CAZENOVIA — On July 15, Cazenovia Heritage launched a self-guided driving tour as part of “Caz230,” the organization’s yearlong celebration of 230 years of Cazenovia architecture.
The tour features 16 homes, each marked with a sign, along a route that travels through both the village and the town. The trip takes about an hour and can be taken anytime through July 30.
According to Cazenovia Heritage, the tour features nearly all the architectural styles found in Cazenovia over the last 230 years, from federal to contemporary, and it includes examples of how specific styles were expressed formally and then adopted and/or adapted by people of more modest means.
Recognizing that many locals are already familiar with Cazenovia landmarks like “Lorenzo,” “Notleymere,” and the “Hillcrest” Jephson Estate, Cazenovia Heritage set out to design a tour that highlights homes in a variety of neighborhoods and in the surrounding farmland.
“We wanted to showcase homes that are often overlooked when talking about Cazenovia’s rich inventory of historical architecture, as well as its glorious examples,” said Cazenovia Heritage President Anne Ferguson.
The organizers hoped to include New Woodstock homes on the tour but were unable to secure the owners’ permissions in time to add the buildings to the map.
According to Ferguson, Carl Stearns, partner emeritus in Crawford & Stearns Architects and Preservation Planners, presented a series of well-attended Caz230 programs this past spring focused on the features associated with each of Cazenovia’s architectural styles.
“The tour gives participants a chance to apply what they learned, but just in case, we’ve noted the architectural features that describe the style,” she said. “In certain cases, a feature may have been removed as people adopted the ‘latest’ style, but you can see where it was if you know where to look, and [it] often suggests its actual age.”
A kick-off event for the driving tour was held on July 15 at the Cazenovia Public Library.
Attendees received a map that provides a photo, address, suggested route, and style description for each house on the route. The map can be downloaded from Cazenovia Heritage’s website until July 30.
The group was also introduced to Claire Buchinger, a first-year graduate student in Cornell University’s Historic Preservation Planning program, who is interning with Cazenovia Heritage this summer.
Through a grant jointly funded by Cazenovia Heritage and Cornell, Buchinger is conducting a summer-long architectural reconnaissance survey that examines the history of the working-class people living within the boundary lines of Albany Street to Corwin Street and east of Lincklaen Street to Sims Lane.
According to Cazenovia Heritage, the neighborhoods in this area of the village grew up around a wool mill and a paper mill.
“The survey emphasizes the relationship between social identity and its influence on local architecture, or how the socioeconomics of the neighborhood was reflected in the character-defining features of the property, and how those changed over the years,” said Buchinger. “The purpose of this architectural reconnaissance survey is to establish a general foundation for later architectural research regarding the neighborhood’s construction practices and to foster a greater understanding and appreciation for architectural integrity amongst homeowners, residences and visitors.”
During the July 15 event, Cazenovia Heritage recruited volunteers to help the organization describe the socioeconomic development of the neighborhoods in Buchinger’s study area. According to Ferguson, some volunteers will research census records to identify occupations from 1850 to 1880 and to identify settlers from 1800 to 1840. Others will search online archived issues of the Cazenovia Republican for news related to the inhabitants. Follow-up meetings are anticipated to compare volunteers’ results.
A presentation of Buchinger’s findings, as well as those of the volunteers, is targeted for this winter.
Upcoming events
The Gustav Stickley House at 438 Columbus Ave. in Syracuse will host a “Cazenovia Day” on Saturday, July 29.
Located in the city’s Westcott neighborhood, the three-story house was the home of designer and furniture maker Gustav Stickley, who is 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.
The exterior of the house was recently restored, and the interior is undergoing restoration. Although the building is currently closed to the public, it will be open to Cazenovia residents for brief tours at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
On Saturday, Aug. 5, the Cazenovia Public Library and Cazenovia Heritage will present a hands-on workshop for kids exploring architectural concepts in Cazenovia buildings. The program is for ages 8-12 and runs from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Participants should register with the library by July 31.
On Saturday, Aug. 12 at 2 p.m., Lorenzo State Historic Site and Cazenovia Heritage will host a program for all ages on the architecture of 19th-century schoolhouses. The presentation will take place in the Rippleton Schoolhouse on the Lorenzo grounds. Afterward, participants will be given a map of the sites of other schoolhouses within the Cazenovia area. The tour is self-guided and can be taken at any time.
All the above programs are free and open to the public.
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. For more information or to volunteer to be part of the citizen research, visit cazheritage.org.
