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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHistorical_Resources_Inventory_209roatFOR OFFICE USE ONLY BUILDING-STRUCTURE INVENTORY FORM UNIQUE SITE NO. QUAD SERIES NEG.NO. DIVISION FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION NEW YORK STATE PARKS AND RECREATION ALBANY,NEW YORK (518)237-8643 YOUR NAME:Kathleen E.Foley YOUR ADDRESS:106 W.Sibley Hall ORGANIZATION (if any):Cornell University Historic Preservation Planning Workshop DATE:Fall 1998 TELEPHONE:(607)255-4331 IDENTIFICATION BUILDING NAME(S): COUNTY:Tompkins STREET LOCATION:209 Roat Street OWNERSHIP: PRESENT OWNER: USE: 1. VILLAGE:TOWN/CITY:Ithaca2. 3. a.public []b.private [x] David Wexler ADDRESS:209 Roat Street,Ithaca,NY Present:Single-family residence 4. 5. Original:Single-family residence ACCESSIBILITY TO PUBLIC:Exterior visible from public road:Yes [x]No[] Interior accessible:No,private residence 6 . 7. DESCRIPTION a.clapboard []b.stone []c.brick []d.board and batten [] e.cobblestone []f.shingles []g.stucco [] other:vinyl siding 8.BUILDING MATERIAL: a.wood frame with interlocking joints [] b.wood frame with light members [x] c.masonry load bearing walls [] d.metal (explain) e.other 9.STRUCTURAL SYSTEM: (if known ) d.deteriorated []10.CONDITION:a.excellent [x]b.good []c.fair [] a.original site [x]b.moved [] c.list major alterations and dates (if known): See Continuation Sheet if so,when?11.INTEGRITY: 12.PHOTO:13.MAP: See Continuation Sheet a.none known [x]b.zoning []c.roads [] d.developers []e.deterioration [] f .other 14.THREATS TO BUILDING: 15.RELATED OUTBUILDINGS AND PROPERTY: a.bam []b.carriage house []c.garage [x] d.privy []e.shed [x]f.greenhouse [] g.shop []h.gardens [] i.landscape features:in-ground pool j.other:pool house,full fencing on east,west,and north sides 16.SURROUNDINGS OF THE BUILDING (check more than one if necessary): a.open land []b.woodland [] c.scattered buildings [] d.densely built-up []e.commercial [] f.industrial []g.residential [x] h.other: 17.INTERRELATIONSHIP OF BUILDING AND SURROUNDINGS: See Continuation Sheet 18.OTHER NOTABLE FEATURES OF BUILDING AND SITE (including interior features if known ): See Continuation Sheet SIGNIFICANCE 19.DATE OF INITIAL CONSTRUCTION:ca.1933 Unknown,design taken from unidentified pattern bookARCHITECT: James Krizek,Sr.,and sonsBUILDER: 20.HISTORICAL AND ARCHITECTURAL IMPORTANCE: See Continuation Sheet 21.SOURCES: See Continuation Sheet 22.THEME: Continuation Sheet,Page 1 209 Roat Street Ithaca,New York 1 lc.MAJOR ALTERATIONS AND DATES: The house at 209 Roat Street in the Town of Ithaca was built in 1933.Its original form was two- story,four-bay and L-shaped,and exhibited elements of the Colonial Revival Style.A garage was located underneath the house;it was accessed on the west side via a driveway that led from Blackstone Avenue.Several building campaigns have altered the house over time.The Town of Ithaca did not issue building permits before the mid-1950s,and it not enforce them before the early 1970s.As a result,the exact date of some alterations cannot be positively confirmed. The first alteration was undertaken in the 1940s by the original owners of the house:a shed dormer was placed on the east facade of the house,raising the height of the second story.In 1979,the original cedar siding was covered in vinyl.In 1981,the basement garage was converted to storage space.The overhead garage door on the west facade was sealed and sided;a freestanding garage was added several yards southwest of the house.That same year,a wood plank deck and six-foot- high retaining wall were added to the rear of the house,nearly filling the ell.The 1940s-vintage shed dormer was raised higher in 1982 and a matching shed dormer was added to the west slope of the roofs peak. In 1986,an in-ground pool was added to the south of the house and was enclosed by a wooden fence.A larger fence surrounds the property line on the east,west,and south sides.The roof was replaced in 1986.In 1987,southernmost end of the west facade was extended roughly 6’ westward to increase the size of the kitchen.Finally,in 1991,the eastern portion of the ell was expanded 20 feet to the south,along with its second story dormers. INTERRELATIONSHIP OF BUILDING AND SURROUNDINGS:17. 209 Roat Street sits on a plot of land 150 feet (north-south)x 100 feet (east-west).As it was built under the same restrictive covenants as its neighbors on the 200 block of Roat Street,they all have a uniform 50-foot setback from the street.To its east and north,the houses were built at roughly the same time (1930s),by the same builders and of similar pattern book designs,so all have related early twentieth century tract house massing.To its west,the houses are of later vintage and were built by different builders.The property is bordered on the north by Roat Street (there is no sidewalk),and on the south,east and west by neighboring houses. 209 Roat has a backyard half the size of its 200-block neighbors to the east.The lots of 201,203, and 205 were to have been divided in half from north to south and further developed in keeping with the lots on the north side of the street and 209.However,the land on the south side is very marshy and wet,and descendents of the builder reported that the Tompkins County Health Department would not allow the subdivision of those lots for development.As a result,201,203, and 205 have 300’rear lots,twice that of those on the north side and that of 209.It is unclear why this was ruling was waved for the 209 lot and those in the 300 block.However,the current owner of 209 reports that he has had ongoing problems with water seepage in his basement. OTHER IMPORTANT FEATURES OF BUILDING AND SITE:18. The house at 209 Roat Street is a two-story,single-family residence exhibiting elements of the Colonial Revival Style.In plan the residence is L-shaped,with the principal gable extending east - to-west and the wing oriented north-to-south.The roof of the original structure is a cross gable (at the ell intersection )and is covered with asphalt shingles.The south roof of the primary gable is Continuation Sheet,Page 2 209 Roat Street Ithaca,New York OTHER IMPORTANT FEATURES OF BUILDING AND SITE (continued ):18. pierced by two skylights.The house is sheathed in vinyl siding,though originally the siding was painted cedar. The north facade has three sections:the front-facing gable of the wing,a recessed central part with a porch,and a single bay at the northwestern edge.These two sections are set beneath the primary east-to-west gable.On the first story of the front-facing gable is a double set of windows with six- over-six double-hung sash.In the gable end of this section is a single window with six-over-one double-hung sash.The center section on the north facade has a one-story porch which serves as access to the main entrance;the porch is set back roughly 8 feet from the line of the north fagade of the front-facing gable section.The porch has a heavy cornice line which rests on two centered, slender piers,which are set on the porch’s slate floor.At the east end of the porch is the entrance with a solid wood,paneled door.To the west of the entrance is a double set of windows with six- over-six double-hung sash.The final section of the north fagade -a single bay -is located at the northwest comer,flush with the porch section.Centered on this bay is a window with six-over-six double-hung sash capped by a pediment hood that breaks the roof s comice line. The west fagade of the house has a single window with six-over-six double-hung sash on the first story level near the northwest comer.The 1987 kitchen addition includes a horizontally sliding window on the first floor with one-over-one double-hung sash placed high on the fagade to accommodate kitchen appliances.This 1987 addition does not reach the height of the primary roof.In gable end is a window with six-over-six double-hung sash.The west fagade of the wing has two windows with casement sash on its first story;one is placed near the junction with the primary gable section and the second is placed near the southwest comer.On the second story of the wing are two windows with six-over-six double-hung sash centered over the casement windows below. On the first story of the east fagade are four equidistant windows with six-over-six double-hung sash.Five similar windows are found on the second story dormer -four are centered over the first floor windows and the fifth is set between the final two at the south end of the dormer. The south fagade has the most fenestration.On a small cross gable that extends from the southwest edge of the principal gable is a five-part,multi-pane ribbon.On the rear deck is an entrance at the west end and two windows with six-over-one double-hung sash windows.The south fagade of the wing has a five-part,multi-pane ribbon window on the first story and a single window with six-over-one double-hung sash on the second floor. There are two outbuildings on the property:a garage to the southwest of the house,and a pool house at the southeast comer of the in-ground pool.Like the house,both are sheathed in vinyl siding and roofed with asphalt shingles.The garage has an overhead door on its west fagade, which has four fixed lights near its top.The pool house has an entrance on its north fagade with an aluminum door that has a twelve-pane window in its top two-thirds. HISTORICAL AND ARCHITECTURAL IMPORTANCE:20. 209 Roat Street shares a history with the houses in its immediate neighborhood which is significant to the history of the Town of Ithaca.The land on which the house sits is part of Military Lots 90 and 93,which were deeded to a veteran of the Revolutionary War as compensation for his service during that war.In 1893,it was acquired by the Raub family.The Raubs divided the property among their three children in 1907:David,Philip Jr.,and Catherine. Continuation Sheet,Page 3 209 Roat Street Ithaca,New York 20.HISTORICAL AND ARCHITECTURAL IMPORTANCE (continued ): Catherine Raub married Adelbert Roat,and together they fanned her share of the property.In 1927,Mrs.Roat subdivided the majority of the property among thirteen buyers,as recorded in Tompkins County deed liber 221/128;two additional sales followed in 1933 and 1934.The property on which 209 Roat Street sits was part of the 1927 sale. The subdivision of the Raub-Roat farm coincides with a great real estate boom in the Town of Ithaca.As Cornell University expanded in the early decades of the twentieth century,the City and Town of Ithaca experienced a population boom and a simultaneous shortage of housing.The division of homes into apartments in the downtown district could not meet the full demand,and for the first time development took place outside of the city -farmland and forested areas were rapidly subdivided for development.This was made possible by the growing presence of the automobile, which made commuting from rural areas an option for an increasing number of families. Housing construction peaked in the 1920s,and Mrs.Roat was one of many landowners who sold large tracts to speculative builders.As was typical of large property sales of this era,restrictive covenants were attached to the property deeds,requiring adherence to landscape,design,and land use restrictions.As the town did not develop zoning regulations until the mid-1950s,these covenants acted as de facto zoning for the development of the Raub-Roat Farm.The greatest imprint of these covenants is a uniform setback of 50 feet from the street line. The property along present-day Roat Street,located south of the intersection of Warren and Hanshaw roads in the Town of Ithaca,was purchased over time by two families:the James Krizek Sr.family and the Samuel L.Boothroyd family.Initially,the Roat Street did not extend east to Warren Road;instead it was accessed from the north by Orchard Street and Blackstone Avenue (formerly Catherine Street )off Hanshaw Road.It was extended southward to Warren Road in the 1960s.As a result,the houses in the 200 and 300 blocks do not have the numbers originally assigned them.The initial construction of houses on Roat Street took place in the 1930s.Of those included in this survey,the following were built by the Krizek family:200,201,202,203,204, 205,and 209.The Boothroyds contracted builders to construct 301,305,307,and 311 (the builder of 309 has not been identified). 209 Roat Street is a hybrid.The land was purchased by James Krizek,Sr.,and the house he built on it was constructed under contract with Samuel Boothroyd.Mr.Boothroyd assisted his son Robert in acquiring the property when the house was completed.A letter signed by Krizek’s son Anthony and nailed into the original roofing materials of the house was dated 1933.The deed did not pass into Robert Boothroyd’s name until 1938,however,making the early history of the house unclear.In an interview with Robert Boothroyd,Jr.,he reported that his father had a dispute with Mr.Krizek over the house’s construction.It is possible that this delayed the transfer of the property to the Boothroyds. The Krizek family,led by James Sr.and James Jr.,selected designs from house pattern books purchased from a local lumber companies.The entire Krizek family was involved in the construction process on Roat Street and elsewhere,including James Jr.’s daughter Dorothy,who drew plot plans from the pattern books for the construction crew.With her sister,Mary,she painted cedar siding and shingles in their father’s bam over the winter season. Typical in Krizek houses were root cellars and garages below the house.It is unclear whether these elements were part of the pattern book designs,however Krizek family members report Continuation Sheet,Page 4 209 Roat Street Ithaca,New York HISTORICAL AND ARCHITECTURAL IMPORTANCE (continued ):20. that they were elements that Krizek Sr.preferred to include in houses he built.209 Roat Street had these features in its original form. Because the houses in the present-day 200 and 300 blocks of Roat Street were built in response to housing demands of Cornell University faculty and students,most were initially rental properties which stayed under the ownership of the Krizeks.209 Roat Street is an exception,having been built under agreement with the family of the first owner.Robert Boothroyd,Sr.and his wife, Viola,owned the home beginning in 1938.Following their divorce in 1954,the house was transferred to Viola’s name,and she owned it until her death in 1976.Since that time it has been owned by David Wexler. 21.SOURCES: Interview:Edna,Mary,and Dorothy Krizek.29th October 1998. Interview:David Wexler.7th November 1998. Interview:Robert Boothroyd,Jr.10th November 1998. Interview:Mary and Dorothy Krizek.19th November 1998. Historic Ithaca.Historic Overview:Town of Ithaca.New York.Ithaca,NY:Historic Ithaca,Inc.,1997. Tompkins County Deed Libers:140/38;164/206;164/205;221/128;247/419;334/115; 553/300. 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