Magill Cottage (Additional Documentation)
Why it's listed
Perched on a steep hillside above Riverside Drive and Lake Flower in Saranac Lake, this shingled, hip-roofed house was built around 1911 by local carpenters Benjamin and Lynn Woodruff for Lemuel B. Magill. Magill founded the Saranac Lake Troy Laundry in 1909, which cleaned and sterilized linen for the village's tuberculosis curing industry. After his death in 1916 the family stayed until 1920. By 1925 his widow and her new husband ran the house as a registered private sanatorium, renting four second-floor bedrooms. In 1926 it returned to single-family use. The house has two sleeping porches, a fully glazed cure porch with sliding panels, and call bells connecting the rooms to the kitchen. Inside are original moldings, hardwood floors, a paneled staircase, and a beamed living room with a fieldstone fireplace. It was listed as an intact example of a Saranac Lake cure cottage, with a high degree of architectural integrity and its curing features preserved.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the house is an intact example of a Saranac Lake cure cottage from the early twentieth century. It keeps its glazed cure porches, sliding glass panels and call bells. It was first a family home and later a private sanatorium, and it retains a high degree of integrity.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 92001430, listed November 6, 1992. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 74 Kiwassa Rd., Saranac Lake |
|---|---|
| County | Franklin County |
| Listed | November 6, 1992 |
| Reference number | 92001430 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | ca.1911 - ca.1940 |
| Architect / builder | Benjamin and Lynn Woodruff (local carpenters) |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian: Stick style |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Health/Medicine, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Currently in use as a single dwelling; historically also a registered private sanatorium in the 1920s. |
| Acreage | 0.67 |
| Within district | New York Central Railroad Adirondack Division Historic District |
| Coordinates | 44.31997, -74.12706 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 92001430.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q6731098
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.