Witherspoon Cottage
Why it's listed
Built in 1910 by a Mr. Buck at 3 Kiwassa Road in Saranac Lake, this two-and-one-half-story vernacular Queen Anne house began as a boarding house type cure cottage for tuberculosis patients. It sits on a coursed rubble stone foundation, with clapboard on the lower floors, cedar shingles in the gables, hip-roofed dormers and a full-width front veranda. Inside, a simple plan places a large room in each corner around a central stair. Numbered plates remain on second-floor doors, and two cure porches survive with beaded board walls, sloping painted floors and evidence of a call bell system. From 1923 to 1928 Mrs. Dorothy Witherspoon operated it as a registered private sanitarium, holding a Veterans' Administration contract to care for World War I veterans. Its cure features and high degree of integrity make it a representative example of the village's cure cottages. It is now a single-family home.
Significance in brief: It is presented as an excellent example of a boarding house type private sanitarium from Saranac Lake's second growth period in the tuberculosis cure industry (1918-1939). It keeps its cure porches, veranda and call bell evidence, and it served World War I veterans under a Veterans' Administration contract. It also remains largely intact in its setting and design.
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 92001415, listed November 6, 1992. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 3 Kiwassa Rd., Saranac Lake |
|---|---|
| County | Franklin County |
| Listed | November 6, 1992 |
| Reference number | 92001415 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1910-c.1940 |
| Architect / builder | Mr. Buck |
| Architectural style | Late 19th & 20th Century Revivals: Queen Anne (vernacular Queen Anne) |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Health/Medicine, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Presently used as a single-family house; originally a boarding house type cure cottage, described as virtually intact from its period of construction. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Within district | New York Central Railroad Adirondack Division Historic District |
| Coordinates | 44.32007, -74.12894 (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 92001415.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q8028172
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.