Servoss House
Encyclopedia
The Servoss House is a located on Fruit Avenue (Orleans County
Route 41) in the town of Ridgeway
, New York, United States, near Medina
. It is a Greek Revival
style
home built between 1830 and 1833 alongside the Erie Canal
.
It has an unusual structural system consisting of stacked horizontal wooden planks, similar to that used by the contemporaneous Benjamin Franklin Gates House
in Barre
. It remains mostly intact today. In 2008 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
line. To the south of the house, on an embankment
along the north bank of the canal, is the Canal Trailway, a public path for pedestrians and bicyclists on the canal's former towpath
. Across the canal is Telegraph Road (NY 31E
), the main route between Medina and Middleport
to the west. Other houses are across Fruit Avenue, slightly to the north.
Around the house are mature maple
and locust tree
s. There are large lawns in front and back; a driveway leads back to Fruit from the north (rear) of the house. In the woods to the northeast is an old smokehouse
, considered a contributing resource
to the house's historic character. The remainder of the property is wooded, with pines joining the hardwoods. Most of the surrounding area is wooded, giving way to worked fields to the north and east.
The house itself has a two-story, three-bay
main block with wings on either side. All sections are sided in clapboard
and have asphalt roofs. The main block and two-story east wing have hipped roofs
; the one-and-a-half-story west wing is gable
d. A small gabled garage wing projects north from the east wing.
Its structural system is referred to variously as horizontal-plank frame, stacked plank or plank-to-plank. The clapboard is affixed to layers of planks stacked solid. Usually 2 by planks were used, staggered to form a plaster key. They are spiked or pegged together at the corners, windows, doors and other spaces.
At the corners of the south (front) facade
, wooden Doric
pilaster
s, their capitals
starting at the architrave
line created by the simple wooden lintels on the second-story windows, frame the building. Above the windows is a wide frieze
where paired brackets
support overhanging eaves.
Both wings have hipped-roof full-length porches. They are supported by hand-turned Doric columns with molded capitals. The east wing roofline is also bracketed.
The main entrance is in the easternmost of the three bays. It is surrounded by a paneled enframement with an eared entablature
that goes to the sill of the window above. Inside two pilasters frame the door and its long vertical sidelights. Above their decorated crosspiece is a transom.
The door opens into the main block's central hallway. To its south is the main stair with a simple handrail and balustrade. Two large parlors are to the west. The west wing's first floor is given over to the living room; the east is the kitchen wing. On the second story are four bedrooms and a bathroom. The west wing's bedroom has a vaulted
ceiling.
Wide plank pine floors are used all over the house. All original finishes are of carved cucumber tree wood. The door and window surrounds are simple molded shouldered architraves and the baseboard
s are wide molded planks.
in the early 1820s to capitalize on the opportunities created by the canal. He bought 235 acres (95.1 ha) from the Holland Land Company
, including the current parcel, and built a log cabin
. In 1830, with the help of carpenters and masons who had worked on the canal, he began building the house for him, his family and his second wife. It was finished by 1833.
Why they used the unusual horizontal-plank system, generally found elsewhere in the Northeast
and in neighboring areas of Canada, is not known. It was believed to retain heat better and protect against wind gusts in the harsh winters the region was known for. Since they required less skill and more material to build than regular timber frame
houses, they may have been well-suited for newly settled areas where skilled carpenters and joiners were not available but where wood and the sawmill
s to process it were abundant. Combinations of both these theories may have motivated the Servosses. The direct access to lumber in large quantities via the canal may have made it even more economical.
For over a hundred years the house remained with Servoss's descendants. Very few alterations were made, although the lot was gradually subdivided and sold off. In 1940, it was sold out of the family. After several other owners, it passed in 1952 to its present owners, who have been active in restoring
and preserving
it.
Orleans County, New York
As of the census of 2000, there were 44,171 people, 15,363 households, and 10,846 families residing in the county. The population density was 113 people per square mile . There were 17,347 housing units at an average density of 44 per square mile...
Route 41) in the town of Ridgeway
Ridgeway, New York
Ridgeway, New York is a town in Orleans County, New York, United States. The population was 6,886 at the 2000 census. The name of the town is derived from "Ridge Road," an important highway in the 19th century....
, New York, United States, near Medina
Medina, New York
Medina is a village in the towns of Shelby and Ridgeway in Orleans County, New York, United States. The population was 6,415 at the 2000 census, making it the second most populous municipality in the county after Albion, the county seat. The village was named by its surveyor...
. It is a Greek Revival
Greek Revival architecture
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture...
style
Architectural style
Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of the use of form, techniques, materials, time period, region and other stylistic influences. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture...
home built between 1830 and 1833 alongside the Erie Canal
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs about from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal contains 36 locks and encompasses a total elevation differential of...
.
It has an unusual structural system consisting of stacked horizontal wooden planks, similar to that used by the contemporaneous Benjamin Franklin Gates House
Benjamin Franklin Gates House
The Benjamin Franklin Gates House is a historic home and farm complex located on Lee Road in Barre, New York, United States. It is centered around a Greek Revival house built in the 1830s using the unusual stacked-plank structural system...
in Barre
Barre, New York
Barre is a town in Orleans County, New York, United States. The population was 2,124 at the 2000 census. The town is named after Barre, Massachusetts.The Town of Barre is on the south border of the county.- History :...
. It remains mostly intact today. In 2008 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Buildings and grounds
The house is located on a 10-acre (4 ha) lot on the east side of Fruit where it bends westward at the canal and becomes Dublin Road. It is roughly one mile (1.6 km) west of Medina, midway between the village and the Niagara CountyNiagara County, New York
Niagara County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 216,469. The county seat is Lockport. The county name is from the Iroquois word Onguiaahra; meaning the strait or thunder of waters. It is the location of Niagara Falls and Fort Niagara, and...
line. To the south of the house, on an embankment
Embankment (transportation)
To keep a road or railway line straight or flat, and where the comparative cost or practicality of alternate solutions is prohibitive, the land over which the road or rail line will travel is built up to form an embankment. An embankment is therefore in some sense the opposite of a cutting, and...
along the north bank of the canal, is the Canal Trailway, a public path for pedestrians and bicyclists on the canal's former towpath
Towpath
A towpath is a road or trail on the bank of a river, canal, or other inland waterway. The purpose of a towpath is to allow a land vehicle, beasts of burden, or a team of human pullers to tow a boat, often a barge...
. Across the canal is Telegraph Road (NY 31E
New York State Route 31E
New York State Route 31E is a state highway located in Western New York in the United States. It serves as a northerly alternate route of NY 31 between the village of Middleport in eastern Niagara County and the nearby village of Medina in Orleans County...
), the main route between Medina and Middleport
Middleport, New York
Middleport is a village in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 1,917 at the 2000 census. The mail ZIP code is 14105. It is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area....
to the west. Other houses are across Fruit Avenue, slightly to the north.
Around the house are mature maple
Maple
Acer is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as maple.Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae, or together with the Hippocastanaceae included in the family Sapindaceae. Modern classifications, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, favour inclusion in...
and locust tree
Locust tree
Locust tree can mean:* Any of a number of tree species in the genera Gleditsia or Robinia* Honey locust, a leguminous tree with pods having a sweet, edible pulp* Black locust, a leguminous tree with toxic pods but useful for making honey...
s. There are large lawns in front and back; a driveway leads back to Fruit from the north (rear) of the house. In the woods to the northeast is an old smokehouse
Smokehouse
A smokehouse is a building where meat or fish is cured with smoke. The finished product might be stored in the building, sometimes for a year or more.-History:...
, considered a contributing resource
Contributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
to the house's historic character. The remainder of the property is wooded, with pines joining the hardwoods. Most of the surrounding area is wooded, giving way to worked fields to the north and east.
The house itself has a two-story, three-bay
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
main block with wings on either side. All sections are sided in clapboard
Clapboard (architecture)
Clapboard, also known as bevel siding or lap siding or weather-board , is a board used typically for exterior horizontal siding that has one edge thicker than the other and where the board above laps over the one below...
and have asphalt roofs. The main block and two-story east wing have hipped roofs
Hip roof
A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...
; the one-and-a-half-story west wing is gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
d. A small gabled garage wing projects north from the east wing.
Its structural system is referred to variously as horizontal-plank frame, stacked plank or plank-to-plank. The clapboard is affixed to layers of planks stacked solid. Usually 2 by planks were used, staggered to form a plaster key. They are spiked or pegged together at the corners, windows, doors and other spaces.
At the corners of the south (front) facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
, wooden Doric
Doric order
The Doric order was one of the three orders or organizational systems of ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian.-History:...
pilaster
Pilaster
A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....
s, their capitals
Capital (architecture)
In architecture the capital forms the topmost member of a column . It mediates between the column and the load thrusting down upon it, broadening the area of the column's supporting surface...
starting at the architrave
Architrave
An architrave is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of the columns. It is an architectural element in Classical architecture.-Classical architecture:...
line created by the simple wooden lintels on the second-story windows, frame the building. Above the windows is a wide frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
where paired brackets
Bracket (architecture)
A bracket is an architectural member made of wood, stone, or metal that overhangs a wall to support or carry weight. It may also support a statue, the spring of an arch, a beam, or a shelf. Brackets are often in the form of scrolls, and can be carved, cast, or molded. They can be entirely...
support overhanging eaves.
Both wings have hipped-roof full-length porches. They are supported by hand-turned Doric columns with molded capitals. The east wing roofline is also bracketed.
The main entrance is in the easternmost of the three bays. It is surrounded by a paneled enframement with an eared entablature
Entablature
An entablature refers to the superstructure of moldings and bands which lie horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and are commonly divided into the architrave , the frieze ,...
that goes to the sill of the window above. Inside two pilasters frame the door and its long vertical sidelights. Above their decorated crosspiece is a transom.
The door opens into the main block's central hallway. To its south is the main stair with a simple handrail and balustrade. Two large parlors are to the west. The west wing's first floor is given over to the living room; the east is the kitchen wing. On the second story are four bedrooms and a bathroom. The west wing's bedroom has a vaulted
Vault (architecture)
A Vault is an architectural term for an arched form used to provide a space with a ceiling or roof. The parts of a vault exert lateral thrust that require a counter resistance. When vaults are built underground, the ground gives all the resistance required...
ceiling.
Wide plank pine floors are used all over the house. All original finishes are of carved cucumber tree wood. The door and window surrounds are simple molded shouldered architraves and the baseboard
Baseboard
In architecture, a baseboard is a board covering the lowest part of an interior wall...
s are wide molded planks.
History
Christopher Servoss came west with his family from Montgomery CountyMontgomery County, New York
As of the census of 2000, there were 49,708 people, 20,038 households, and 13,104 families residing in the county. The population density was 123 people per square mile . There were 22,522 housing units at an average density of 56 per square mile...
in the early 1820s to capitalize on the opportunities created by the canal. He bought 235 acres (95.1 ha) from the Holland Land Company
Holland Land Company
The Holland Land Company was a purchaser of the western two-thirds of the western New York land tract known as the Phelps and Gorham Purchase. This tract was known thereafter as The Holland Purchase...
, including the current parcel, and built a log cabin
Log cabin
A log cabin is a house built from logs. It is a fairly simple type of log house. A distinction should be drawn between the traditional meanings of "log cabin" and "log house." Historically most "Log cabins" were a simple one- or 1½-story structures, somewhat impermanent, and less finished or less...
. In 1830, with the help of carpenters and masons who had worked on the canal, he began building the house for him, his family and his second wife. It was finished by 1833.
Why they used the unusual horizontal-plank system, generally found elsewhere in the Northeast
Northeastern United States
The Northeastern United States is a region of the United States as defined by the United States Census Bureau.-Composition:The region comprises nine states: the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont; and the Mid-Atlantic states of New...
and in neighboring areas of Canada, is not known. It was believed to retain heat better and protect against wind gusts in the harsh winters the region was known for. Since they required less skill and more material to build than regular timber frame
Timber framing
Timber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
houses, they may have been well-suited for newly settled areas where skilled carpenters and joiners were not available but where wood and the sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
s to process it were abundant. Combinations of both these theories may have motivated the Servosses. The direct access to lumber in large quantities via the canal may have made it even more economical.
For over a hundred years the house remained with Servoss's descendants. Very few alterations were made, although the lot was gradually subdivided and sold off. In 1940, it was sold out of the family. After several other owners, it passed in 1952 to its present owners, who have been active in restoring
Building restoration
Building restoration describes a particular treatment approach and philosophy within the field of architectural conservation. According the U.S...
and preserving
Historic preservation
Historic preservation is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance...
it.