2007 Design Merit Awards • Category: Historic Renovation
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Leffingwell House
Holmes King Kallquist & Associates, LLP
Aurora, New York
Date of Completion: 2006
HISTORY:
The fine brick residence on a hill overlooking Main Street and Cayuga Lake in the Village of Aurora has seen only four owners since its construction in 1826. Each owner has created within its walls a home of their own era, while carefully respecting the contributions of their predecessors.
As originally constructed, the house was a simple, yet imposing Federal Style home, with a grand stair and two eloquently detailed front rooms; a parlor, and dining room. When the original builder died in 1870, the house passed to his nephew, who enlarged it in a simple, compatible Victorian style. The brick front gable and two-story rear wing were added at this time.
In 1895, the house was sold to Dr. Albert Leffingwell, a physician and one of the founders of the American Humane Society. He carefully restored the home, added an attic playroom (and dormers) and the grand front porch. Following Dr. Leffingwell’s death in 1932, the house remained vacant until the most recent restoration began in 2002.
The 1826 stair hall, dining room, parlor, and front bedrooms were scrupulously restored, and later additions of closets built by Dr. Leffingwell were removed to reclaim the rooms’ original proportions. All original trim, doors, and hardware were restored. The 1895 front porch, which was seriously deteriorated, was dismantled and rebuilt to its original form using all sound original components and matching with new where necessary. Original windows and shutters were restored. The patinaed Federal Yellow exterior paint was retained, and carefully matched in areas where masonry repairs were needed.
The rear parlor of the house, which had been heavily altered by Dr. Leffingwell, was again modified, now to suit a twenty-first century lifestyle. The original kitchen and 1895 dining room were combined into a single kitchen/family room area with the original walnut dining room trim carefully restored and extended. Original French doors again open onto a garden terrace, a contemporary restatement of a long vanished original. The back servants’ stairs were rebuilt to modern standards, and an elevator added.
At the second floor, a nursery was utilized to create closet space and a bath for the front bedroom. Closets and baths for the second 1826 bedroom and a new third bedroom occupy areas of the house Dr. Leffingwell used as his office and to care for patients.
To the rear of the house, the 1830s “Tee” shaped barn was accurately restored. A later barn was relocated further back on the property to restore the original open space around the house. Sensitive contemporary site design restores the terraces visible in early photographs.
Leffingwell House as restored today, is reflective of each of its four owners, while being entirely suited to contemporary life for the generation to come.
| ARCHITECTS: HOLMES - KING - KALLQUIST & ASSOCIATES LLP 575 North Salina Street Syracuse, New York 13208 (315) 476-8371 |
CLIENT: PLEASANT ROWLAND 3807 County Highway M Middleton, Wisconsin 53562 |
INTERIORS: LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT: STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING: |
MECHANICAL & ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING: CONSTRUCTION: SCHICKEL CONSTRUCTION COMPANY (Exterior) MILLER TILLING (Interior) |
