Architecture Around the World

Livingston- Backus House
at the Genesee Country Village, & Museum

Built:

1827

Style:

Greek Revival, 1835 alterations

Original location:

Rochester, NY

Original owner:

James Livingston

Interior Photos



Click on illustrations for larger size -- and additional information

Interior Photos

Greek Revival feature: Pedimented gable-roofed

Note 1835 one-story ell at right

Greek Revival feature: Six-over-six lights

       

1835 One-story Ell

1835 One-story Ell

1835 One-story Ell

1835 One-story Ell

1835 one-story ell:

1835 one-story ell:

1835 one-story ell

Greek Revival features:

Ionic capital

Egg-and-dart molding

Door has egg-and-dart molding panels

One of the entrepreneurs who fashioned a fortune from milling, backing, and speculative ventures in Rochester was James Livingston, a descendant of an old Hudson River family. In 1827, Livingston built one of the first grand mansions in Rochester's Third Ward, soon to be full of other columned monuments to their newly wealthy owners.

In 1835, the house was sold to businessman Joseph Frederick Backus, prominant figure in civic and cultural affairs, and an elected offical when the City of Rochester was formed in 1834.

Backus made substantial structural altertations to the house, employing Greek Revival elements and detailing. A one-story ell attached to the main block permitted the doubling of the parlor, while the entrance hall and stairway were shifted from the front to the side. Stylish decorative alterations were made on the interior.

-- Genesee Country Village, by Stuart Bolger, 1993


Special thanks to Public Relations Manager Katie DeTar and the many helpful docents for their assistance

Photos and their arrangement © 2005 Chuck LaChiusa
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