Cobblestone Museum announces preservation award winners

Photo by Tom Rivers: The old Holley High School was given a $17 million makeover after being dormant for more than two decades. The building is now home to apartments and the Village of Holley offices.

CHILDS – The Cobblestone Society and Museum has announced the recipients of their 2024 Historic Preservation Awards.

The event will take place Oct. 25 at White Birch Golf Course in Lyndonville, and feature Albion native and daily host on WXXI-FM Brenda Tremblay as emcee.

Keynote speaker will be Wayne Goodman, director of the Landmark Society of Western New York.

Brenda Tremblay and Wayne Goodman will be speakers at an Oct. 25 awards presentation.

“We are pleased to announce that this year’s keynote address will be presented by Wayne Goodman,” Farley said. “Goodman is executive director of the Landmark Society of WNY, one of the nation’s oldest and most active historic preservation organizations. It is a not-for-profit membership organization dedicated to helping our region’s communities preserve and capitalize on their rich architectural, historical and cultural heritage.”

The Landmark Society’s service area covers nine counties in Western New York, centered on the city of Rochester.

In addition to her hosting duties on WXXI-FM, Tremblay produces and hosts the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra’s radio concerts on Monday nights and collaborates with WXXI news to cover the arts across all media services. Outside the broadcast studio, singing is her passion and she has performed with choirs in Carnegie Hall, Westminster Abbey and in the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing. Currently she serves as music director at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Brockport.

Farley said again this year they have received award nominations which represent a tremendous assortment of historic structures in many architectural styles and building materials.

“The nominees are integral to building stronger neighborhoods, boosting local economies and saving the places that are special to all of us,” Farley said. “The Historic Preservation Awards celebrate those who work so hard to protect that shared heritage.”

Farley continued to say each of the building owners is to be commended for making a conscious decision to preserve and maintain their historic structures with prudent and wise choices of design and materials that complement the historic character and quality of their buildings.

This year’s award winners are Gaines Basin Schoolhouse, owned by the Orleans County Historical Association; the Butterfield cobblestone home owned by Erin Anheier and Russ Bosch of Clarendon; Murray-Holley Historical Society/railroad depot owned by the village of Holley; Holley Gardens, owned by Home Leasing; the William V.N Barlow house in Albion, owned by Gar and Virginia Trusselle; and the Isaac Bennett house in Medina, owned by Delbert Young.

Photos courtesy of Cobblestone Museum: The Orleans County Historical Association led the effort to save the Gaines Basin schoolhouse.

The Gaines-Basin District #2 schoolhouse building was donated to the Orleans County Historical Association by the Panek family, who own the land surrounding the schoolhouse. Restoration by the Historical Association required much exterior repair work. Visitors will be able to step inside and see the restored interior.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in June 2017, this is the earliest documented cobblestone building in Orleans County. It operated continuously from construction in 1832 until 1944, when students were then sent to school in Albion. Since that time it mostly sat vacant and/or been used for agricultural storage.

A small log cabin in back of the schoolhouse was built in 1930 by Boy Scouts in Albion. It was originally located on Linwood Avenue. In 2020, in was given to the Orleans County Historical Association by Pat and Ralph Morehouse and moved to its present site. Restoration and further preservation of this unique folk landmark is still ongoing. This property was nominated by the award by Cobblestone Museum director Doug Farley.

This cobblestone home on Bennetts Corners Road was built in 1849.

Matt Holland, Cobblestone Museum president, nominated the Butterfield cobblestone house at 4690 Bennetts Corners Rd., Holley.

This Greek Revival house was built in 1849 of lake washed cobblestone for Orson Butterfield. The date is proudly proclaimed, incised in a datestone set in the front gable of the main part of the house. The form of the house is that of the standard 19th century New York state farmhouse – two-story main portion, one and one-half story wing at one side and a rear one and one-half story wing. An unusual feature on the front is the use of a small limestone block, about the size of a brick, at the top of the window openings to serve as a seat for the limestone lintels.

A porch with square wood columns extends across the front of the side wing. The porch has retained its original floor of stone slabs. Protected from the weather by the porch roof, the cobblestone front of the wing still has all of its original crispness of detail. In the gable end of the side wing there is an attic window which is importantly trimmed in wood – another unusual feature, which is also repeated in the addition. The Butterfield cobblestone home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Gar and Virginia Trusselle own this historic home on South Clinton Street in Albion.

The William V.N. Barlow house at 223 South Clinton Street in Albion is a brick building erected in 1879 in an eclectic mix of contemporary architectural styles, including Second Empire, Italianate and East Lake. It’s interior features high intricate Eastlake-style woodwork. It was the home of a prominent local architect who designed many major buildings in Alboin. A two-story brick structure on a Medina sandstone foundation, it and an accompanying barn were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

Features include a projecting bay window on the west façade, topped with a mansard roof pierced by gabled dormer windows and porches on the north and south sides. This home was nominated by Bill Lattin, Cobblestone Society trustee and former Orleans County historian.

This Medina sandstone house on State Street is the oldest sandstone home in Medina.

The Isaac Bennett House at 203 State St. in Medina is owned by Delbert Young, and is the oldest Medina sandstone house in Medina. In was built for Isaac Bennett in the late 1820s to the early 1830s. Bennett procured the stone for building purposes on the east side of Oak Orchard Creek.

The front of this house faces south, rather than State Street, the reason being when the house was built there was a street which ran along that side of the house toward a canal bridge which is no longer there.

Delbert Young purchased the property from Rick and Marilyn Drilling. When Bill Lattin nominated this house for an award, he said, “This is one of Medina’s outstanding homes, both in its appearance and architectural integrity. It is nicely restored and well-kept.”

Photo courtesy of Dan Mawn: Holley second-graders are shown in May 2022 outside the 1907 New York Central Depot. It closed in 1954 and now is the Murray-Holley Historical Society Museum. It exhibits local artifacts of the Erie Canal and railway eras, and houses an interpretive center for genealogical research.

The Murray-Holley Historical Society, located in the railroad depot on Geddes Street Extension  in Holley was constructed in 1907 and moved in 1988 to the current site by the Murray-Holley Historical Society. It was dedicated as a museum for all citizens of the area. The depot museum exhibits local artifacts of the Erie Canal and railway eras. It also houses the interpretive center for genealogical research. The property was nominated by Raymond Santoro of Holley.

The old Holley High School/Holley Gardens  is owned by Home Leasing. It represents adaptive reuse and historic preservation of the former Holley High School. Overall, the project received $17 million worth of renovations. The building was last used as a school in 1975. After two years of construction, Home Leasing has the building fully occupied with 41 apartments for seniors and the Holley village offices.

Originally constructed in 1931, the three-story Neo-Classical brick building served as a high school until the mid-1970s. It sat unused during the decades it was closed. The school’s original auditorium was kept largely intact to be used as a public meeting space for the village’s board meetings and other public forums.

The area beneath the balcony was renovated to house the village’s administrative offices. Seven of the apartments are available for households where at least one member is a person with a physical disability who will have access to supportive services provided by Independent Living of Genesee Region. Developer Home Leasing is a partner with Edgemere Development. The property was nominated by Holley Mayor Mark Bower and Erin Anheier, a former Cobblestone Museum president.

In addition to the awards, the evening will also feature a buffet will all the trimmings and a cash bar. Donations to offset the cost of the meal and to further the Cobblestone Society’s preservation agenda will be accepted with dinner reservation. Reservations can be made by calling the museum at (585) 589-9013.