224 S Geneva St Ithaca

Street Address History:
Earlier street address 42 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, left side (S), 1 story, non-combustible roof / Section 2 back (W), 1 1/2 stories, non-combustible roof; 
Outbuildings: ; 
Porches: Porch 1, side (S), 1 story, non-combustible roof / Porch 2, back (W), 1 story, non-combustible roof; 
Other: ;

Source: Henry St. John Local Historic District Nomination, Sara Johnson and Kristin Olson, Historic Ithaca, Inc., 2012.
Description: 
224 South Geneva Street is located mid-block on a deep lot on the west side of the street. The McGraw House assisted living facility is located across the street to the east. It is a two-and-a-half- story house of frame construction built prior to 1851 in the Greek Revival style. It is rectangular in plan, with two additions to the west and a small shed-roofed addition on the south façade.
The low-pitched, front-gabled roof has a wide cornice with returns on the primary, east, façade. Walls are clad in clapboard with wood corner boards. The house sits on a slightly raised stone foundation, which is of tooled stone ashlar on the primary façade. Windows are generally 6/6 and a four-light window is in the gable.
An ornate entryway is located in the south bay of the three-bay east façade. Eared molding surrounds the opening and the deeply recessed door is flanked by a classical surround with sidelights and a toplight. Two fluted Ionic columns sit in front of the single entry door.
On the north façade, a one-and-a-half-story, gable-roofed addition continues the wall surface to the west. There is a one-story shed-roofed addition on its west façade. On the south façade, a one-story, single-bay, shed-roofed addition is located near the beginning of the one-and-a-half story addition. The west addition has a porch and entrance on the south façade.
A gravel driveway runs along the south façade, terminating at the small, one-story addition.
Significance: 
Contributing. Architecturally significant. Historically significant.
224 South Geneva Street is architecturally significant as an excellent intact example of a front-gabled Greek Revival style residence. It has a high level of architectural integrity and retains nearly all of its original exterior features, including windows, wood trim, and an ornate door surround with columns.
224 South Geneva Street is historically significant for its association with the Northrup family, who owned multiple properties in the district beginning from the late 1840s through 1940. The house is on a portion of lot 29 of the lots laid out by Simeon DeWitt south of Green Street. In 1852, John Northrup purchased the property. The 1851 Bevans map of Ithaca indicates that a house was on the lot at the time, but it may have been built for Northrup.
Northrup moved to Ithaca from Danby in 1837. His wife, Louisa Gregory, was related to the Huntington and Gregory families who also owned property on South Geneva Street. John Northrup owned Northrup & Sons, which began as a carriage trimming business and later sold spring beds, mattresses, and Singer sewing machines. He also served as an assessor and tax collector. Members of the extended Northrup family also owned 116 West Clinton Street, and 216, 220, and 334 South Geneva Street. Some of the Northrup properties were owner-occupied while others were rentals.
The owners of mid-block lots on South Geneva Street influenced the development of the east side of South Albany Street by their decisions to subdivide the properties in east and west sections. The subdivision of these lots began in the early 1880s. In 1888, Northrup sold the west half of the 224 South Geneva Street lot and 225 South Albany Street was constructed.
Alterations: 
Changes to the house have been confined primarily to its west side, leaving the original east façade intact. The house is shown on the 1888 Sanborn company map as a two-story main block with two additions to the west, a porch on the south side of middle section, and a porch on the west side of the west section. Between 1888 and 1893, the small one-story projection on the south was added and the west section was removed. It appears that the middle section was expanded and a west porch added between 1898 and 1904.
Sources: 
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. 
Levine, Jeffrey. Building-Structure Inventory Form for 224 South Geneva Street, Ithaca, NY: 1987. Historic Ithaca, Inc., Ithaca, NY. 
Photograph of 224 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.