Stonaker Cottage
Why it's listed
Set on a large wooded lot on the side of Dewey Mountain in Saranac Lake, this one-story shingled house was built in 1916 as a private cure cottage. Edwin R. Stonaker, president of Northern New York Telephone Company and a founder of the Saranac Lake Golf Club, came to the village with tuberculosis and designed the house with his wife Jeanne around his needs. A large octagonal cure porch faces southeast, flanked by two hexagonal bays, and its windows are made of quartz glass meant to admit ultraviolet light for heliotherapy. A separate wing housed the patient and a nurse. A 1917 health survey marked the house as holding a tuberculous resident. After a successful thoracoplasty ended his relapses, the family left, and the house was sold in 1932. It was rented in the early 1940s and bought in 1950 by Dr. Harry A. Bray, director of Ray Brook Hospital. It remains a single dwelling and keeps many original details.
Significance in brief: It is presented as an intact, representative example of early twentieth-century residential construction in Saranac Lake adapted for personal tuberculosis curing. Its central octagonal cure porch, fitted with ultraviolet-admitting quartz windows for heliotherapy, and a separate wing for the patient and nurse show how it was designed around a tubercular owner. It retains a high degree of integrity of setting, location, materials, design and associations.
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 92001465, listed November 6, 1992. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Glenwood Rd., Saranac Lake |
|---|---|
| County | Franklin County |
| Listed | November 6, 1992 |
| Reference number | 92001465 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1916-ca. 1940 |
| Architect / builder | Designed and built by Edwin R. and Jeanne Stonaker |
| Architectural style | Prairie Style |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Health/Medicine, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Historic and current function is single dwelling; the main entrance is through a modern attached gabled portico. |
| Within district | New York Central Railroad Adirondack Division Historic District |
| Coordinates | 44.31589, -74.13490 (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 92001465.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7618809
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.