220 S Geneva St Ithaca

Street Address History:
Earlier street address 38 S Geneva St.
The city renumbered its streets in 1899 using the hundred block system (see Crandall City Engineering Map, 1899).

Source of Building Data: 1910 Sanborn Fire Insurance Atlas;
Multi-Family Construction: ; 
Roof of Main Structure: Non-combustible; 
Additional Sections: Section 1, back (W), 2 stories, non-combustible roof / Section 2, back right side W), 2 stories, non-combustible roof / Section 3, back left side (W), 1 story non-combustible roof; 
Outbuildings: ; 
Porches: Porch 1, front (E), 1 story, non-combustible roof / Porch 2, right side (N), 1 story, non-combustible roof; 
Other: Bay 1, right side (N) / Bay 2, right side (N);

Source: Henry St. John Local Historic District Nomination, Sara Johnson and Kristin Olson, Historic Ithaca, Inc., 2012.
Description: 
220 South Geneva Street is located mid-block on the west side of the street. Beginning at 214 South Geneva Street and moving south, the lots are deeper than those to the north. The McGraw House assisted living facility is located across the street to the east. It is a two-story house of frame construction, built prior to 1851 in the Greek Revival style. The house has a low-pitched front-gabled roof and is roughly rectangular in plan with additions on the north and west façades. A one-story, full-width, shed-roofed porch covers the east façade. The porch has a small cross gable above the steps leading to the front door.
Walls are clad in asbestos shingle siding, with horizontal aluminum siding covering the porch balustrade. Windows are generally 1/1 and evenly spaced.
The north façade has a series of additions. A shallow, rectangular, two-story, flat-roofed bay with one small window is located near the east corner. A one bay wide by two bay deep, flat-roofed wing is located at the west corner of the north façade, with a shed-roofed porch covering a secondary entrance. A small, one-story bay window is between the other two projections. A driveway separates this property from 222 South Geneva Street to the south.
Significance: 
Contributing. Architecturally significant.
220 South Geneva Street is architecturally significant as an example of a modest Greek Revival style residence. Though the addition of asbestos shingle siding and impacts its integrity, it retains its original front-gabled form and some original wood trim.
The house was constructed prior to 1850 and the property owned for brief periods of time by a series of individuals prior to its acquisition by Charles M. Titus in 1871-72. In 1881, Oristus H. Gregory, a nephew of Wait T. Huntington, purchased both 220 and 216 South Geneva Street. 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. He lived at 220 South Geneva Street.
At the time of Gregory’s purchase, the 220 and 216 South Geneva Street lots ran the full depth of the block between South Geneva and South Albany Streets. In 1884, Gregory subdivided the lots and sold the west half of both to Thomas G. Miller, who had 219 South Albany Street constructed on the double lot.
220 South Geneva Street was later owned by Henry G. Northrup. Members of the extended Northrup family also owned 116 West Clinton Street, and 216, 224, and 334 South Geneva Street. Some of the Northrup properties were owner-occupied while others were rentals.
Alterations: 
The east and west additions on the north façade were constructed between 1888 and 1893 and the full-width east porch, bay window, and small north porch were added between 1893 and 1898. The additions along the west façade were expanded between 1898 and 1904.
Sources: 
Ithaca directories, 1864-1981. Historic Ithaca, Inc., Ithaca, NY. 
Levine, Jeffrey. Building-Structure Inventory Form for 220 South Geneva Street, Ithaca, NY: 1987. Historic Ithaca, Inc., Ithaca, NY. 
Photograph of 216 South Geneva Street, July 1975. Historic Ithaca, Inc., Ithaca, NY. 
Sanborn Map Company. Ithaca, NY fire insurance maps, 1888-1961.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.