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Pillars of the Community A Volunteer Army Supports the Arnot Art Museum
By Karey Solomon
After some needed time away for rest and refurbishment, the fluted, two-story Greek Revival-style columns flanking the entry of the Arnot Art Museum at 235 Lake Street, Elmira, will soon be ready to return home. And all parties—literally—to the enterprise are delighted.
At this writing, tall scaffolding supports the triangular neo-classical pediment, making the building look very much a work in progress. “We’ve been concerned about the exterior envelope,” says Director Rick Pirozzolo. “The museum turned a hundred years old in 2013. We do an excellent job in caring for our collections, but every day I came into the museum for the past twenty years, I’d think: We’ve got some paintwork to do.”
He was right. When native son Todd Yoggy moved back to the community seven years ago, the celebrated interior and architectural designer visited one of his favorite museums and saw the entry to the building with fresh eyes.
“Looking at the [outside of the] museum, everything looked as if it needed attention,” Todd says. Closer inspection told him, “The majestic columns were rotten, there was water at the base of the columns, and no air circulation to dry them. I spoke with Rick, who said, ‘But there’s no money.’” While the amount needed for any renovation/restoration project can be a moving target, a goal was set of raising $250,000 to address the restoration of the columns, the most pressing need. And the Four Columns project was born.
Tough love
Removing the columns for restoration was the only way to preserve them.
See Pillars on page 8
Pillars continued from page 7
Rick was delighted. “There are very few institutions remaining with a facility like our Victorian picture gallery. Paintings there are still hung in the same format as they were in our founder’s lifetime [1880s]. We have lots of legacy, lots of history. We decided we had to address some of the facility’s maintenance needs.”
And to do this required targeted fundraising. Todd, Maria Winston (also a trustee), and Rick came up with a new idea to put the “fun” in fundraising—a series of elegant, themed parties. “[We thought] let’s have some parties! Everyone likes coming to parties as a fundraiser.” Would it work?
Some funds were available from the City of Elmira and the Matthias Arnot Society, this last the top-tier membership level of annual givers who often help with capital campaigns. But more money—a lot more—would be needed to preserve Matthias’ legacy.
The business of art
Matthias studied sculpture and painting at Yale and became a collector, though he pursued a career in business.
All About the Arnots
Who was Matthias Arnot? It’s the very question art dealers were asking in the 1870s and 1880s, when the Elmira businessman began frequenting art auctions in Europe, often outbidding other, better-known art collectors.
His father was self-made businessman John Arnot, who came to America with his family from Scotland at the age of nine and worked tirelessly throughout his life. John Sr. began working as a merchant in Albany, then came to Elmira seven years after his marriage, dedicating his energy and funds to building the region into a thriving community. He built the mansion on Lake Street, now the museum, in 1833, the year his son Matthias was born.
The senior Arnot was Elmira’s first mayor, a director of the Chemung Canal Bank, investing in real estate and infrastructure, including roadways, canals, and railroads. In his last years, he invested in productive coal
mines. He was known as the richest man in Elmira and also as someone both just and generous. A bust of John Arnot Sr., looking as regal as a Roman emperor, graces the gallery known as the Founder’s Room, where works of art Matthias acquired are displayed as they were in his lifetime.
In fact, the statue of his father, commissioned in Rome from sculptor Chauncey Ives, an American expatriate, was Matthias’ first art purchase, brought home in part to charm his father into allowing him to collect art.
John raised his children to have a strong sense of community involvement. His wife and only living daughter, Marianna, put their time and energy into charitable programs. Later in life, Marianna married the first mayor of Chicago (William Butler Ogden) and returned to Elmira as a widow to found Arnot Ogden Hospital.
Like his father, Matthias invested in local real estate and businesses, in addition to
Courtesy Chemung County Historical Society
Pillars continued from page 8 continuing the family’s involvement with the Chemung Canal Bank, and was involved in enabling three foundries to set up in the area. He was described in his eulogy as a “Captain of Industry,” and seemed to truly enjoy making money, which he apparently accomplished with skill and wisdom. “The masses in Elmira could not know Mr. Arnot personally,” his obituary observes. Despite his work and dedication to the community—for many years he served on the board of education—“In many ways, he was almost a recluse…his was a single and lonely life.”
He’d studied painting and sculpture while a student at Yale University, but followed his father into business. Later in life, having secured his father’s approval, he began collecting art. In the 1880s, he commissioned an addition to his house to better accommodate his growing collection. When he died in 1910, his will left the city his mansion and its art collection, intending it to become a museum open to the public to enrich the community. The Arnot Art Museum opened its doors in 1913.
Jewel in the Queen City’s Crown
In the more-than-a-century since, its footprint and gallery space have continued to expand, aided by enthusiastic patrons, members, and trustees. Although it is a modestly-sized museum, it contains an enviable collection of Old Masters as well as newer art, and an extensive art library, as per Matthias’ wishes. It also offers regular programs encouraging schoolchildren to engage with art.
“We are incredibly fortunate to have a museum of this caliber in this area,” says Maria. “It is truly a gem of the Southern Tier. What’s wonderful is you can not only come in and enjoy the art, it’s also become a center for the arts that can be enjoyed by all ages. It’s become a place of gathering and enjoying the art community, which is critical.”
“The best part about the museum is the sense of community it brings to you,” Todd says. “You can be from any walk of life and walk through the museum and learn something new. A lot of cities the size of Elmira don’t have anything near this collection. I see it as sort of the jewel in the crown of Elmira, architecturally beautiful in scale and proportion.”
Bracing for the future
When Matthias gave his house and collection to Elmira, he left it in hands that would see it serve the community for the next hundred years.
The museum maintains its relevance with an eclectic mix of classic and modern art, hosting several special exhibits a year celebrating artists of historical significance like the just-finished “The Wildness and The Promise” featuring landscapes from the Hudson River School, and “Seventeen Stars,” where gems from the museum’s collection are juxtaposed with other takes on a similar theme, some on loan to the museum for this show. The work of notable local artists is also showcased. Upstairs is an Egyptian gallery Todd would like to see restyled to the period when Matthias added those pieces to his collection. There’s also a growing collection of art photographs. The light-filled interior is a comfortable blend of the original house flowing into more modern gallery space. It adds up to a museum beloved by its community, whose enthusiasm Todd, Maria, and Rick were counting on.
It’s My Party…
To kick fundraising off, Todd offered to host the first party—a Tudor Holiday at his Tudor-style home. “I always have a fourteen-foot Christmas tree, I’ve got a Christmas ornament collection dating back
three generations…so we did it.” Tommy Hilfiger underwrote the cost of the party so the entirety of ticket sales could go toward the restoration. This pattern, with other sponsors, was followed in subsequent parties. Almost 140 people attended.
“It was a magical night,” Todd says. “Tommy was amazing; he posed for pictures with different guests. Fabulous food, great cocktails and wine, and Tommy being there was exciting for a lot of people. It was a very wonderful event.” After this success, the group immediately began planning the next party, intending to have four more in 2020.
“And then covid hit,” Todd continues. “It was two full years before we could pick up and start again.” After the pandemic receded, four parties were held in 2022, beginning with the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party at the Van den Blink home, where many women wore elaborate floral hats and Claire Van den Blink was dressed as the Queen of Hearts. Then came the Summer Lawn Whites, where almost every party-goer wore white, outdoors at Todd’s house, and where the sun emerged from the clouds right on time. These were followed by a Great Gatsby bash at the Vervalin residence, and an Après-ski Afternoon at the Meier residence. In 2023, the museum was the site of the Black and White Gala, while the Studio 54 Hustle was held in the former Iszard’s building. Last year, An Afternoon at the Palme Royale was hosted by the Johnson-Schmidts, and a Moulin Rouge Experience was held at the home of the Hunters.
Each party was unique, meticulously planned, calling upon a cast of dedicated volunteers to make and install decorations and see to other details under Todd’s direction, each party thus becoming itself a small work of art. Party photos record beautifully-dressed guests talking to each other and clearly enjoying themselves.
Says Elmira resident AJ Fratarcangelo (an artist with hair and make-up), who attended every event, “They were magical! Todd Yoggy just has this creative insight to be able to envision a scene and he executes it. It’s really quite amazing. You walk into this fantasyland for a few hours and just kind of get swept away.”
Each party featured a signature crafted cocktail. Hors d’oevres were enticing and beautifully presented, appropriate to the theme and the period commemorated. Among the guests were often celebrities who mingled and chatted with other partygoers. There was special themed music, additional conversation-starters in the form of exhibits, photographs, and more. Guests could always count on having an entertaining and interesting time.
The cost of beverages, refreshments, entertainment, flowers, and other party accoutrements were underwritten by a wide spectrum of sponsors from Elmira, Corning, and beyond—too many to name, Todd says. Rick adds, “All the sponsors were important, no matter how many zeros were written on the checks.” The community was generous. So were attendees. Though most party tickets cost north of $150 per person, love for the museum prompted many to give more. “The more the word got out, the more people engaged,” Maria says. Some partygoers came from surprisingly far away to attend. “It was a big commitment for those people,” she says of the hosts, though the same might be said of those who traveled far to be there.
One of Maria’s favorites was the 1970s Disco Party held in the second-floor rooms of the former Iszard’s building. They’re currently being renovated to become condos, but for many attendees, it was a trip down memory lane in so many ways.
“We transformed that second floor into a disco,” she says. “People came in ’70s clothing and it was phenomenal. You couldn’t recog-
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nize people because of the outfits and the wigs. Some people wanted to see Iszards one last time and remember the tea room there.”
Once again, Tommy Hilfiger contributed to the party by setting up mannequins wearing an assortment of vintage clothing reserved from his first Elmira store, The People’s Place, which Maria recalls as “The place to go buy bell-bottom jeans.”
The final party was based on the movie Moulin Rouge. Just as the movie was a feast for the eyes and senses, the party offered guests a chance to see circus performers, including acrobats and a fire-eater.
A DJ played “La Vie en Rose”, and while there’s no record of anyone having fallen in love at the party, the tarot reader might have predicted romance for a few attendees. A guitarist and flutist entertained, and smokers enjoyed a cigar bar. “The whole atmosphere was just incredible,” Maria says. “And we were fortunate with the weather. It was outdoors on the lawn.”
“The Moulin Rouge was the best,” AJ agrees. “Looking around
Pillars continued from page 11
Courtesy Arnoit Art Museum
On fire
Many of Elmira’s elite raised funds while they raised the roof at themed parties.
you could have been in Italy or the south of France or Beverly Hills. It was just incredible. The visuals, the lighting, the entire setting was just spectacular. I want to see the museum maintain and sustain itself and this was a wonderful way to show support and have a great time.”
Museum member Jim Gray built an eight-foot-tall windmill for the Moulin Rouge party. He and his wife, Faith, who helped with decorations for most of the parties, attended a few of them and say they were marvelous. “I just tied ribbons and helped hang things. I just came and did whatever they told me to do,” Faith says modestly. (Maria and others say Faith’s help was critical.) The windmill was another donation; after a young partygoer fell in love with it, the Grays and the museum staff agreed to sell the prop at a later time for a contribution to the museum.
The organizers could enjoy their accomplishments, but Todd admits planning the parties could be nail-biting. “I’m completely stressed the whole time, having to be really hands-on, making sure
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Elmira Infinite Canvas
Glacial gifts
Cobblestone of Ages
Stones rounded by glaciers and deposited on the shores of Lake Ontario were used to build cobblestone houses, most of which are within 100 miles of Rochester.
Dundee’s Spence House Awaits Its Next Era
By Lilace Mellin Guignard
In the early 1840s, Henry Spence had a vision, and he knew a good deal when he saw it. His vision was for a huge Greek Revival house on a large estate near Dundee, one that would house his family, professional space, and room for his other interests, from growing grapes to hiding escaped slaves. That vision, the Spence House, begun in 1842 and finished in 1848, is the southernmost of all the cobblestone houses in Yates County.
Cobblestone construction had become popular in the region, starting when the Erie Canal opened in 1825, making the transportation of the small, rounded stones found about Lake Ontario an affordable option that was fireproof and didn’t require paint. These stones, of different geologic types, had been rolled by glaciers, smoothed by water, then deposited on the shore. The cobblestone construction period lasted until 1860, when the supply of stones dwindled and construction in general got more expensive with the onset of the Civil War. Up to 90 percent of cobblestone structures in the United States can be found within a hundred miles of Rochester.
For Henry’s home, stones were loaded at Sodus Point on Lake Ontario, brought down by canal to Seneca Lake, transferred to
oxcarts at Starkey Point, and on to Dundee. The quality of walls was completely dependent on the mortar, which was completely dependent on the mason. Each mason had their own closely guarded secret to mixing their mortar. As construction began, Henry noticed that a mason was spacing the stones too far apart. The stones took more time to place, but were cheaper than the mortar, giving Henry and the mason different priorities. Visitors to the porch can see at what row that mason was fired and a new one hired.
The layout was typical Greek Revival symmetry—a four-column porch and a central hall with two large rooms on either side. A south and north wing attach to the back and stretch to each side, with a sheltered courtyard tucked between. When Jan Carr purchased the property as-is for back taxes in 1992, she had not been allowed inside, so she didn’t discover some of the unique elements in Henry’s design until later. All the windows were covered, so peeking was not an option.
Nevertheless, Jan, like Henry, had a vision. She wanted a special place to host retreats for groups and individuals to explore their spiritual connection to others and to nature. With sixteen acres that in-
cluded ponds and trails, this property called to her. When she could finally get inside, “It was a wreck,” she says. There was no heat or lights, and the fieldstone basement had a couple feet of water. As the owner of a blueberry farm, Jan was no stranger to manual labor, but this seemed overwhelming. She showed the property to anyone who was interested, and often they fell in love enough to come back with help. “You find people who are crazy like you are,” she explains with a laugh, “with the same type of vision, and even if it looks impossible, with others who have the same vision it becomes possible.” Like Sr. Eileen Curtis, a Sister of St. Joseph from Rochester, who saw the place at its worst and came back the next week with her tool belt. A cabinet maker and woodworker, she made sure when they added a downstairs closet that the new trim matched the original.
The work of restoring made Jan intimate with the structure and gave her a sense of the man responsible for it. “Henry was brilliant,” she says. He put in an indoor bathroom off the kitchen, using water from a spring. Unusual at the time, the building’s central portion had three stories and four chimneys—each with three flues so each
See Cobblestone on page16
bedroom had its own heat.
Jan loves showing people the home, which operated as Cobblestone Springs Retreat Center for over thirty years but is now on the market. The kitchen in the south wing was updated and expanded to handle large meals, and the bedrooms have names and stories connected to the group that “adopted” that room’s renovation. The closets in the bedrooms are original, even though in Henry’s time they were taxed as individual rooms. One large room has been split into two bathrooms. The home sleeps ten people comfortably.
To the right of the main hall is the front parlor that the Chronicle-Express in 1954 called “one of the show places of the county” for its crystal pendant chandelier and decorative plaster medallion. The gold valences for the large bays still gleam, though one is not original. The attached room, used by the retreat center as a dining room, also has an original chandelier. “We found it in a manure pile out back, cleaned it up, and hung it,” says Jan. “The Spences said that’s where it had been.” The large gilt hall mirrors were also restored.
The north wing where Henry, one of the first cataract surgeons in the country, had his surgery has a stone fireplace and vaulted ceiling. “There used to be a low ceiling here,” Jan says, “because above they’d hide escaped slaves.” A spiral staircase leads up to a loft that can also be reached by a low door in one of the bedrooms. A dresser in front of it would have hidden it.
The third story is unfinished, showing construction strong enough to hold the original slate roof (since replaced with shingles). Jan points out the strange zigzag in the chimneys. “He knew that with three stories, the draft would suck the fire right out,” Jan explains, “so he had to slow it down.” Henry had held dances in the space, but Jan found a basketball hoop up there.
Henry Spence’s great-great-granddaughter, Gwen Chamberlain, served on the Cobblestone Springs board and grew up visiting her grandmother, Blanche Spence, who lived there. (The property moved out of the family in 1972.) “As a little girl, I remember ‘helping’ grandma make popcorn in her old-fashioned popcorn popper and going to the pantry next to the kitchen where the cookie jar sat tucked away in a corner,” she says. “I remember a story about my father, as a child, knocking loudly on the front door, and then racing to the back of the house as my grandmother walked through the house to answer the door, which gave him time to sneak in the back door and grab a fresh cookie from the
Gwen appreciates how generous Jan and the Sisters who helped run the center were in “allowing our family to visit and share experiences and stories, helping our children and grandchildren grow to love the property.” The Spences still often decorated the front of the house for Christmas, and organized Easter egg hunts around the grounds. “One of the favorite elements of the property is the fountain in the front yard,” Gwen says, “where the little ones enjoyed watching tadpoles, frogs, and goldfish.”
Cobblestone structures, with repairs made as necessary to the mortar, will last for centuries. The Spence House has had the care necessary to keep many of the original elements intact, and is waiting to see what the next owners will do.
ABANDONED WORLD
The old Banik homestead in Charleston Township.
WORLD
Tricia Haegele moved to Wellsboro in 2007 to start a family after falling in love with the area. She recently had an exhibit in Wellsboro’s Gmeiner Art and Cultural Center. “I am passionate about capturing all sorts of relics with my camera and sharing them with a different perspective. The history, the stories that were once told in these places, the events that happened, why did they leave all this behind? Old relics have character—struggles and hardships, happiness and laughter—and deserve to be preserved, through photographs if nothing else.” You can browse or purchase her work online at triciastreasury.shootproof. com or follow her on Facebook at Tricia Haegele Photography.
Ionic columns upholding classic Greek Revival in Tioga, Pennsylvania
A different view of Greek Revival in Ithaca.
Tower of Dreams
Out of the Shadows
Restoring a Coudersport Landmark
By Phil Hesser
Holly Mauser never saw the house during her childhood when her family came to Coudersport to buy groceries for their cabin in Potter County. She did notice other homes in Coudersport, which, unlike the suburbs where she lived, offered life-sized dollhouses that she liked to imagine as hers.
Years later, Holly, a dentist living and working in the Lehigh Valley where she grew up, followed the Coudersport real estate listings hoping to realize her childhood dream. One late July afternoon on a stroll downtown, she had a vision that “dropped down” before her eyes: A derelict mansion “bathed in a beautiful light,” its narrow front withdrawn from the sidewalk and the broader side facing the Allegheny River obscured by shrubbery. On that “picture perfect” evening, she was sold.
Was it the luminous dusk that made her pop on the house? Perhaps it was the graceful lines of the Italianate structure with its slim windows—built not in brick like the overblown villas in Pittsburgh, but elegantly crafted from the area’s native woods. Or
maybe it was its pitiful condition, unloved for three decades. “There was something about the house,” Holly recalls, “something important that deserved keeping.”
Holly was not the first in that spot to be struck by a vision. Almost 140 years earlier, F.W. Knox, Potter County lawyer, publisher, and railroad man, wanted to build a new home in Coudersport convenient to his law offices and topped with a tower to oversee the trains that would soon enter the town on the town on the Coudersport and Port Allegany Railroad, known as the C&PA, the line he had championed and that would connect Coudersport to the northeastern rail grid. He would find his dream home pictured in the 1878 Palliser’s American Cottage Homes: “A comfortable, convenient cottage home of six rooms, with tower which is designed to command a view of the surrounding country….”
Knox moved into the house in 1880 with his wife and two-year-old daughter. There he saw the first years of the C&PA, the birth of a son, and the death of his wife. After Knox died in 1891, the home was
sold to Thomas J. Lawler, superintendent of the Coudersport Leather Company, which was, by most accounts, the country’s biggest producer of shoe soles. Lawler lived in the home with his wife and nine children until relocating to Buffalo in 1928.
When the Lawlers departed, the home sold to Howard and Willard Schutt and Hollingsworth Pett. Renaming it for a historic Coudersport hostelry, they opened Old Hickory Tavern, with three dining rooms downstairs, a basement lounge (Old Hickory Taproom following Prohibition), and ten guest rooms. Promoted as the “gateway to the Black Forest” and a convenient stopover on the Roosevelt Highway—“the shortest all-improved throughfare between New York and Chicago”—the inn attracted travelers motoring between the Northeast and the Midwest, lodgers with business in Coudersport, and locals attending club meetings, banquets, and dinner dances.
Beginning in 1940, Old Hickory Tavern and Taproom saw a succession of owners over the next forty-five years. It survived several fires, one flood, and a shooting
Holly Mauser is reviving this former home and tavern in Coudersport
Holly Mauser
death in the basement lounge. The business hung on until October 1986, when the property and contents (including a pump organ and railroad clock) went up for auction. The Rigas family, of Adelphia Communications fame, bought the house and gutted it, envisioning it as corporate guest quarters. Following the company’s bankruptcy and another abortive attempt at restoration by a subsequent owner, the property languished until August 2016, when Holly had her vision.
There was much to admire and evaluate when Holly took possession, including two lovely staircases (one of which was half gone), the basement taproom with its fading wall advertisement, and the tower. Carefully climbing the tower staircase, spreading clouds of dust and scaring the resident pigeons, she looked through a broken window and saw another beautiful vision—the town. It was Knox’s gift to her.
One month after closing, Holly, joined by family and friends, set about restoring the dream house and its windows. There are more than seventy, including the narrow round-topped casements, the two-story bay windows, and the tower’s “angel wing” variety. They installed the first “angel wing” in October 2016 and the last in May 2018. The following June, they finished rehabilitating the bay windows and painting the tower’s exterior, capping an eighteen-month segment of their epic restoration project.
Over the next few years, Holly and the team focused on stabilizing the front porch, replacing windows as they arrived from the factory, refurbishing the staircases, installing new siding, restoring the rear porch and back walls, detailing the front and back porches, reinforcing basement beams, and laying out interior walls to form the open-concept kitchen-dining room along with eleven bedrooms—nine with ensuite bathrooms, one suite with shared bath, and one accessible room. What next? Replacing the aging wood shingles with a slate roof.
Holly readily shares what she has learned from her eight-year experience: “When you befriend a house, you do the same to a community.” She notes that neighbors across Coudersport have taken a protective interest in the house, looking after it in her absence. The experience yielded new friendships and inspired her to advocate for other overlooked homes in need of rescue. “We need to care about the history of our towns,” she adds. “We can keep things!”
And the future of Holly’s vision? Old Hickory-Knox Mansion will become a venue for weddings, “girls’ weekends,” murder mystery sleepovers, and visitors’ holidays—particularly those visitors from around the world who follow the restoration of the once-overlooked mansion on social media, even receiving tattoos of its towered elegance.
And Holly? She’ll stand in the tower, bask in the sunset and, like F.W. Knox, enjoy a dream come true—a vision of the town they both grew to love.
Phil Hesser is an author and historian of Chesapeake Bay and the watershed. He follows Holly’s restoration on Facebook (Old HickoryF.W. Knox Villa) and Instagram (@fwknoxvilla). When running God’s Country Marathon in Potter County, he fell nearly head over heels when he saw the Knox mansion
For the love of flowers
Callahan grows a florist business from her Wellsboro home.
Flower Power A Bloomin’ Business in Wellsboro
By Gayle Morrow
Ayear or so ago, Sarah Callahan, owner and operator of Flower Girl florist in Wellsboro, agreed to help with a fundraiser for a cheerleading competition at Wellsboro Area High School. Sure, she said, she could put together bouquets to sell. She figured on doing about thirty or forty. Over two hundred bouquets later… she smiles about it now.
“No matter how big or how small, I’ll help you out,” she says. Sarah, who grew up in Little Marsh, says that when she was in school she knew she wanted to do something with agriculture, but, short of going into farming, she wasn’t sure what that would be. She got an associate’s degree in floral design and interior plantscapes from Penn Tech, worked one summer for Martin’s Garden Center and Landscape Services in Middlebury Center, and then, in 2003, moved to North Carolina with her husband. Eighteen years later, the couple returned to Tioga County and moved into her husband’s grandmother’s house on Conway Street in Wellsboro. She’d been
working for an event company in North Carolina, but, during covid, “all events just stopped.” She wasn’t out of work long, though. By the time they’d moved into the family home and remodeled (there was a lot of work to do in the house, she says), it was 2022, and, in February of that year, she was ready to open her own shop.
Sarah doesn’t have a greenhouse in the backyard. She is able to get some things locally and has a wholesaler who comes regularly from Bloomsburg (great name for a flower delivery service, right?). The delivery system is one that works well for her. Nick, the wholesaler, comes after hours. He has a key, lets himself in, fills her cooler with fresh flowers, and disappears into the night. She says she sometimes leaves him a snack or invites him to help himself to water or soda that’s in the cooler. At Christmas, when she left Nick holiday goodies, she says “I felt like I was leaving milk and cookies for Santa.”
It’s a perk of doing business in a small town.
“Here, it’s personal,” she says. She knows people, she can remember the last time she made something for them, and, since she knows the area, deliveries aren’t a logistical hitch for her. She’ll deliver within about an hour’s drive of her shop, which can take her to most of Tioga County, and says she’ll go a little further for weddings.
Sarah welcomes in-person consultations, but says it’s fine to talk flowers over video chat if needed, or make arrangements via Facebook Messenger (find her at Flower Girl Wellsboro on Facebook). She’ll ask about favorite flowers and favorite colors, but most people just tell her to make something pretty or seasonal. Her turn-around time is quick, but for weddings she says it’s nice to have a month or two, at least. Sarah offers classes occasionally, and hopes to do succulent classes on her porch when the weather warms up again.
Call her at (919) 818-1539 or drop her a line at flowergirlwellsboro@gmail.com to get started.
Wade Spencer
Sarah
A bar, tender and warm
The welcoming, lived-in feel of Finger Lakes House in a renovated Elmira rowhome is just what owners Dusty and Holly Griffith want.
Local Flavor
Historic Finger Lakes House Occupies a Special Place in Elmira
By Lilace Mellin Guignard
In 1877, a set of three matching rowhomes in the Second Empire style were built in west Elmira on the bank of the Chemung River. In 1972, Hurricane Agnes wrecked them. In 2017, Capriotti Properties purchased 389-399 W. Water Street and renovated them into apartments—except for the first floor of 389, which became a locally known and beloved craft beer and wine bar called Finger Lakes House.
Dusty and Holly Griffith have a blended family of five kids, and enjoyed hanging out there, sitting by the river and having a beer (the adults). Then one day when Dusty was on a bike ride, the owner stopped him, said he was selling the place, and asked if the couple wanted to purchase it. Holly, a software engineer for Corning Incorporated, says she didn’t know how to run this type of business, but Dusty, who had worked as a bartender and in marketing, had the background, and they saw it as an investment opportunity. “Not just financially,” she explains, “but an investment in this commu-
nity.” If you bring a receipt showing you shopped locally that week, they’ll give you a discount. In 2022, Dusty and Holly bought the business, continuing the tasting room approach and adding a focus on local artists.
“We focus on supporting local creatives,” says Dusty, a tattoo artist.
Being in a residential area, the bar flies under the radar. It’s easy to miss driving by because the historic neighborhood doesn’t allow signs to be lit. Dusty and Holly love the Speakeasy vibe and watching the expressions of people walking through the door for the first time. But they admit it’d be cool if more people knew they were there.
The only one of the rowhomes to have a portico, the entry opens into a central hall with stairs that go up to the upper residences. To the left and right are doors, the left one leading to laughter and libations. The warmth inside is both human and architectural. Comfy armchairs are tucked against tall windows facing the street, beside a shelf of board games and checkers. Crown mold-
ing frames the pewter-colored stamped ceiling tiles, and walls—which include gorgeous, exposed brick—showcase local talent. One gallery wall displays a new artist every two months.
The space is narrow. A long bar, with a base made from wood repurposed from the original structure, stretches back more than half the length. Original doorknobs are underneath for hanging purses. The top is new, sleek, and usually covered in flights or individual glasses that Dusty fills and clears while chatting. There is no liquor, but usually eight to twelve wines are available as well as fifteen to thirty beers, Saranac brand sodas, and the mocktails Dusty creates. There are a select few exceptions to the “local” rule, Dusty admits. “I’m a Carolina boy, so we carry Cheerwine.” For beer drinkers not into the craft explosion, PBR and Stella Artois are on tap.
The only screens in the place show the drink options. “We want to encourage peo-
Courtesy Finger Lakes House
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ple to talk to each other,” Holly says. “With no TVs, the bar is full of conversations, people connecting.”
At the end of the bar a door opens onto a back deck that sits above the concrete levee that has, since Agnes, protected the rowhomes from the water of the Chemung River. Tables and some gas firepits make it a coveted hangout spot. Similar decks are found on each story, with the second floor being an Airbnb, whose occupants get a discount at the bar, and the third, well “That’s Miss Ethel,” Dusty says of the renter. Maybe in her eighties, he’s not sure, but he knows “she’s awesome, and has more style than all of us.”
“We aren’t able to have a fryer because of the Airbnb upstairs,” Dusty says, so they use an air fryer to cook their flatbreads, crab Rangoon, tacos, and other food that’s far from the greasy fare often associated with bars. He pours a draft that’s half Saranac Caramel Porter and half Ellicottville Chocolate Cherry Bomb, a dessert imperial stout. The customer tastes and lifts his glass in approval. “The porter takes the edge of the cherry,” Dusty explains.
Lynnell Donnelly raves about the jalapeno pepper flatbread with blackberry drizzle. She’s come here since before Dusty and Holly took over. In fact, her niece got married here in May 2022, just before the transition. “I can come dressed for work or in a hoodie,” she says. “The vibe is always good.” Beside her, Lauri Cardamone, Elmira born and raised, nods and sips her glass of semidry Riesling from Lamoreaux Landing in Lodi. They used to meet here at the end of the workday. No longer working together, they still make it a point to connect. They like the neighborhood feel that’s friendly, but not too friendly, Lynnell says, making her meaning clear. “I’d come in here by myself. There are places I would not go alone.”
The brick arch that leads to the restrooms and kitchen, also leads to the other side of the building, the Lucky Heron Lounge. It’s a chameleon space, with furniture changing to suit whatever private event or pop-up shop is here—anything from painters to custom jewelry crafters. Dusty held a pop-up tattoo parlor there earlier that day—something Lynnell and Lauri want to catch next time. Live music can often be heard in the tasting room, and every Thursday at 7 p.m. is trivia night. Upcoming events are posted on the Finger Lakes House Facebook page or Instagram, or call (607) 735-2200 to book a private event. With lounge furniture, a large screen TV, arcade games (they have twelve to choose from), and a late-night bartender of your own, the Lucky Heron Lounge could host the sports night of your dreams. Dusty and Holly are open to accommodating different types of events, and the off-street parking lot is a bonus.
This rowhome restoration project Jim Capriotti and his team took on did more than restore what were housing units for the management staff of the former Richardson & Co.’s Boot and Shoe Factory, located on Railroad Avenue and Market Street from 1861 to 1908. It restored life into walls constructed of shale bricks manufactured by J. Phillip Weyer in kilns located on Newtown Creek. And Finger Lakes House is bringing new energy and creativity to this stretch of Elmira.
Holly wants people to make the space their own and loves the diversity of folks who come in after a round of golf or from getting a tattoo (sometimes the same people). “We’re inviting you into our house,” she says. “Please make yourself at home.”
It’s elemental
HNew Business in an Old House Form, Function, and Beauty in the Making in Hughesville
By Linda Roller
ughesville’s Main Street is a pleasant throwback to another time.
It’s a town of small shops, often with a display outside encouraging you to go inside. There are people walking, and the warm scents from small restaurants remind you that you’re hungry. But perhaps one of the most enticing storefronts is found at Beauty in the Making, 27 S. Main Street near Kathy’s Café. The building itself is reminiscent of a farmhouse. It’s a squarefront, L-shaped structure that has stood the test of time, and has the ubiquitous long, welcoming porch decorated for the season. Here, Elaine “Leenie” and David Newell invite you into a shop and a philosophy.
The promotional postcard, used to highlight the Airbnb apartments in the building, expresses it perfectly: There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people
It’s the couple’s vision, and is as apparent as the four-foot wooden wings that fill a wall close to the center of the shop’s main room. They are commanding, symbolic of what the couple are trying to create. This vision, and these wings, are some of what Leenie brought to Pennsylvania from her business as a wedding planner and interior designer in south Florida.
“I wanted a shop and an Airbnb,” she says. Having found love and a marriage in Pennsylvania in 2021, the Newells then needed to find the perfect space to create this new business.
“We were looking for a commercial building, somewhere between Selinsgrove and Williamsport,” Leenie says. David works as a counselor in the Milton School District, which limited the territory for the search. What was available was either too
expensive or needed so much work that it wasn’t practical. Then, in December of 2021, they found the balance of price and condition in Hughesville. For Leenie and David, it was more than “a workable solution” for a business. They fell in love with their new town, with a 100-year-old building where they could create their business vision, and with the peace that a small community, far from bustling city life, offered them and the people they hoped to serve.
The first order of business was to make Airbnb space available. Leenie’s dream was for one unit, but their new old house allowed for two. They are behind and above the store, each with a private entrance, and they opened in July of 2022. She designed them, and they are filled with conveniences and comforts, like a laundry for each. Both
Leenie and David Newell’s decor shop and rentals in Hugheville make beautiful connections.
apartments highlight great beds, lovely bath areas, and a soothing feel with books to browse, chairs that beg you to curl up, or the enclosed sunporch featured in one of the units.
The wooden wings are not the only thing Leenie brought from her former life in Florida. Her interior design work continued, and her clients are nationwide.
“Location is not an issue,” she states. “I have clients in California and Florida, and when I moved to Pennsylvania, I continued to work with them.” She has local clients, too, and wants to do more of that. Her work is not construction, but “it’s not just decorating.” Her website, beautyinthemaking.com, gives an in-depth overview of her services and products, and she can be reached at (570) 880-0700.
“You have to listen to the person who is going to live there, to see their vision, and to create that space in color and in function for them,” Leenie says. She uses texture, natural fibers, and whimsical touches, like the tree-shaped bookcase in one of the apartments.
She expands on her vision in a shop that delights without being overwhelming. It’s more than a place to buy things, but is a peek into the heart of this couple. Leenie says, “The shop goal is to inspire, not just sell. Come in! Experience the rooms in the store, and leave inspired visually, spiritually, and emotionally—ready to conquer your life.” Working with the layout of an older building, with many separate rooms, the placement of displays creates a natural flow. Shoppers are guided to explore. Browsers find rooms filled with decorative items including tiny trees, fanciful figures, wall hangings, and a dried flower bar where they can make their own arrangements. Leenie also designs gift baskets packed with items from the store. There is a large selection of functional and unique kitchen equipment. Patterned bowls, some nesting, and elegant pitchers of all sizes. Wooden spoons gather in a jar, alongside aprons—not the frilly, hostess type, but honest working aprons, in both a traditional tie style and ones that cross over in the back, giving the wearer the protection needed for the task at hand. Mugs to fill with a favorite warming brew, with handles that fit just right. Plates that stand out on nubby tablecloths and mats. And stone coasters in rough star shapes that actually hold the condensation.
The shop bustles with visitors, yet no one feels hurried or jostled. Throughout the store, everything looks as though it belongs in a modern home, but rhymes with a simpler time.
Perhaps that is the heart of Leenie’s vision. Her coffee table book, Everything Works Together (available on her website), is not a book of design, though her love of design shines through every page. It’s not a book intended to make you want to “buy a look” or to acquire stuff. It’s a book of reminders of how special you are, and how to remember to be curious and experiment, to honor yourself, and to continue to grow and learn. She wants people to remember that we are all “alive in this time for a reason.”
In everything she does, Leenie’s goal is for people to, “Connect with my work and leave in a higher place.”
Mountain Home contributor Linda Roller is a bookseller and writer in Avis, Pennsylvania.
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Pillars continued from page 13 there was enough food, ice, wine, lighting, talking to people,” he says. “But it was a lot of fun for everyone else.”
Through the combination of the parties “and very generous donors, including people who were formerly from the area who heard about how fabulous the parties were and sent us wonderful checks,” Todd says, the money was raised to make the restoration of the columns possible. “It’s been a great unity. I don’t think a single person said no when I asked.”
Last August a scaffolding was erected to hold up the heavy triangular pediment (the porch roof) so the columns could be removed and taken to Honeoye Falls Millworks for restoration. Proprietor Jim Turner has studied and worked with elements of historical architecture for thirty-five years. “They’re hollow in the middle,” he explains of the usual column construction. “They’re made like a barrel, with individual, cambered [curved] staves.” His examination of the original columns leads him to the 90 percent certainty that they’re made of Eastern white pine.
“Old growth lumber,” he says. “That’s one of the reasons they’re in fairly good shape. The growth rings are close together, which makes the wood fairly tight-grained and rot-resistant. I suspect the trees were well over a century old when they were cut.”
His work on the columns included stripping paint from the capitals and remaking the bases, which had deteriorated from moisture wicked up from the ground into the stone the columns stand on. He’s also creating height adjustments to allow the porch to be raised for enhanced handicap accessibility, another capital improvement on the docket for the near future.
“Any time we take off paint, we’ll find things that need to be repaired,” he says. “We want to send them back in as close to new condition as we can.” The plan is to reinstall the columns, primed and painted with their first coat of white paint, sometime in January 2025; a second coat of paint will be added in warmer weather after installation.
The good news is, the success of the parties exceeded the cost of phase one renovations, allowing planners to move ahead with planning phase two. This will require another round of fundraising, but the party planners say it will be something other than a second series of parties.
But for those who missed the chance to attend those elegant events, as well those who did attend and now miss them, the Arnot Art Museum offers another party close to Valentine’s Day (arnotartmuseum.org). The Heart’s Desire gala fundraiser features hors d’oeuvres, beverages, desserts, beautifully-dressed partygoers, and a chance to win $10,000 (which many winners have immediately donated back to the museum).
It’s also an opportune time to say hello to your favorite paintings, and acknowledge that the museum itself is a work of art, heart, and community.
Karey
BACK OF THE MOUNTAIN
Sentry of Centuries
By Bernadette Chiaramonte
Iawoke to discover the remnants of a gentle snowstorm clinging to the trees, and I promptly drove to town to capture our historic elm in downtown Wellsboro. Often (and mistak enly) called the Hanging Tree, all that hung from it this morning was beauty. Named the Jailhouse Elm in 1979 when it was added to the American Forestry Association’s National Elm Registry, it currently ranks eleventh largest in Pennsylvania. Its white canopy this day hinted at its status as a senior citizen, with an estimated age of 250 to over 300 years. It has witnessed many such storms, and I hope many more.
