Potter Place: Past & Present House Tour - 2015

Held Sunday, October 4, 2015

Potter Place: Past and Present was the theme of the annual House Tour sponsored by the Perinton Historical Society.

Visitors had the opportunity to tour seven homes on Potter Place. These homes represent several popular architectural styles of the 1920s, 30s, and 50s, including Colonial Revival, Craftsman, Prairie, and Minimal Traditional/Cape Cod.

This home at 54 Potter Place, which was on the tour, is an outstanding example of the Colonial Revival style home built in 1926.

During the tour, the Society hosted a reception at the Potter Mansion. Tour goers were invited to stop by to view historical displays and enjoy some cider and cookies. Visit the Potter grounds to learn more about the Potter family and its legacy:

• The Potter Memorial, built by Spencer Philbrick, a local businessman, and once the grand home of Alfred and Huldah Potter and their children Alice, Bertha, and Fred, who willed it to the village.
   
• The carriage barn and mounting block, reminders of another era of transportation.
   
• The Veterans Memorial, originally constructed in 1946, modified in 1987, and reconstructed and dedicated in 2014.
   
• The Privy (Outhouse), a rare brick “three-holer” moved from 76 East Church Street to its present location behind the Potter Memorial.
   
• The Community Gardens, once World War II victory gardens, on land made available by Fred Potter.
   
• The Potter Memorial, including all these areas, was designated a Village landmark in June 2010.

Society members receiveed their tickets in the mail. Family friends and others wanting to attend should became members of the Society. The membership form can be found on the Membership page.

24 Potter Place

This 1910 stately home was built in the Pairie Box or Four Square style with Craftsman  features.  It originally had a tile roof and an open front porch.

The outstanding features of Prairie style are the huge hipped roof with a slight flare, the deep overhanging eaves and the exposed rafters at the roof-line. It also emphasizes the horizontal. This can be seen in the lines the bricks form across the facade, the linear wood siding, the sills beneath the windows and the architectural detail along the top of the bricks.

44 Potter Place

The charm of this 1930 Colonial Revival home is its simplicity. The outstanding features of the house are the setback entryway and the symmetry of the facade with its window combination of 4 sets of 8 over 8 and the upper 6 over 6 windows under the gable roof.

The wide cedar shingles and cedar clapboards finish the simple but elegant facade. Note the detail in the shingles at the peak of the gable and the slight flare of the shingles where they meet the clapboards. 

54 Potter Place

This 1926 home at 54 Potter Place was built in the Colonial Revival style and shows many classic details. There are pilasters at all four corners of the house and porch. Broken pediments are seen on the end gables, and a wide cornice or frieze board adorns the house front.

Finishing it off is the classic doorway with its doubled pilasters under the stunning arched roof, with urn and detail under the arch.

60 Potter Place

This 1930 brick Colonial Revival house at 60 Potter Place has strong classic style credentials, starting at the front door with the leaded glass pattern in its elliptical fanlight and sidelights.

Note the unusual brick patterns throughout: the sunburst lintels in the brick above the windows and the prominent brick sills below, the double line of vertical bricks at the foundation line and the quoin pattern at the house corners.

The doorway with its gable-arched portico of pilasters and slender columns is typical of the style. The slender columns are repeated in clusters at the open porch on the north side.

68 Potter Place

This home at 68 Potter Place, built in 1951, is a unique and charming house which falls into the post-war era. The gabled doorway and garage are typical features of the Minimal Traditional style, as well as the low roof line and the one and a half story build.

Minimal Traditional houses have little or no roof overhang and are simple and practical in every dimension. The two opposing dormers are unusual placements but striking nonetheless. The house is shingle clad. Note the secluded porch tucked in behind the garage.

71 Potter Place

This home at 71 Potter Place is a Minimal Traditional style home in the Cape Cod form.

Built in 1943, this house, like its neighbor across the street, is in the Minimal Traditional/Cape Cod form but with the side gable facing to the street. These post-depression era homes were very simple and show little decoration.

There is no overhang or extraneous decoration at the roofline. This cozy one and a half story home has charming Colonial Revival details in the lintel decorations over the doorway and windows.

It is simple, minimal, unadorned.

50 Potter Place

This lovely 1927 home at 50 Potter Place was built in the Craftsman bungalow style. 

The Craftsman details are seen in the large dormer, the long sloping roof, the wide eaves and the triangular knee braces at the rooflines. The full width porch, sheltered under the deep roof overhang, is a classic feature of the style.

For more information on architecture styles in our area, view the Architectural Styles Guide.

See the calendar for dates of upcoming tours and enjoy brief descriptions of past tours within the Historic Tours section of the site