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Balmanno Cottage

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History of Balmanno Cottage
Balmanno Cottage in the 1870s

T he early part of the 19th century was a period of rapid growth in Geneva. Numerous professional men, merchants, and farmers came to the area to establish themselves.  In addition, many skilled craftsmen and artisans came to build homes and buildings in which Genevans lived and worked. During this boom time, Geneva became a thriving village with a growing business community, a bustling social life, religious and educational complexes, increased community services (water supply and fire protection), an expanded municipal government, and even a museum.  By the 1830s, Geneva was more accessible than ever. The Seneca-Cayuga Canal connected the village to the Erie Canal and steamboat service was available.

I t is into this bustling community, that Robert Balmanno (1780-1861) arrived.  Purchasing a lot on Seneca Lake in 1831, he is credited with building a cottage in the Gothic Revival style, one of the earliest in Geneva in this style.  The “brick cottage residence and very beautiful garden” was put up for sale in 1839, but it seems Balmanno retained ownership of the property until 1850, when he sold it to John Remer.  Five years later Remer sold it to William and Sarah Herrick.  The property remained in the Herrick family through 1923, when it was sold to Gertrude Ranney Sholes.  Sholes sold it to Jane VerPlanck in 1926, who maintained ownership until the house was sold to William and Blanchard Walker in July 1957.  It is Blanchard Bartlett Walker (1908-1997) who bequeathed the property to the Geneva Historical Society in 1997.



Terraced Gardens
C harles Williamson is credited with laying out the properties and lots on South Main Street. Natural terraces, probably formed by the glaciers that carved out the lake, descended from the crest of a long hill down to the lakeshore.  The Annin survey, completed in 1793, laid out Main Street on the crest of this hill.  Williamson’s original plan placed building lots on the west side of the street and designated the eastside lots as lakeside gardens.  Property owners on the west side would own land down to the lake, but Williamson prohibited building on this land, hoping to preserve the view.  However, it was not many years before the increasing value of the lakeside land led to the sale of the lots for building purposes.  The lakeshore and the terraced gardens then became exclusive to the property owners on this side of South Main Street.

The 1850 advertisement for the sale of Balmanno Cottage describes the site as including  “...Garden of Fruit and Flowers...beautifully overlooking the Lake and surrounding country with a Hanging Garden, on half a dozen Terraces, that extends from Cottage door to the Beach.”  References to other terraced gardens along South Main Street indicate that they were a source of beauty and pride among the residents.



Balmanno Cottage: The Other Side of the Sixties
Parlor of Balmanno Cottage  Upon the death of Blanchard Bartlett Walker in 1997, Balmanno Cottage was bequeathed to the Geneva Historical Society.  In addition to the house and the gardens, the collection of furnishings accumulated by her husband, Dr. William Walker, was given to the Society. The furnishings are an outstanding example of the antique collecting typical of many affluent Americans in the 1940s through 1960s.  Collectors like Dr. Walker were often influenced and inspired by great collectors, such as Henry Francis DuPont and John Rockefeller.  The Walker collection reflects Americans’ drive in the 1950s to define their culture; an urge that resulted in great interest in American history, folk culture, and art.  The collection includes a mixture of 18th and 19th century pieces and consists of furniture made primarily in New York, New England, and Philadelphia.

Blanchard Bartlett Walker (1908-1997) was the daughter of the Reverend Murray Bartlett and Blanchard Howard.  Her father served as President of Geneva’s Hobart and William Smith Colleges from 1919 until his retirement in 1936, bringing Blanchard to Geneva for most of her childhood.  She attended private school in Baltimore and finishing school in Europe.  She secured a role in a Broadway production for a year, but a career in acting eluded her and she took a job in the American Red Cross during World War II, operating “rest and relaxation” hotels for Allied troops.  She became the manager of U.S. operations for the Irish company William Corelson & Sons in 1950. She met Dr. William Walker, an orthopedic surgeon, and the two married in March of 1957. The Walkers purchased the South Main Street property the same year.  Blanchard became a strong supporter of the Geneva community, with a particular interest in Hobart and William Smith Colleges, St. Peter’s Church, and the Geneva Historical Society.

The building is an outstanding example of early Gothic Revival architecture in Geneva and maintains the terraced garden lot that is a unique feature of the Seneca Lake shoreline.  The house remains much as it was upon Mrs. Walker’s death.


 

Balmanno Cottage is open Saturdays, 10am-4pm and Sundays, 1-5pm.
Please contact the Geneva Historical Society for more information.

583 South Main Street, Geneva, NY 14456


Contact Us
Phone 315-789-5151
Fax: 315-789-0314
Email info at genevahistoricalsociety.com



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