301 W Green St Ithaca

Source: Henry St. John Local Historic District Nomination, Sara Johnson and Kristen Olson, Historic Ithaca, Inc., 2012.
Description:
301 West Green Street occupies a lot on the southeast corner of Green and Albany streets with its primary entrance on Green Street. This property is one of a series of houses along West Green Street that mark the transition from Ithaca’s commercial core to the north and west from the primarily residential neighborhood of the Henry St. John district south of Green Street. This two story house of frame construction was built in the Italianate style ca. 1863.
The house is square in plan and symmetrical, with a center portico on the three-bay north façade, a rectangular two-story projection on the south façade, and an open porch on the east façade. The raised foundation of tooled stone ashlar construction accommodates a basement story and raises the main entrance above street level.
The low-pitched hipped roof has deep overhanging eves and a wide cornice with regularly spaced scrolled paired brackets. A flat-roofed portico supported by square Doric posts shelters the glazed double doors in the center bay of the north façade. Concrete steps with decorative cast concrete balusters lead to the front door. A basement level entrance is located on under the portico. The walls are clad in clapboard and windows are generally of tall proportions, regularly spaced, with most containing 6/6 vinyl replacements. In the primary, north, section of the house, first story windows have decorative wood crowns with garlands between the window and top of the frame. Second story windows have flat, slightly projecting crowns. The south section of the house has simplified decorative details: simple rectangular window frames, shallow eaves, and lower roofline.
On the east façade, glazed double doors in the center bay have an ornate carved wood surround with a decorative balustrade topping the doors. The doors access the open porch that covers most of the first story of the east façade. Decorative cast concrete balusters enclose the east and north sides of the porch. A brick chimney runs up the wall along the north side of the doors, projecting through the roof.
A narrow, one-bay, one-story addition projects from the south façade. This contains a row of four windows across its south wall and a single door on the east. A paved driveway occupies the south portion of the property, directly behind the house, completely covering the space between 301 West Green Street and 210 South Albany Street. On the west side of the property, a low shrub separates the house form the asphalt driveway of 305 West Green Street.
Significance:
Contributing. Architecturally significant. Historically significant.
301 West Green Street is architecturally significant as an example of a substantial Italianate style residence. The house retains a high level of integrity, retaining original exterior details including decorative window hoods, scrolled brackets under deep overhanging eaves, clapboard siding, wood corner boards, and glazed double front doors. Though original 2/2 windows have been replaced with vinyl windows, the window openings are unaltered.
301 West Green Street is historically significant for its association with a series of prominent Ithaca merchants and landowners with close business and family associations. Evidence suggests that the house was built ca. 1863 for Albert A. Farnham, who was a boat builder and a partner or associate of two firms located on the inlet in Ithaca: King & Farnham, a boatyard; and King & Bostwick, a flour and gristmill.
Albert A. Farnham purchased the property for $1,000 in May 1863 from William C. Taber, another boat builder and a major landowner. It is possible that there was another structure on the property prior to Farnham’s purchase, as one is indicated on the 1851 Bevans map, but the same structure is not shown on the 1853 map. Farnham sold the property to Alexander King for $8,000 in 1869.
Alexander King was probably a close business associate of Farnham’s because his firm, A. King & Sons, dealt in lumber and grain. Alexander King conveyed 301 West Green Street to his son, Warren King, three months after purchasing it from Farnham. A. King & Sons was active in real estate in Ithaca in the 1850s an 1860s.
Warren King resided in the house until his death in 1878. The property was conveyed to Lafayette L. and Eliza A. Treman, who were probably King family business associates. Leander R. King was a partner in the Treman, King & Co. hardware company. The Tremans and Kings were related- Leander King was Lafayette Treman’s cousin- though the exact details of the family relationship are unclear.
The Tremans sold the property to Samuel G. Williams in 1882. Williams was the principal of the Ithaca academy from 1859-69. He taught geology at Cornell University prior to being appointed professor of the science and art of teaching in 1885 in the newly organized department of pedagogy. Williams also served as an alderman for the city’s second ward in 1894.
Williams sold the property to Durand Alexander in 1895. Alexander was a large property owner in Ithaca, listing his occupation as landlord in the 1900 United State census. The property remained in the Alexander family until the 1970s, but the 1961 Sanborn company map indicates that the house had been divided into apartments.
Alterations:
The house is depicted on the 1872 map of Ithaca as a square central mass with a smaller rectangular projection on the south. The 1893 Sanborn company map indicates a small porch addition to the south façade and the 1898 Sanborn map shows a small porch addition on the east façade. The entry portico may be original to the house, but it was not indicated on a Sanborn map until 1910; if it is original, its cast concrete balusters are a later, but compatible, addition.
Sources:
Bardin, A.G. 1872 Map of the Corporation of Ithaca, Tompkins Co., N.Y. Philadelphia: T.C. VanArsdale & Co., 1872. The History Center In Tompkins County, Ithaca, NY.
Ithaca directories, 1864-1981.Historic Ithaca, Inc., Ithaca, NY.
Obituary of Warren King. s-39-a, p.5. The History Center In Tompkins County, Ithaca, NY.
Sanborn Map Company. Ithaca, NY fire insurance maps, 1888-1961.The History Center In Tompkins County, Ithaca, NY.
Selkreg, John H. Landmarks of Tompkins County, N.Y. Syracuse: D. Mason & Company, 1894.
Tompkins County Department of Assessment. Tompkins County tax assessment photographs, 1954. Historic Ithaca, Inc., Ithaca, NY.
Tompkins County, NY. Deeds and survey maps, 1850-2010. Office of the Tompkins County Clerk, Ithaca, NY.

Source of Building Data: 1910 Sanborn Fire Insurance Atlas;
Multi-Family Construction: ; 
Roof of Main Structure: Non-combustible; 
Additional Sections: Section 1, back (S), 2 stories, non-combustible roof; 
Porches: Porch 1, front entryway (N), 1 story, non-combustible roof ; 
Outbuildings: ; 
Other: ;