Cobblestone Farmhouse at 1229 Birdsey Road

Cobblestone Farmhouse at 1229 Birdsey Road
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	1229 Birdsey Road, Junius, New York
Coordinates	42°58′1.3368″N 76°51′51.015″W / 42.967038000°N 76.86417083°WCoordinates: 42°58′1.3368″N 76°51′51.015″W / 42.967038000°N 76.86417083°W
Area	12 acres (4.9 ha)[1]
Built	1840
MPS	Cobblestone Architecture of New York State MPS
NRHP Reference #	08000772[2]
Added to NRHP	August 6, 2008[2]

Cobblestone Farmhouse at 1229 Birdsey Road is a farmhouse in the town of Junius, New York, in Seneca County, New York. It is significant as a well-preserved example of cobblestone architecture, in a vernacular Greek Revival style. North of the house, there is also a large barn believed to date to the late 19th century. This property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 6, 2008. It is the sixth property listed as a featured property of the week in a program of the National Park Service that began in July, 2008.^[2][3]

House

The house is thought to have been built in the 1830s or 1840s.

These are the quoins on southeast corner of house. Note the difference in workmanship between the wall on the left (south side) and the wall on the right (rear), showing that the better craftsmen worked on the more visible surfaces of the house.

The walls of the two-story structure are made with rounded field stones between limestone quoins that both decorate and stabilize the walls.^[1] The multi-colored field cobbles are held in place with limestone mortared "V" joints, typical of cobblestone construction of the Middle Period.^[4] The quoins are twelve inches (305 mm) high, and there are three to four courses of cobblestones for each quoin. The house is laid out with two windows on either side of a central entrance. The one-story porch outside the front door has Victorian details under a hip roof. The Greek Revival features of the entrance include square pilasters and half side-lights. The builder and/or architect is not known.^[1]

Architecture

Cobblestone architecture was developed in New York State to a high degree. A survey identified 660 cobblestone structures in 21 New York counties. There may be approximately 300 elsewhere in the United States, concentrated in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, and Vermont.^[4]

Barn

The barn on the property is constructed of wood siding attached vertically to the frame. It is itself significant as a typical example of late 19th century barn construction.^[1]

Location

The property is located on Birdsey Road, a north-south county road, directly adjacent to the New York State Thruway, effectively on the northeast corner of that intersection. The town of Junius remains largely rural in character. The 12-acre (49,000 m²) property is what remains of the original 100-acre (0.40 km²) farmstead. The topography is fairly flat, and the land mostly cleared, with scattered groups of trees.^[1]

There are three other cobblestone farmhouses in the same township which are also listed on the National Register: Cobblestone Farmhouse at 1027 Stone Church Rd., Cobblestone Farmhouse at 1027 Stone Church Rd., and John Graves Cobblestone Farmhouse.

See also

• Cobblestone Historic District

References

1. Nancy L. Todd (June 2008). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Cobblestone Farmhouse at 1229 Birdsey Road" (pdf). National Park Service. (20 pages including 5 photos, and 2 maps)
2. "Announcements and actions on properties for the National Register of Historic Places, August 15, 2008". New listings. National Park Service. Retrieved 2008-08-25.
3. "Weekly List Actions". National Park Service. Retrieved 2008-08-25.
4. Nancy L. Todd (March 1992). "National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation: Cobblestone Architecture of New York State" (pdf). National Park Service.