Building date: 1840
Original use:
Corner structures: Gray limestone and red sandstone
Mortar application and content: Vertical, slight embellishment. Vertical pyramids
Types and uses of stones: Small, various colors
Types and choice of windows:
Structures with similar masonry details:
Masons who worked on building: Adams
Unique features:
Map views courtesy Google Maps. Address is Google Earth confirmed; 43°13'25.46"N 77°14'37.89"W. Current owner of record, West Main St. Realty Co. as of the 2019 Tax Roll.
Town of Williamson and Wayne County Maps.
A Century Old Landmark, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle February 13, 1953
An old cobblestone farm house on the Ridge Road west of the village, is being restored. The "old Adams house," as it is called, has stood with its shoulder toward the Ridge since Zachary Taylor was president.
It has seen the Ridge Road change from a dusty trail to a busy modern highway and has watched surrounding woodlands and muck swamps change to productive farm lands.
The narrow end wall which faces the Ridge is made up with smooth cobblestones of uniform size, while the two side walls which extend back quite a distance are fashioned of cobblestones of a slightly larger size. The thresholds are huge slabs of gray stone. The second story windows under the sloping eaves are the small rectangular grill windows usually seen in cobblestone houses.
A little over a year ago this house passed out of the hands of the Adams family, after being owned by them for well over 100 years. The new owners, Mr. and Mrs. Louis Clemens are now deep in the process of restoring the house. G. Clemens, a former tin can manufacturer, has retired twice ... once in 1945 after which he went back to work again after a few months of leisure time, and again in 1952 after which he bought the 92-acre Adams farm and began seriously to learn to be a farmer, and to remodel the cobblestone house.
Two former front rooms have now been converted into a large sunny living room, dominated by a stone fireplace, whose attractive and rather unusual stones were picked up on the farm by the masons to lend a variety to the stonework.
Each window has a deep ledge and most of the windows have been restored with 12 panes in the top sash and eight in the lower sash.
Huge square hand-hewn beams are built into the house and here and there hand-forged square headed nails are to be found. All these will remain to add to the beauty and sturdiness of the old house, although much of the old-time lath and plaster has been been removed from the interior walls and replaced by modern lath and plaster. Thus another Williamson landmark is being preserved for generations to come. Richard Palmer blog.
"Cobblestone Structures of Wayne County" Louis Clemens House excerpt, 1955, Verlyn Edward Klahn, pages 350 and 353. Essay submitted for Hoffman Foundation, Wayne County History Scholarship, awarded 1955. Reprint permission granted by Wayne County Historian.
The Cobblestone Society & Museum Tours:
Adams - Grabowski House 4th Annual 06/06/1964Wayne Historians Organization (WHO), Historic Sites Inventory Adams-Grabowski cobblestone
- "Cobblestone Masonry", 1966, Carl Schmidt: Name reference, Adams - Grabowski House
- Page 194
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¹ Photography courtesy Martin and Sheila Wolfish.
² Photography courtesy Richard Palmer.
