This week we are presenting an historic home in the City of Rochester's first residential neighborhood: Corn Hill or, if you're like me and you've been around for half a century or more, the Third Ward.
When you step into Corn Hill you immerse yourself in the physicality of the 19th Century: a cluster of homes where walking was a primary means of transportation. This a tight knit community in large part because of physical proximity; add to that the shared values that emerge when a community celebrates diversity, local history and the arts. Corn Hill is Rochester and Rochester is Corn Hill. Links to more info on Corn Hill below.
105 South Washington Street is a classic example of a late 19th century vernacular Greek Revival home built circa 1883. A full pediment and simple turned gables cap proud geometric forms: square, rectangle, triangle. A second peaked roof provides shelter at the front door. The asymmetrical front facade design is typical of homes from this period. A brick driveway intentionally connects this home to the proud heritage of brick in Corn Hill.
Inside you are greeted in a formal foyer. Note the exposed stair featuring turned spindles; a gently curving banister pocked, scraped and otherwise marked by more than one hundred years of human interaction. The living room is entirely open to the dining room and features a lovely wood burning fireplace. The dining room, in turn, is entirely open to to an eat-in sized kitchen with sliding doors that take you to a deck and a surprisingly private fully fenced back yard. The kitchen has a cathedral ceiling with a newer skylight, natural wood cabinets and newer stainless steel appliances. There is a large remodeled full bathroom on the first floor. Upstairs there are two bedrooms and a second full bathroom.
Although this home was built over 130 years ago it has a new roof (tear off in 2014), high efficiency furnace, central air conditioning, a direct vent hot water heater, circuit breakers and glass block basement windows.
