Keeney House (Le Roy, New York) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Keeney House
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North elevation and west profile, 2010
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 Location in New York
Location in the United States
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| Location | Le Roy, NY |
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| Nearest city | Batavia |
| Area | 0.75 acres (3,000 m2) |
| Built | 1851 |
| Architect | Philo L. Pierson; Bryant Fleming |
| Architectural style | Federal Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 79001583 |
| Added to NRHP | September 11, 1979 |
The Keeney House is a historic home located on Main Street in Le Roy, New York. It's a two-story house made of wood, built in the mid-1800s. Inside, it has very fancy and detailed rooms. The house is surrounded by beautiful gardens in both the front and back.
When it was first built, the Keeney House looked like a Greek Revival style home. It had lots of fancy decorations on its front. Later, it became the home of Calvin N. Keeney, a famous plant expert who invented the stringless bean. In 1927, the house was updated to the Federal Revival style. This made its front look simpler and more classic. Both the house and its old carriage house were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
Contents
Exploring the Keeney House
The Keeney House sits on a large piece of land, about three-quarters of an acre. It's on the south side of Main Street in the middle of Le Roy village. Nearby, you'll find other big buildings like a supermarket and the village hall.
The property has many old trees and bushes. The house itself is on a small hill, with gentle slopes leading up to it from the street. A line of trees helps separate the property from the village hall next door. There's also a decorative wooden fence at the back of the property.
What Does the House Look Like?
The main part of the house is two and a half stories tall. It's built with a wooden frame on a stone base. There are two smaller sections at the back and a kitchen area. The roof is gently sloped and has a brick chimney.
Outside the House
The sides and back of the house are covered with regular wooden siding. However, the front of the house has smooth, flat wooden boards. All the windows have decorative frames and flat tops. The main entrance at the front is special. It has tall, square columns on either side and at the corners of the house. These columns support a wide, flat band with small windows above it. The roof then extends out over this section.
The back of the house and its side sections also have similar columns at their corners. At the very back of the kitchen area, there's a porch with arches on the sides. Above this porch, there's a special three-part window called a Palladian window.
Inside the House
The main entrance leads into a long hallway. On either side of the hall are a parlor (a formal living room) and a sitting room. Both of these rooms have fireplaces with wooden mantels in the Greek Revival style. The parlor fireplace has arched spaces next to it. All the doorways and entrances inside also have fancy Greek Revival woodwork. The ceilings in these rooms have decorative molding.
A beautiful staircase goes up to the second floor. Upstairs, the wide hallway leads to bedrooms and a study, all decorated similarly. There's also a special suite of rooms at the end of the south side of the house.
The Carriage House
The carriage house is another building on the property, also made of wood. Its roof has two peaks on the east side, with two brick chimneys and a small, open tower called a cupola. The peaks and the cupola have decorative tops. The main entrance of the carriage house has a triangular shape above it, supported by two narrow columns. These columns rise from stone walls on either side of the entrance. There are two windows next to the entrance. A round window fills the triangular space above the entrance.
A Look Back in Time: History of the House
The Keeney House has a rich history, changing owners and styles over the years. Each change added to its unique story.
Who Built It?
The house was built in 1851 by a local builder named Philo Pierson. It was made for John Bixby, who was a claim agent. The two-story section at the back was probably built first. It might have been used as a temporary home while the rest of the house was being built. The main part of the house mixed the older Federal style with the popular Greek Revival details of the time.
The Stringless Bean Inventor
In 1881, Calvin Keeney bought the house from John Bixby. Calvin was born in Le Roy. He left school to work with his father in the produce business after the Civil War. He later became his father's business partner. In 1868, he hired a seed expert from Rochester to help him create a new type of bean. Calvin Keeney is famous for developing 17 different kinds of the stringless bean. This invention made it much easier and cheaper to can beans. He even started his own canning factory and salt works in Le Roy before he passed away.
Modern Makeover: The 1927 Renovation
In 1927, a well-known architect named Bryant Fleming from Buffalo was hired to update the house. He removed a porch that had been added around 1900. He also took away many of the three-dimensional decorations from the front of the house. This made the house look more like a pure Federal-style building. To make up for the removed porch, he designed the front lawn with terraces. He also made the front entrance stand out more with a fanlight window and columns, matching the ones already on the corners of the house. He added square decorations next to the window tops and special grillwork windows in the attic.
At the back of the house, he changed the servants' rooms into a porch. He also added the beautiful Palladian window. Inside, he combined two front rooms on the east side to create a large parlor. He also designed the landscaping for the backyard.
Passing Through Generations
Since these changes, the house has remained much the same. After Calvin Keeney died, his daughter Ruth inherited the house. Ruth was very involved in community work. She helped start the YWCA and Girl Scouts at a national level. She also organized the Le Roy Historical Society in her hometown. After Ruth, the property went to her niece, Elinor Townsend. Today, the Keeney House is owned by William and Susan Schmidt.
