Cobblestone Buildings of North America: Erie County, New York

The Town Assessor has a date of 1840 for this cobblestone house at 979 Four Rod Road, Town of Alden. A map of the Town dated 1855 shows Oliver Field (1799-1872) as the owner of the property. His wife owned it after Oliver's death. On the 1909 map, the owner is M. Knoche. The Rautenstrauch family came between 1915 and 1920. The house is one of only two cobblestone houses in Erie County.. Both houses are only cobblestone on the first floor. It is believed that the large dormer on the second floor is a later addition. (Erie County's Architectural Legacy, 1983) It appears to have been extensively renovated over the years.

Facing south

Facing north

Facing west

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This house at 4055 Ransom Road in Clarence is a composite Greek Revival cobblestone and wooden frame structure, built about 1840. The four-bay house house is two stories topped by a large cupola with two six-light windows. The cobblestone construction, of field stone, is three rows to the limestone quoin, first floor only.

Built at the height of the Greek Revival era, this house is representative of a rarer house type known as the Greek Revival Cottage. Such cottages always featured a large belvedere (cupola) on a broad hipped roof (4 slopes) and were built on a square plan, rather than the more traditional deep rectangular classical temple plan. Some were low to the ground with a wrap-around verandah (Regency Cottage type), while others, like this one, were built elevated on a stone base with a grand stairway leading to the prestigious front door.

Sadly this grand wide stairway has been removed, giving the house an awkward look. This important feature could be easily restored. What is especially distinctive with this Greek cottage is the cobblestone base. This lower floor would have served as a service area for the family above (cooking, laundry), with perhaps a cool summer bedroom or two as well. It is the only Greek Revival house with a cupola in Erie County.

The Spring House behind is a real rarity, perhaps the only one left in New York. It echoes the house in a much simpler version and is built entirely of cobblestone. Its purpose is to capture the fresh cool water of a local ground spring and use it to keep food cool in pre-mechanical refrigeration days. The fact that it survives today, intact, is nothing short of a miracle.

The larger field cobbles are carefully laid and tooled. The raking light on the quoins shows the horizontal rows of vertical chisel marks with occasional craters from prior coarser tools like a pick and a pointed chisel used for initial rough shaping. The front wall with smaller field cobbles is very refined.