Discover 6 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Skaneateles (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Roosevelt Hall, Hazelhurst, and James and Lydia Canning Fuller House. Also, be sure to include Reuel E. Smith House in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Skaneateles (New York).
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Roosevelt Hall
Roosevelt Hall is a historic home in Skaneateles, New York.[1]
Hazelhurst
Building. Hazelhurst is a historic house located at 150 East Genesee Street in Skaneateles, New York. It was originally a small summer home built for William Loney about 1866, and enlarged and renovated in 1904. It had an extensive lawn stretching down to Skaneateles Lake, which was later split up into 30 separate building lots that now share a common lake access. Hazelhurst is a three-story, irregular plan, Queen Anne style balloon frame dwelling. It features a wraparound porch with Ionic order columns, multiple gabled roof, porte cochere, and corner tower with conical roof. The mansion is now used as a 14-bedroom home for the elderly called "The Athenaeum".
The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.[2]
James and Lydia Canning Fuller House
The James and Lydia Canning Fuller House in Skaneateles, New York is a historic house, which on three occasions was used as part of the Underground Railway.
James married Lydia Charleton in 1815 in Bristol at the Friends Meeting House. This was the same year as the house was built in 1815.
James Canning Fuller was the secretary of the Skaneateles Anti-Slavery Society in 1838. He was a delegate to the World's Anti-Slavery Convention in 1840 in London.
The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.[3]
Reuel E. Smith House
Building in Skaneateles, New York. The Reuel E. Smith House located at 28 West Lake Street in Skaneateles, New York is a picturesque house designed by Alexander Jackson Davis, and later modified by Archimedes Russell. It was built during 1848–1852 and is a "good example of the Gothic Revival mode, which was a reaction against the stringencies of the Greek Revival style" as exemplified by the nearby Richard DeZeng House. It is the only house designed by Davis in Onondaga County that has survived since the demolition of the Charles Sedgewick Cottage on James Street in Syracuse.
The house was photographed by Historic American Buildings Survey photographer Jack Boucher in 1962. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. It has been portrayed in several artworks.
In 1979, State Commissioner of Parks and Recreation Orin Lehman said that the Reuel E. Smith House "embodies some of the major currents of mid-nineteenth century thought in literature and art as well as architecture."
In 1981, the Reuel E. Smith House received a federal Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service grant for restoration of the pink stucco exterior, the roof, and the chimneys, which described the home as "an excellent example of Gothic revival style" with "considerable intrinsic merit."
The home was built for Reuel Smith, partner in a New York City shipping firm. His son E. Reuel Smith inherited the estate. "E.R.", as he was called, was a prominent figure in the village having married into Skaneateles royalty, his wife being Elizabeth DeCost. (Elizabeth DeCost's great-grandfather was William J. Vredenburg, one of the earliest settlers of Skaneateles.) E.R. died at the home in 1911. Their son, DeCost Smith, noted painter of the American West, was born at the Reuel Smith House. Reuel's grandson Sedgwick married Elsa Watts Smith, who in 1975 sold the property to Robert & Shirley Feldmann. The Feldmanns sold the property in April 2017. The current owners of the home are Justin and Dr. Rebecca West Reeves.[4]
Skaneateles
Village in New York. Skaneateles is an affluent village in the town of Skaneateles, in Onondaga County, New York, United States. The village is named after, and located on the shores of, Skaneateles Lake, one of the Finger Lakes. As of the 2010 census, the village had a population of 2,450 residents.[5]
Skaneateles Historic District
The Skaneateles Historic District is a 17 acres historic district in the village of Skaneateles, New York that dates back to 1796, includes one building from the 20th century, but is otherwise composed of 19th-century residences and commercial buildings. It includes 59 contributing buildings and one contributing site – Thayer Park along Skaneateles Lake, – as well as five non-contributing structures. The district runs along both sides of East Genesee Street from Jordan Street to Onondaga Street, and includes the core of Skaneateles' historic downtown area, which was rebuilt in 1836 after being almost totally destroyed by fire in 1835. Also included are properties on Jordan Street up to the intersection of Fennell Street, and the stone mill property on Fennell Street.
Architects whose work is represented in the district include Stanford White ("The Boulders", 100 East Genesee Street, 1881) and Horatio Nelson White (St. James' Episcopal Church, 94 East Genesee Street, 1873). The Greek Revival, Federal, Italianate and Romanesque Revival styles are represented within the district, which is "an intact, cohesive collection of commercial and residential buildings located on a picturesque, tree-lined street...."
The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.[6]