CAZENOVIA — On Saturday, Jan. 21, Cazenovia Heritage will kick off “CAZ 230,” a celebration of 230 years of Cazenovia architecture, with a presentation on the community’s founding and its early center-chimney houses.
Established in 2021, Cazenovia Heritage is a community organization that seeks to conserve the area’s cultural resources, including the historic architecture, neighborhoods, sites, and objects that contribute to Cazenovia’s unique sense of place and character.
In celebration of the 230th anniversary of Cazenovia’s founding in May 1793, the organization is hosting a year of programs highlighting the community’s rich inventory of architectural styles. While most of its historic homes date to the nineteenth century, twentieth-century styles are also well represented.
“Our built environment is all around us and defines our community, and our historic architecture contributes much to that identity,” said Cazenovia Heritage Vice President & Secretary Ted Bartlett in a November press release announcing CAZ 230. “By highlighting 230 Years of Architecture, we hope everyone in Cazenovia can become a little more aware of Cazenovia’s historic architecture and why protecting it from deterioration and other threats is so important to our economy, identity, and community character.”
Bartlett and former Town Historian Russ Grills will present the opening Jan. 21 program at 2 p.m. at the Cazenovia Public Library.
Bartlett is the senior associate and senior preservation planner for Crawford & Stearns, Architects and Preservation Planners in Syracuse. He is also chairman of the Village of Cazenovia Historic Preservation/Architectural Review Committee.
Grills is the former site manager of the Lorenzo State Historic Site, the 1807 Federal-style home of John Lincklaen, Holland Land Company agent and founder of Cazenovia. He is also the author of “Cazenovia: The story of an upland community.”
Grills will start off the program with a discussion of the history and impact of the Holland Land Company and its role in the story of Cazenovia’s founding.
Bartlett will then take over to talk about the development of the center-chimney houses in Cazenovia and highlight four or five specific homes.
Bartlett said a center-chimney house is generally a one, one-and-a-half, or squat two-story timber frame house that has a single masonry chimney close to its center with two or three fireplaces on the first story and usually no fireplaces on the second story. According to Bartlett, the houses he will be discussing were built between 1793 and the end of the 1820s, when more sophisticated houses started to be constructed.
“[They are] very compact and efficient with one chimney providing heat in the middle of the house,” said Bartlett. “The first one was quickly built in 1793 and finished by Samuel Forman at the present Lakeland Park property. . . There are many still around and many that have been altered and are buried within not-so-obvious houses.”
According to Bartlett, one of the most intact examples, standing at one-and-a-half stories, is the Roswell Beckwith House — more commonly known now as the Ladd house— at 4622 Syracuse Rd.
Subsequent CAZ 230 programs will cover architectural styles up to post-modern designs. The schedule of events also includes walking tours focused on the architecture of Cazenovia churches, Albany Street, and porches & porticos; self-guided tours of Cazenovia homes and schoolhouses; on-site programs at a barn and the historic Farnham Cemetery off Grassy Lane Road; a children’s program; an art & architecture gallery exhibit; and special presentations by noted speakers.
In July, Syracuse’s Gustav Stickley house, which is currently undergoing historic restoration, will reserve a “Cazenovia Day” specifically for free private tours for Cazenovia residents.
The three-story Gustav Stickley house, located in the Westcott neighborhood of Syracuse (438 Columbus Ave.), was the home of designer and furniture maker Gustav Stickley, known as the father of the American Arts and Crafts movement. The interior, which Stickley designed, is regarded as the first comprehensive American Craftsman residential interior in the United States.
In May, a Founding Day celebration will be held near John Lincklean’s original campsite, which was located between the Brewster Inn and Gypsy Bay, according to local historians Henry Severance and Dan Weiskotten. A marker is positioned close by at the Cazenovia Club.
“We hope to have town and village officials there for brief comments, as well as a special guest we are not revealing at this time,” said Cazenovia Heritage President Anne Ferguson.
The observance will be followed by a “birthday” cake at the Cazenovia Club and an architectural tour of the 1890s Owahgena Clubhouse.
The full CAZ 230 program schedule is available on the Cazenovia Heritage website at cazheritage.org. All the programs are free, open to the public, and made possible by Cazenovia Heritage’s annual memberships.
“With this year-long celebration, we hope to demonstrate that Cazenovia is a community that honors, celebrates, and will protect its historic architecture,” said Ferguson in the November press release. “We invite all organizations to join us in celebrating Cazenovia’s 230 years. In addition to architecture, Cazenovia has much to celebrate: 230 years of art, 230 years of farming, 230 years of caring for the lake, 230 years of industry and invention — you name it — we can all celebrate this anniversary.”
For more information on Cazenovia Heritage, visit cazheritage.org.
