_19_5.jpg |  Wil_19_6.jpg |  Wil-19 Baldassari 4 ² |
 Wil-19 4025 Lake Rd 1.jpg ¹ |  Wil-19 4025 Lake Rd 2.jpg 4 |  Wil-19 4025 Lake Rd 3.jpg 4 |  4100 Lake Road, Williamson.jpg 5 |
 4100 Lake Road, Williamson 1.jpg 5 |
¹ Image courtesy "History of Monroe County", next page past page 192, Everts, Ensign & Everts, Philadelphia 1877.
² Image courtesy Cobblestone Museum.
³ Photography courtesy Gerda Peterich. Cobblestone Museum.
4 Photography courtesy Martin and Sheila Wolfish.
5 Photography courtesy Richard Palmer.
6 Photography courtesy Roland "Chip" Stevens, III.
