Livingston- Backus House
at the Genesee Country Village, & Museum
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Built: |
1827 |
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Style: |
Greek Revival, 1835 alterations |
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Original location: |
Rochester, NY |
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Original owner: |
James Livingston |
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Greek Revival feature: Pedimented gable-roofed
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Greek Revival feature: Six-over-six lights |
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1835 One-story Ell |
1835 One-story Ell |
1835 One-story Ell |
1835 One-story Ell |
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1835 one-story ell:
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1835 one-story ell:
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1835 one-story ell Greek Revival features:
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Ionic capital |
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Egg-and-dart molding |
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Door has egg-and-dart molding panels |
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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
