214 S Albany St Ithaca

Source: Henry St. John Local Historic District Nomination, Sara Johnson and Kristin Olson, Historic Ithaca, Inc., 2012.
Description: 
214 South Albany Street is located on a wide, deep lot on the west side of the street near the center of the block, the first of a series of four houses on in the center of the block that sit on lots extending farther west than the lots near the north and south corners of the street. The house has a small front lawn and the remainder of the property not occupied by the house is covered by an asphalt driveway and parking lot.
It is a two-story wood frame house built ca. 1850 in the Greek Revival style. It has a low-pitched front-gabled roof and a cross-gable wing projecting to the north and a two-story addition on the west. Walls are clad in vinyl siding. An open porch with decorative supports and a low balustrade encloses the void between the main section and the wing and covers the first story of the wing.
A broad door surround of eared molding is in the north bay of the gable-front section with a single-width replacement door set into the broad, recessed opening. Two wide stone steps lead up to the door and the exposed east side of the foundation is of tooled stone ashlar construction.
The house features wide wood cornices with returns on the gable front and eared moldings around all east façade windows. The east gable end has two windows across the first story and three across the second story. The two-bay wing has a doorway and tall window on the first story and two evenly spaced windows on the second story. Window openings appear to be original but most windows are 1/1 vinyl replacements.
Significance

Contributing. Architecturally significant. Historically significant.
214 South Albany Street is architecturally significant as an example of a front-gable and wing Greek Revival style residence. Despite being clad in vinyl siding, the building retains its integrity due to its original form and massing, wide cornice with returns, and eared door and window moldings.
214 South Albany Street is historically significant for its association with a number of prominent business and political figures in Ithaca. It is on lot 64 of the lots laid out by Simeon DeWitt south of Green Street. When the house was built ca. 1850, the 66’ wide lot occupied the entire depth of the block between Albany and Fayette Streets. The house was built for Oristus H. Gregory, a nephew of Wait T. Huntington. Huntington was a major landholder in the Henry St. John district and a village president. Gregory worked in Lewis Culver’s dry goods store, was a partner in Huntington’s brewery on Six Mile Creek, and operated a restaurant on State Street, the Alhambra House. He also served as a railroad bonding commissioner and a trustee of the Ithaca Savings Bank. Gregory also later owned properties on South Geneva Street, and lived at 220 South Geneva Street.
Gregory sold the property to Richard J. Ives in 1855. Ives was a farmer and served as Ithaca sheriff from 1854-57. After Ives’ death, John Whiton, executor of Ives’ estate, sold the property to Franklin C. Cornell. Cornell, son of Ezra Cornell and a major landowner throughout Ithaca, operated the house as a rental property and conveyed a half interest in the east half of the lot to Horace I. Smith in 1875. Cornell subdivided the west half of the lot into two small properties fronting on Fayette Street and sold both in April 1884. Smith, who did not live on the house, was a druggist with a business on East State Street.
In 1916, the remaining half interest in the east half of the property was conveyed to Smith by the heirs of F.C. Cornell’s estate. Charles W. Gay, who lived at 211 South Albany Street, was the executor of Smith’s estate and sold the property to Mary Alice House in November 1916.
Alterations

Sanborn company maps indicate that a series of additions was made to the west side of the house between 1888 and 1961. When it was built, the house probably only included the front two-story gable and wing. The 1888 Sanborn map shows a two-story west addition that has its own one-story addition at the northwest corner. Between 1898 and 1904, a small porch was constructed in the northeast corner of the main house and the two-story addition. The 1919 Sanborn map shows small porch additions on the north and west sides of the two-story 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.
Bevans, John. 1851 Map of Ithaca, Tompkins Co., N.Y. New York: John Bevans, 1851. The History Center In Tompkins County, Ithaca, NY.
Ithaca directories, 1864-1981. Historic Ithaca, Inc., 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.
Obituary of Oristus Gregory. Collection s-113-a, p. 24. The History Center In Tompkins County, Ithaca, NY.
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: Shingle; 
Additional Sections: Section 1, back (W), 2 stories, shingle roof / Section 2, back offset to right (WN), 1 story, shingle roof; 
Porches: Porch 1, front right corner (NE), 1 story, non-combustible roof / Porch 2, left side of Section 1, 1 story, shingle roof; 
Outbuildings: Stable 1, 2 stories, shingle roof (#214 1/2 S Albany St); 
Other: ;