This building was built in 1921 by local builder, William McElwee, Sr., as Forest Home School, replacing the one-room school a short distance north, now the
garage for 131 Judd Falls Road. The land belonged to Cornell was leased to the community for $1 a year for 25 years, renewable for two 25-year periods, as long as it continued to be used as a school. The building was also used as a community center. It was closed as a school in 1964 and ownership of the building transferred to Cornell under the terms of the lease. The building was mainly used for storage for about 10 years while Cornell sought funds to renovate the interior of the building as headquarters for Cornell Plantations, the purpose it served until the Nevin Welcome Center was built nearby in 2011. In 2024, several Forest Home residents remember that after the school closed in 1964, residents used the open spaces east and south of the building to play in and exercise dogs. For a while playground equipment remained in what is now the Robison Herb Garden.
The building is a rectangular two-story structure with hipped roof, flared eaves and exposed rafters. Walls are stucco with embedded shells, and there are large bracketed door-hoods at the north and east entrances. On the south elevation is a below-ground-level entrance. A circular ventilator sits atop the center of the roof, and there are two off-center chimneys. Windows are one-over-one double hung sash, and are grouped in threes in the upper floor classroom spaces.
The description in the 1991 Building-Structure Inventory form also includes "Interior features recall the building's original use. The principal east entrance leads to a hallway with one intact coat closet. Double stairways lead to an upper floor hallway which opens into two large rooms, one still a classroom space and the other converted to offices. Bathrooms are located at opposite ends of the hallway. Intact elements include tin ceilings throughout much of the building, original woodwork, and push button light switches. A freestanding pergola, leading to the herb garden, borders the building on the east. A flagstone walk faces the gift shop entrance. A plaque at this entrance, installed in 1983, designates this structure as the Lewis Building, named in honor of Richard M. Lewis, who was Director of Cornell Plantations from 1967 to 1982."
Included in
Forest Home Historic District with USN 10906.000173. To access the Building-Structure Inventory form (sometimes referred to as the "Blue Form"), and from which some of the details above come, including the year built, follow these
Lookup Instructions.
See also: