Ca. 1990, This building was described as a one-story rectangular, cinder block structure with a wood truss gable roof. There were large plate glass display windows on the front facade, slanting in toward the central recessed entrance. A single cinder block chimney extended above the roof to the west, but the primary source of heat for the house was from coils embedded in the concrete slab floor. The structure had been converted from a commercial building to residential use in 1975. Major interior alterations were involved in that conversion. Two double hung windows and plank siding were added on the exterior west wall. The front facade remains virtually unchanged.
This dwelling is located on a flat, wooded lot, which is bordered at the rear by Fall Creek and faces the Cornell Arboretum across the street. It is adjacent to another former commercial building, 312 Forest Home Drive.
The building is of modern construction and undistinguished appearance, yet it is important in the economic development of the area, having been one of the few commercial enterprises in residential Forest Home as late as 1970. It housed Carl Sundell's radio and television repair shop from 1954 until it closed in the early 1970s. Mr. Sundell established an early cable television system in Forest Home in the mid 1950s. He placed a receiving antenna
on an old windmill tower on Halcyon Hill, and ran a wire from there across the creek to this property. He then ran wires to all parts of the community, stringing them on trees and poles. Residents throughout Forest Home subscribed to this service. After this business closed, the building was rented to the Ithaca House Gallery until 1975,
when it was converted to residential use. It remains as a rental property associated with 310 Forest Home Drive.
This description is adapted from a provisional NYS Building-Structure Inventory Form (sometimes referred to as the "Blue Form") that was prepared as part of a Forest Home Improvement Association (FHIA) project completed around 1991. See
https://www.fhia.org/wp-content/uploads/BlueForms/314FHD_BlueForm_1991_sm.pdf.