Historic Georgians in NY State

There are only about 5 houses listed on the Historic Register in NY State that are of brick construction in the Georgian style dating back to the same era as our Dayton House.  To add to the rarity of the house, only three of those structures are three-bay designs.  The Dayton House has characteristics that are shared between the three buildings but it is unique.

Hunting down information on the three buildings was not too easy.  The one house that has the best chance of being similar is located near Lake Champlain in Essex County, NY.  True to what I’ve posted before, the house was predictably found one block from a major body of water.  That’s good support for the theory that if you want to find a brick house like Old Man Dayton, look a block from the water!  In the early 19th century, Lake Champlain was one of the busiest ports in the country.

The Abraham Aiken House can be found at 22 Lakeshore Rd, Willsboro, NY

 Willsboro, NY:

Although I did a lot of searching, I could not find an image to compare it.  But I was able to find that it is a three bay Georgian.  Of the five or six homes on the registry in New York State, many of the Georgian homes are five bay with a center entrance.  That rules them out in my mind for being in the same category.  The Dayton house is more of a "vernacular" version of the style and I am guessing the Aiken house is too.   If I get a chance (which is not likely any time soon) to get to Lake Champlain I’ll try to see this house.  Unlike the Lewis P. Dayton House, this was an agricultural/farm home so it will probably be a little different – but my guess is that it will also share many similarities.

The Dayton's Corners School is a one-room school building in the town of Penfield, New York erected in 1857.  It’s not a house, but the style is very similar to our Dayton House – and another coincidence as far as the name goes (see the post about the Dayton House in Lima, NY).

I have not seen this structure in person but during the summer drive in close enough proximity to it on the way to our camp at Sodus Bay.  Driving through the Lake Ontario country-side gives us an opportunity to see many old brick structures that are similar to the Italianate period of our house.  But we have yet to see one old enough and in the same Georgian style as ours.  We have seen many beautiful brick homes in Lyons near the canal and there is one that comes close.

The Smith-Ripley House, which is now The Ripley House Museum, is a historic home located in Adams in Jefferson County, New York.  This might be compared to our Dayton House on steroids.  It’s a grander example of the three bay Georgian style:



What I am finding is that the Dayton house really is turning out to be an unique and a rare surviving example of a style and period of building.  This one reason we were successful in gaining registry status.   I'm going to continue to look for more and post about them when I find them. Happy Hunting!